Media Med. CCM315 Death of a Prez

I saw this movie on Netflix and I had to check it out. The first thing that I thought was that this would be a great media meditation for CCM315. The movie was about the assassination of George W. Bush while he was in office. The music that first started out made you feel like something bad was going to happen. The movie is called Death of a President so I already knew that it was not going to be a happy movie. I didn’t have any idea that the movie was a mockumentary so when I first started watching it it seemed really real. I had to keep reminding my self that it was a movie. They used real photos and videos of the president himself. It was a very convincing movie.




Political Shift

The first thing that popped into my head when I saw the cover for this movie was “how could they make this film?” George W. Bush is still alive and hasn’t been out of office for very long. This movie was made while he was still in office which is why I find it very controversial. Ten or Twenty years ago this would not have been allowed to be released. Since there has been a big change it the way politics are run and looked at, it wasn’t as big of an issue as it would have been then.

Economic Shift

In a world that has shifted from hyper commercialism and corporate consolidation I felt as though this movie would not have been shown. With all of the movie and television conglomerations controlling what is seen by the US people I am surprised that this movie was even released. It is very controversial especially because the movie was made while George W. Bush was still in office. I am surprised that it wasn’t considered a terrorist threat.




Production Techniques

The way that the movie was put together was like a documentary. If I didn’t know that Bush was not assassinated then I would have thought so after watching the movie. They had real footage of the former president in the movie which made it seem so real. The production techniques and overall appearance of the movie was done so well that I thought I was watching an A&E special on the George W. Bush assassination.



Individual Meaning

For me I saw this film as very controversial. I am still not sure how I feel about the movie but I know that other people would have strong view points. I can see some people taking this movie as a threat not only to the president but for the nation as well. There has been other movie about the assassination of presidents but it was never actually the president, it was always an actor playing the president. On the other hand I could see people thinking that it is a great movie for two reasons: 1) they do not like Bush and 2) because it was such a unique movie in the way that it was produced it is truly one of a kind.



The Big Lie

The events in this movie are not real and the whole premise of the movie is false. The viewer must have the understanding that this is a movie and not actual events. That said it is easy to get caught up in the movie and to think that it is actually real. The only time that they say that the movie is not real is a little blurb right before the movie starts. The whole movie is a big lie and people must understand it is for entertainment and not real.



Symbols

The movie took place around George W. Bush, one of the biggest symbols in the decade. There has been so much talk and controversy about Bush that everyone has their own opinion about him and at least can recognize him. He was the president of the US for two terms in a row and has had a lot of impact on the nation, which has made him a very recognizable symbol in the US.



Testimonials

There were testimonials throughout the movie of all the secret service men working with the president. They were giving their observations of what happened when Bush was shot and how they reacted. This made the movie seem even more real because there were people talking about it. They are actors don’t forget, but they did such a great job that I lost my sense of reality and movie. They did a great job of making it real.