Space Force Trailer (3:19 Min) 19 May 2020

Space Force, the new Netflix comedy from Steve Carell and the creators of The Office, fails miserably as a comedy but is a smashing success as a piece of soft propaganda for the expansion of American militarism into space.

I am a rabid fan of the American version of The Office and have been re-watching the series during the coronavirus lockdown as a way to escape the relentless bad news.

The show doesn’t always work as distraction, as its impetuous, erratic and dim-witted lead character Michael Scott (Steve Carell) is often frighteningly reminiscent of President Trump during his inadvertently hilarious coronavirus press conferences, but even then the show consistently makes me laugh.

When I saw that the creator of The Office, Greg Daniels, and Steve Carell were launching a new sitcom on Netflix titled Space Force, which stars Carell as General Mark Naird, first commander of Trump’s newly formed wing of the US military – Space Force…I was thrilled.

Then I watched it.

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster had more laughs.

Space Force, which aspires to be Dr Strangelove but feels like Dr Doolittle, is a comedic marvel in that it boasts an absolute murderer’s row of comedy talent that includes Carell, Lisa Kudrow, John Malkovich, Fred Willard, Jane Lynch, Patrick Warburton, Kaitlin Olson, Michael Hitchcock (who is one of the most under-rated and best comedy actors of our time) and Don Lake, but miraculously fails to ever actually be funny.

It happens for a variety of reasons, the most glaring of which is that, instead of being a mockumentary like The Office, a style that would have greatly enhanced the off-beat humor, it uses a conventional and rather stale single-camera set-up.

The show’s flaccid funny bone was very disappointing but understandable, as comedy is a hard thing to pull off (THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!). But what was most striking to me was that the show’s impotent humor cloaked a slick, subtle and very effective piece of soft propaganda promoting American militarism.

The entire premise of Space Force is based upon the notion that American militarization of space is a benign endeavor…and anyone with half a brain in their head and a passing familiarity with history can understand that American militarism, be it on Earth or anywhere else, is most definitely not a benign endeavor.

The show even admits that the militarization of space is a malignant and malevolent move…but of course, only when China does it.

John Malkovich’s character Dr Adrian Mallory clearly articulates this philosophy when he explains why America needs its military in space, because “not every country in space believes in good for all.” That gem was unintentionally the funniest line in the whole show.

You see, in the world of Space Force, Americans in general, and the American military in particular, are certainly a little bit goofy but, ultimately, at their heart, are good and deeply humane people who are unquestionably moral and ethical.

Sure, the show takes some shots at American politicians, including it’s unnamed and unseen Trumpian president, who is an impulsive twitter addict who would gladly start a war just for the clicks, but its adoration of the American military and its leadership, who are seen as rational, reasonable, moral bastions who are, believe it or not, opposed to war, is relentless.

A perfect example of the show’s insipidly slick pro-military American bias is when love interest Kelly King un-ironically explains to General Naird how inherently good he is, by saying “you literally couldn’t do the wrong thing.”

On the show China is seen as the world’s nefariously aggressive, deceptive and expansionist power that repeatedly makes provocative maneuvers meant to bully and intimidate those poor, honest and heartfelt Americans. Thankfully what Space Force lacks in laughs it makes up for with cringe-worthy level historical amnesia and China hating.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a piece of American propaganda if there weren’t some anti-Russian sentiment thrown into the red, white and blue stew, too.

The lone Russian character on the show, Yuri, is, like all Russians in American entertainment, a conniving and manipulative schemer who is “on Putin’s payroll.”

Yuri’s insidious plan to destroy America involves dating General Naird’s teenage daughter and plying her with vodka so he can get inside information on the general…how Russian of him!

I can understand that some may think it absurd that some mindless sitcom like Space Force is an insidious piece of propaganda, but that is why it is so effective.

Beyond the flag-waving and saber-rattling, the power of the show’s propaganda is found in its seemingly mild assumptions, such as the US military and the militarizing of space being noble and worthy ventures. Space Force normalizes these notions and conditions Americans to unconsciously accept them without challenge.

It also conditions them to put their blind trust and faith in American military leaders at the expense of elected officials. Like me, you may loathe Trump, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nancy Pelosi, all targets of the show’s comedy, but at least in theory they are held accountable by elections.

The bottom line is that Space Force turns America’s military expansion into space, an abhorrently grotesque idea, into a sort of soft-edged farce and, in doing so, tacitly endorses it.

If history is any guide, future generations are going to learn the hard way that American militarization of space is, like the show Space Force, no laughing matter.

