20 People Share Movies They Believe Are Actually Pure Propaganda

Movies are essentially propaganda. Each one attempts to sell us specific values, lifestyles, and similar concepts.

Some of them are subtle, while others are so blatant that they become somewhat ridiculous yet special at the same time. The very fact that directors and producers are not even trying to hide the fact that they’ve created a propaganda movie makes them hilarious.

Once you approach such movies as propaganda, you will be able to enjoy them much more. For instance, movies are one of the most powerful means of implementing “soft power.”

This is a way of influencing other countries and nations by distributing films that portray your own culture and way of life positively. Just look at Hollywood – it has managed to spread U.S. soft power throughout the globe.

Some of the most apparent examples of propaganda are military movies. Have you noticed that whenever there is a significant military presence in a film, the portrayal by the director is always positive?

That is because if you want the military to support your movie, your script has to go through them first. That’s why movies that lack military support often feature a small number of vehicles and equipment, mostly outdated.

The producers are forced to find them in the open market. The truth is, if you want a big-bang military spectacle, you have to be nice to the army.

Someone asked Redditors: “Which movies do you think are straight-up propaganda?” And the answers came pouring in.

We’ve chosen 40 of the most interesting responses, and we have to say we agree with most of them. Take a look:

Someone asked:

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1. The Internship

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2. What the Bleep Do We Know?

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3. Rocky 4

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4. Battleship

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5. Raging Bull

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6. Greatest Showman

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7. Rambo 3

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8. The Lego Movie (what was unclear about that?)

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9. Zero Dark Thirty

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10. Birth of a Nation

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11. Battlefield Earth

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12. The Interview

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13. Top Gun

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14. Cast Away

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15. Wreck-It Ralph

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16. Space Jam 2

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17. Night at the Museum

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18. Green Berets

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19. God's Not Dead

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20. Transformers movie franchise

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21. Red Dawn

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22. American Sniper

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23. The new Mulan

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24. Pearl Harbor

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25. Thomas & The Magic Railroad

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26. United Passions

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27. Hero

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28. Black Hawk Down

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29. Captain America

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30. Left Behind

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31. Shirley Temple movies

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32. Reefer Madness

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33. Ip Man movies

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34. CSI and NCIS

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35. 24

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36. Starship Troopers

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37. Behind Enemy Lines

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38. The Pursuit of Happyness

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39. Independence Day

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40. Armageddon

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Sometimes shows like CSI are referred to as "copaganda," which is a fun term. But regardless of the context or what you call it, it's worth keeping an eye on media that centers on police, as there are some pretty strange tropes in the genre.

Black Hawk Down was a huge hit. However, the movie differs significantly from the book it was based on. The book described how the locals did not like the U.S. Army and were quite hostile. In the movie, the U.S. Army is portrayed as the savior of that troubled country.

Additionally, one of the soldiers actually took a family hostage, and the main character in the movie is based on a soldier who was later convicted of rape.