Review of Death of a Nation (2018) by Daniel V — 05 Sep 2018

The Heroisation of Trump.

There are a lot of examples in the movie and TV history how the entertainment industry washes the brain during the election seasons in the USA. Just try to remember TV series Homeland, Madam Secretary, and House of Cards. Death of a Nation makes the same contribution extending some arguments in political debates. This movie asks moviegoers to read between the lines and makes the 45th President of the USA Donald Trump as the hero. Technically, authors have several reasons to think this way. First, Trump has sacrificed his own reputation for the mutual well-being of the American people. Second, he is successful in defending himself from information wars, namely, opposition to the negative information flow about personality or issues related to him or her (for example, fake news, blackmail, disinformation, discreditation, propaganda and many others). And third, he protects the interest of a wide range of groups, keeping Americans first.

Donald Trump put his reputation of a wealthy and highly respectable person on the table when he declared his will to run for President of the United States of America. He is the son of a well to do businessman. Donald Trump now has world wide businesses and projects. Meanwhile, as a human being, he has not refused the physiological pleasures, especially exercising his sexual charisma. That's why, together with his business accomplishments, he was a well-known ladies' man, and this reputation contradicts general images of a President of a great nation. In spite of his controversial reputation, he decided to serve as the American President. This was such a brave, fearless and selfless act to risk his own reputation for the opportunity to improve the social wellbeing of other people. So, that's why some D'Souza's' parallels with Abraham Lincoln and his heroization of Trump are quite sufficient.

In this time when face to face, arm to arm combat is not so widespread, specifically, in the American society, wherein one cannot use physical aggression and violence, Trump chooses his word as a weapon in these battles with media. Twitter, one of the social media platform, looks like Trump's fortress. It's really an awesome example how a person can use the word as a tool to protect himself or herself. Nowadays when there are less wars between nations, information wars have become more prominent (sometimes they are more expensive and need highly skilled workers). Among all information wars, the conflict between the 45th President of the USA and huge media corporations is significant. It is significant that one person faces up to the giant media outlets who are creating a toxic media environment: promoting the hate speech, publishing unverified info without any disclaimer, playing with speculations and rumors. Even in this situation Trump has survived and has demonstrated the incredible spirit of an information warrior. Sometimes, in fights with fake news media, his family members become the subject of attacks, but it doesn't break him. Whereas some politicians of the Lincoln's period were vulnerable via newspapers outlets.

In reality, the last years of Trump's presidency have brought a good economical performance to the US nation: low unemployment rate, a very positive stock market growth, tax cuts and many other benefits from his initiatives and presidential promises. Trump has proved he protects the interest of a wide range of people, not only Americans. Legal immigrants feel the good consequences of Trump's heroic presidency. For example, he canceled the fee for not having the health insurance. He made various attempts to stop illegal immigration to the USA. And D'Souza's couldn't avoid this as a American Indian during his movie making. Indeed, according to the undersong of the movie, Trump is a true hero in its original meaning. He is a protector of his own country from illegals, unfair trading international policy, from power abusers embedded in the US law making structures and law enforcement agencies.

In this way, Dinesh D'Souza's movie considers Trump a modern hero and it provides element of critical thinking with this vision. Not explicitly Death of a Nation states that the 45th President of the USA is almost a "veteran" of information wars in our century of information technologies. His style of heroism is a bit different and has few comparisons in the human history, particularly in the US history. However we can find some additional similarities in the history of Christianity, especially when Jesus was attacked with many false allegations, and he defended himself without violence, with only words. Also, as Jesus granted a peace and grace to many people, Trump has given opportunities to many people politically and economically.