The DOD claim that they only rewrite Hollywood scripts in order to ensure accuracy and to inform the public about the military and its mission. This is total bullshit. One of the best examples comes from the 2016 film Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, where the original script included an event that ...
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One of the Pentagon's consistent bugbears when it comes to movie scripts is swearing. Whether it is from the mouths of military or civilian characters, the DOD doesn't like those ████ing cuss words. But why not? Given their various political and PR concerns why is bad language such a problem? ...
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While some senior military officials have spoken openly about the possibility of a war between the US and China, the entertainment liaison offices appear to be working to ensure that doesn't happen. Perhaps surprisingly, they have refused to support films, TV shows and video games where China is the adversary ...
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Hollywood doesn’t make war films any more. This isn’t entirely true, but compared to the post-WW2 period there are a lot less war films being made today. In this in-depth episode I offer a brief history of war movies and anti-war movies, and how the Pentagon’s policy on supporting films ...
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The Vietnam war had a huge impact.  3 million dead Vietnamese, tens of thousands of dead Americans, and millions more on both sides suffering from trauma, depression and drug and alcohol addiction.  It also had a major influence on the US public's willingness to engage in full-scale wars (at least ...
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Most government agencies sign contracts with Hollywood producers when they agree to provide support on a film or TV show. These are called Production Assistance Agreements, and set out the legal terms of the partnership between the government and the production company. In this episode I explore these contracts, how ...
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Going back through some documents released by the Army on the Transformers films I noticed that some of the notes weren't script notes from pre-production, but were production notes from while Transformers: Dark of the Moon was filming. They show that sometimes the Pentagon continues to rewrite the script while ...
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The US military has a drinking problem, but like most of its problems it's OK because the entertainment liaison offices are there to make sure Hollywood doesn't draw attention to it. From episodes of Wonder Woman through to blockbuster films, scenes of services members drinking have been edited or removed ...
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The military legal drama Rules of Engagement is perhaps the greatest modern example of racist, warmongering propaganda. Unsurprisingly, it benefited from full Pentagon support, in exchange for numerous script changes. The film was eerily prescient, foreshadowing two terrorist attacks in Yemen, and in some ways the entire post-9/11 war on ...
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Rules of Engagement is notable for being possibly the most violent, racist, colonialist film Hollywood has made since the end of the Cold War.  It pre-empted two real life terrorist attacks in Yemen including one on the US embassy.  The film was produced with close co-operation from the DOD, particularly ...
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The Science and Entertainment Exchange (or SEEX) has consulted on over 1300 films and TV shows in less than 10 years, but outside of Hollywood few people know who they are and what they do. This week we pull back the curtain to look at their activities and their agenda ...
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Officially, the Science and Entertainment Exchange (or SEEX) is the outreach program of the National Academy of Sciences - a non-governmental, non-partisan, non-profit honorific body who give awards and the like.  In reality it is a government-funded entertainment liaison office who work closely with the military to help them accomplish ...
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