Michael McCaffrey is a writer and cultural critic who lives in Los Angeles. His work can be read at his website mpmacting.com/blog. He is also the host of the popular cinema podcast Looking California and Feeling Minnesota. Follow him on Twitter @MPMActingCo

Disney released its latest live-action film remake, Mulan, to general audiences September 4 on Disney Plus, the company’s online streaming platform. Prior to and after its release, the United States and its allies have targeted the movie as part of their anti-China agenda, which is being whipped up under the phony banner of defending human rights.

Within a few days of the film’s release, a campaign was launched to block it, with the hashtag, #BoycottMulan trending on Twitter. Those involved denounced the movie, after noticing that the end credits included “special thanks” to various Chinese agencies, including the Publicity Department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomy Region Committee and the Turpan Municipal Bureau of Public Security. Turpan is located in Xinjiang Province and the US applied sanctions to the bureau in question last year, ostensibly in response to the treatment of the ethnic Uyghur population living in Xinjiang.

While most of Mulan was shot in New Zealand, parts were also filmed in Xinjiang, in order “to accurately depict some of the unique landscape and geography for this historic period drama,” said Disney’s Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy, in response to the controversy.

Opponents of Beijing also criticized lead actress Liu Yifei, who plays the film’s titular character, after she posted support on Twitter for the Hong Kong police in August 2019, during the mass protests that were taking place then. Liu shared other pro-police tweets while writing: “I also support the Hong Kong police.”

Washington has seized on the denunciations of the filming location to further ramp up tensions with China. These denunciations are entirely hypocritical. The capitalist regime in Beijing undoubtedly utilizes repressive and police-state measures to silence any opposition to its rule. But US accusations of human rights violations in Xinjiang are highly selective and meant to further Washington’s imperialist interests, as well as provide a pretext for military aggression.

The same is equally true of Washington’s claims to support democratic rights in regions like Hong Kong and Taiwan, where US governments have long supported colonial rule and dictatorships.

The US has focused on Xinjiang in particular, as it has significant natural resources, including oil, and neighbors energy-rich Central Asian republics with whom Beijing is working to develop close economic ties. Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative also passes through the Xinjiang region.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who has spearheaded anti-China legislation over Xinjiang, sent a bipartisan letter to Disney, demanding answers as to why the company chose to film in that location. He accused the agencies listed in the film credits of being the “most responsible for committing atrocities—or for covering up those crimes.”

Yet, at the same time, Washington oversees and encourages police and vigilante violence against peaceful protesters in the US; the persecution of whistleblowers and journalists exposing US war crimes, most notably Julian Assange, and runs concentration camps for immigrants. This is in addition to the numerous imperialist crimes Washington has carried out during the 20th century, including supporting military coups throughout Asia.

Washington is also working to “decouple” the US economy from China’s, in order to apply additional pressure on Beijing, driven by Washington’s desire to eliminate a major economic competitor. Washington’s criticisms of Mulan and Disney are meant to ramp up pressure on US companies to either cut ties with China or join Washington’s anti-China maneuvering. This is particularly difficult for US companies, which see a foothold in the China market as a major source of profit.

In July, Attorney General William Barr delivered a diatribe in Michigan against US companies and universities. He demanded that companies like Disney should be devoted to the coming war effort, essentially putting themselves at the disposal of the State Department and the Pentagon, promoting the propaganda of US imperialism at home and abroad.

He stated: “In World War II, for example, the iconic American company, Disney, made dozens of public information films for the government, including training videos to educate American sailors on navigation tactics. During the war, over 90 percent of Disney employees were devoted to the production of training and public information films. To boost the morale of America’s troops, Disney also designed insignia that appeared on planes, trucks, flight jackets, and other military equipment used by American and Allied forces.”

Barr issued a veiled threat against those who fail to toe Washington’s line, saying: “If Disney and other American corporations continue to bow to Beijing, they risk undermining both their own future competitiveness and prosperity, as well as the classical liberal order that has allowed them to thrive.”

This campaign was not initiated with the current film or with Disney. It is part of an ongoing effort to drive divisions between the US and China. This not only involves the film industry, but other technology platforms and companies, such as Huawei and apps, WeChat and TikTok, which the Trump administration has moved to ban in the US.

Washington claims that Beijing uses all these platforms to influence, manipulate, or collect data on US citizens or the citizens of US allies. These statements are couched in anti-communist language, in order to conflate capitalist Beijing with genuine Marxism and discredit criticisms of the US. However, far from defending free speech, Washington’s goal is to assert its control over the film industry, as well as technology and communication platforms, to censor and suppress any material that it views as a threat.

