America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014) on Netflix
PG-1320141h 45mDocumentary
A documentary argues that American history is taught as a story of shame. Reenactments, interviews and imagined worlds without the country make the case for what it says is left out.
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- Netflix1.5/5
- IMDb5.0/107,269 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes8%
Trailer
Plot summary
An immigrant who chose America argues that his adopted country is being taught to despise itself. He answers four indictments he says are made against it: the fate of Native peoples, slavery, the taking of Mexican lands, and its conduct abroad. Counterfactual scenes picture a world without America, among them one in which George Washington dies in the Revolutionary War and one in which the country divides after a civil war. Reenactments bring back figures from Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln to Madame C. J. Walker and Saul Alinsky, and interviews with politicians, activists and scholars put the arguments. He argues that the country's prosperity was built rather than taken.
Cast
- Rich Bentzas Saul Alinsky
- Grady Allen Bishopas Crew Member
- John Koopmanas Young George Washington
- Don Tayloras Abraham Lincoln
- Michelle Swinkas Mary Todd Lincoln
- Janitta Swainas Madame C. J. Walker
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The filmmakers wanted to license Rodney Atkins's song "It's America", but one of the songwriters refused because of the documentary's political premise. They instead had Dave Mustaine, founder of Megadeth, record a heavy metal guitar version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the film.
- Actor John Koopman III, a Colchester, Connecticut resident who had portrayed George Washington at state and national parks, was cast as Washington and brought his own historical wardrobe and horse to the four-day shoot in Camden, South Carolina.
- Shortly before the film's release, Costco pulled D'Souza's book from its shelves, saying sales were low. D'Souza called that "preposterous", noted the book was ranked #1 on Amazon.com's bestseller list, and asserted it was pulled because Costco co-founder James Sinegal supported Obama's politics; Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary's release for the reorder.
- The filmmakers hired Christian marketing firms to create a sermon with video clips based on the documentary; over 1,000 preachers had downloaded it by June 19, 2014, and insiders expected 5,000 before release. They also emailed 120,000 evangelical churches and hired Faithit.com to contact 80,000 Christian consumers.
- D'Souza edited an 80-minute cut of the film for educational purposes, removing interviews with political pundits; he said, "It's all purely historical content now."
- The nonprofit Movie to Movement invited President Barack Obama and members of Congress to a free screening in August 2014; its founder budgeted $5,500 for the politicians' tickets and would secure a digital copy if the film was not in a nearby theater.
- The film shows clips of Woody Harrelson condemning U.S. treatment of Native Americans and of Matt Damon's character mentioning Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States in Good Will Hunting, plus a Bono clip used without his participation.
