Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that America -- a documentary film from Dinesh D'Souza and John Sullivan -- has a distinctly conservative point of view. It uses interviews, newsreel footage, reenactments (some showing violent battles with rifles, bayonets, and on-camera deaths), as well as speeches and the written words of America's founders to claim that there's an ongoing conspiracy, fuelled by leftist radicals, to shame America, undermine the country's principles, and ultimately cause its destruction by "suicide" from within. D'Souza is the interviewer, the narrator, and the lecturer. A few short scenes depart from actual history -- i.e. in a reenactment, George Washington is killed by a sniper's bullet, but he's soon on screen again, alive and well, as he leads the country in its formative years.¿ How this film will be perceived depends mostly on viewers' existing attitudes and beliefs. ¿For those who come to the film with no preconceptions, it's crucial to have resources for fact-checking and to understand who the players are and what they hope to achieve.
Sexual
Content
Not applicable
Violence
Re-enactments of historical battles show gunfire, bayonets, and violent hand-to-hand combat; men are killed and fall to the ground. One theoretical scene shows a sniper firing on and killing George Washington.
Language
Not applicable
Social
Behavior
Depending on your political beliefs, the film's message about conspiracy and destruction will either resonate with you or not. The arguments are stated as fact, then all material included is designed to confirm that presumption.
Consumerism
Not applicable
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
A few characters smoke (particularly in the filmed reenactments).