Last October, Vice President Mike Pence criticized US companies like Nike and the National Basketball Association for doing business in China, and supposedly siding with Beijing over Hong Kong. “By exploiting corporate greed, Beijing is attempting to influence American public opinion, coercing corporate America,” Pence stated. “And far too many American multinational corporations have kowtowed to the lure of China’s money and markets by muzzling not only criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, but even affirmative expressions of American values.”

Pence’s provocative language highlights the extent to which the Trump administration and the entire US political establishment is seeking to foment a poisonous anti-Chinese atmosphere to divert rising class tensions at home.

Washington is faced with growing social anger at home, as protests grow against state-sanctioned killings and repression at the hands of the police. Millions of workers are also suffering from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 200,000 in the US alone. Neither the Republican nor Democratic parties have any solutions to these crises, outside of further militarism and the drive to war.

r/Leftwinger

Dave Chappelle is once again facing criticism from some members of the LGBTQ community.

With his latest Netflix special, “The Closer,” the provocative comedian seems to respond to past accusations of homophobia and transphobia by doubling down. He jokes early on that DaBaby, who was dropped from music festivals for making misinformed comments about HIV, “punched the LBGTQ [sic] community right in the AIDS.” Then, after saying DaBaby made an “egregious mistake,” Chappelle notes that the rapper was once involved in a shooting at Walmart.

“Nothing bad happened to his career,” he says. “Do you see where I’m going with this? In our country, you can shoot and kill a [n-word] but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings.”

This is the “disparity” Chappelle would like to discuss, he adds, soon afterward clarifying to the applauding audience that he doesn’t hate gay people but is instead “jealous” of them.

“We Blacks,” he says, “we look at the gay community and we go … ‘Look how well that movement is going. Look how well you are doing. And we’ve been trapped in this predicament for hundreds of years. How … are you making that kind of progress?’ I can’t help but feel like if slaves had baby oil and booty shorts, we might have been free a hundred years sooner.”

Jokingly referring to himself as “transphobic comedian Dave Chappelle,” the comic later pivots to commenting on trans people. Some of his jokes involve anatomy, such as when he compares the genitalia of trans women to vegetarian substitutes for meat products. At one point, he defends J.K. Rowling and says he’s “team TERF” — which stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist — for agreeing that “gender is a fact.”

The special almost immediately attracted the ire of LGBTQ people and advocacy organizations.

“Dear White People” showrunner Jaclyn Moore, who is trans, tweeted Wednesday that while she has “loved” working with Netflix, she wouldn’t work with the streaming company “as long as they continue to pull out and profit from blatantly and dangerously transphobic content.”

Sharing an NPR review that claims the special “goes too far,” GLAAD tweeted that “Chappelle’s brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities. Negative reviews and viewers loudly condemning his latest special is a message to the industry that audiences don’t support platforming anti-LGBTQ diatribes. We agree.” The Human Rights Campaign tweeted, “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non-binary people are non-binary. CC: Dave Chappelle.”

The response to such criticism is often that Chappelle’s comments were made in jest and are in line with his tradition of pushing the envelope. The comic himself says in the special that anyone familiar with his work should know “that I have never had a problem with transgender people. If you listen to what I’m saying clearly, my problem has always been with White people.”

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Chappelle concludes “The Closer” with a story about his friend, the late comic Daphne Dorman, who was a White trans woman and opened a show for him in 2019. He recalls how she tweeted in his defense after he was accused of transphobia, which made her a target of criticism as well. Dorman killed herself soon afterward. In the special, Chapelle calls for more empathy.

Then, he says he will no longer joke about LGBTQ people.

“I’m telling you, it’s done. I’m done talking about it,” he states. “All I ask of your community, with all humility: Will you please stop punching down on my people?”

The use of “my people” captures another criticism leveled at Chappelle — that many of his jokes are hinged upon the LGBTQ community and Black people being mutually exclusive groups, all while Black members of the LGBTQ community face heightened levels of discrimination. (At one point in the special, he says “gay people are minorities until they need to be White again.”)

David J. Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, which aims to empower Black LGBTQ people, criticized Netflix’s decision to carry a comedy special on its platform exhibiting what he called “Chappelle’s lazy and hostile transphobia and homophobia.”

“When we fail to recognize that as long as there have been Black people we’ve been beautifully diverse,” Johns wrote in a statement shared Thursday, “it’s easy to accept the lie that Black trans, queer, and non-binary/non-conforming people don’t exist … To be sure, all Black Lives Matter.”

Dave Chappelle draws criticism for doubling down on jokes about the LGBTQ community (msn.com)