Was Hillary Clinton crazy when she spoke of the "vast right-wing conspiracy," responsible for the relentless and costly attacks against her husband, President Billl Clinton? Filmmaker Jen Senko tries to understand the transformation of her father from a nonpolitical, life-long Democrat to an angry, right-wing fanatic. During her investigation she uncovers the forces behind the media that changed him completely: a plan by Roger Ailes under Nixon for a media takeover by the GOP, the Powell Memo urging business leaders to influence institutions of public opinion, especially the universities, the media and the courts, and, under Reagan, the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine. As her journey continues, we discover that her father is part of a much broader demographic, and that the story is one that affects us all. Through interviews with media luminaries, cognitive linguists, grassroots activists such as Noam Chomsky, Steve Rendall, Jeff Cohen, Eric Boehlert, George Lakoff, STOP RUSH, HearYourselfThink, Claire Conner and others, "The Brainwashing of My Dad" unravels the plan to shift the country to the Right over the last 30 years, largely through media manipulation. The result has lead to fewer voices, less diversity of opinion, massive intentional misinformation and greater division of our country. This documentary will shine a light on how it happened (and is still happening) and lead to questions about who owns the airwaves, what rights we have as listeners/watchers and what responsibility does our government have to keep the airwaves truly fair, accurate and accountable to the truth.
DVD features Frank Senko: Early Rantings, George Lakoff: Neural Circuits and the Impact of Words, Noam Chomsky: The New Germany, Thom Hartmann: The Great Forgetting, Mike Lofgren: False Equivalencies in the Media, Aaron Atchinson: Fox News on Military Bases, Dr. Kathleen Taylor: The 5 Stages of Brainwashing and the official "The Brainwashing of My Dad" trailer including English subtitles for the deaf and hearing-impaired.
