It sounds almost unimaginable, but it isn’t the script of a new Hollywood movie: the Pentagon has literally forced movie producers to turn villains into heroes, add U.S. Military rescues, as well as changing scenes that they deem “sensitive.”
Producers and directors say they are literally being forced to re-write scripts. If the United States Department of Defense deems their content inappropriate, the changes are strongly “suggested.” The relevant files about this military involvement in Hollywood, from the California-based Department of Defense Entertainment Liaison Office were released after a Freedom of Information Act request by Bath University’s Dr Matthew Alford, whose research focuses on the relationship between entertainment, political power, and propaganda in the United States.
The 1,400-page military document can be downloaded as the 2004-5 weekly reports here and the 2005-6 weekly reports here.
The sheer size of the DOD’s involvement in the entertainment industry is mind-boggling. The full DOD film list details just how much the military has involved itself in Hollywood.
Such involvement includes altering scripts to accommodate Pentagon requests, many have in exchange gained inexpensive access to militarylocations, vehicles and gear they need to make their films.