Operation+Hollywood

Operation Hollywood: How the Pentagon bullies movie producers into showing the US military in the best possible light. By Jeff Fleischer http://motherjones.com/politics/2004/09/operation-hollywood Hollywood and the US Military have had a long relationship, starting at its earliest in the 1920s. There is a very specific process by which Hollywood producers gain the cooperation of the M ilitary, through which they have access to military equipment and funding. The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard s review the movie scripts to make sure not only that they aren’t negatively affected, but to ensure that what is shown in the movie will help them recruit. Scripts are often modified so that the military is portrayed positively. The army provides military personnel to act as technical advisor to oversee the filming of the movie, and to help ensure that the producers **adhere to the agreements** made in exchange for the funding. After the film has been completed, the Pentagon screens the film to again make sure that there are no negative portrayals of the military. D**isplaying war crimes committed by US Military personnel in the film is a specific example of scenes that will be vetoed by the Pentagon.** Films portraying the Army as incapacitated by alien forces, as many do, or showing fictitious secret government plans involving aliens **usually do not receive funding.** Films in the past have been known to be vetoed by the Pentagon, which in no way makes them illegal, but these films will then **not be shown on military bases or overseas.** If the producers in such manner disobey the Pentagon it will be extremely difficult for them to receive funding in the future. David Robb concludes the interview by saying that the censorship of films for the recruitment purposes of the military directly violates the First Amendment to the Constitution.

**Criteria for Evaluation** + You have made an appropriate choice of reading matter that relates in some way to your research project. Good choice but please use an APA citation at the bottom of of the piece to identify the author, publication, etc. Excellent choice and you've captured some fascinating information here. - Your precis offers a specific summary of the key arguments, information and ideas. I wasn't clear on the idea of Pentagon funding. What does this mean? What is the nature of the financial arrangement? + You have followed the guidelines about writing a precis. - The quality of the writing is perfect with no spelling, usage or grammatical errors. Some small errors + Your precis is about 250 - 400 words in length. GRADE: B+