Thursday, March 19, 2020

Netflix toads.

This comment is about two yearts old:
Someone mentioned the Netflix documentary White Helmets winning the Oscar, and that jogged memories from a couple years ago when the movie was released. While browsing Netflix looking for movies, I came across it and clicked on to watch, quickly discovering it to be a one-sided propaganda piece glorifying White Helmets and demonizing The Syrian "regime". I went to the Netflix reviews for the film expecting to see posts exposing this, but was shocked with what I saw. There were 61 reviews at that time, and 57 of them were rated 5-star, two 4-star, one 3-star, with one 1-star review (it had been posted that day) which brought truth to the issue. I had never seen any film ever which got that percentage of 5-star ratings.

I posted a review (giving 1-star) pointing out who funded White Helmets, and informed viewers that there was a lot of information available which countered the film's narrative (including [Vanessa] Beeley and [Eva K.] Bartlett's first-hand reporting from Syria). My review (like the other critical one) was mild with no content which would violate any standards. I checked my posting for the next two days to check response, and was happy to see it listed at the top as the "most helpful" review (based on reviewer clicks). And guess what happened the next day? Both my review and the other 1-star had just disappeared; it was back to 100% positive reviews. . . .

I was disgusted with the whole thing and never checked back. I assume there are plenty of critical reviews there now. But there is no question the reviews were manipulated during the critical time period when the film was "hot", just released and leading up to the Oscars, with Hollywood celebrities singing the praises.

It may seem a trivial affair, but what it did for me was inform me of the depth and extent this propaganda happens, even in the most unlikely of places.

Comment by kabobyak on "The Media War On Truthful Reporting And Legitimate Opinions - A Documentary." By b, Moon of Alabama, 4/21/18.

2 comments:

Ed Bonderenka said...

Lotta sheep out there....

Col. B. Bunny said...

True dat. I don't think most people really concern themselves with politics or public policy. Even so, I have to at least nod in the direction of the oceans of propaganda under which we live (this quoted passage shedding light thereon). Starting with Rush's brilliant "montages" we got to see the bare bones of "The Narrative of the Hour."

The Brits heavily fund the Integrity Initiative (sic) and the White Helmets (PR arm of al Qaida). Lord knows what our National Endowment for Democracy does but we throw money at it. PBS seems to have forgotten what the "P" stands for in its acronym.

And it's all pretty insidious. Only late in life did I really acquire in antibodies to it. In no small part because government has lost ALL legitimacy, a legitimacy which I thought it had during the Cold War. Even those times saw massive leftist infiltration and deformation, an unfortunate byproduct of the great patriot McCarthy's political defeat.