The other day, I had some time to kill, so I went to the movies, which, as it turns out, is a great way to kill a couple of hours.
Because of this impromptu trip, I didn’t look up any of the movies that were playing. I simply walked up to the counter, asked for a ticket to a show that was playing at that time, and then walked into the film ignorant to what I was about to see.
The film had just begun with an opening re-enactment of Hitler and Ava in the bunker at the end of World War II. So, I thought, “Great it’s a historical movie. I like historical movies.” My thoughts quickly turned to dismay when I realized that the film was a pro-Trump documentary called Death of a Nation.
Anyone who knows me knows I am not a Trump fan, so I sat in the theater and contemplated what to do. I had two options: I could stay and watch the movie that I had paid for already knowing that it might kill me to do so or I could leave and eat the eight dollars but keep my dignity.
On the one hand, I should stay because I could see what kind of shit the conservative media was spewing. Not to mention, leaving would mark me as a “snowflake” incapable of hearing a point of view starkly different to my own, which is a false representation.
On the other hand, the audience members’ pro-Trump and anti-logic rally cries we’re starting to make me feel like I was in danger of being swallowed up by my scarlet “non-conservative” mark of shame that became my reddening face.
So, I did what any millennial would do: I turned to my phone where I texted my usual suspects of friends and family for advice. Some told me to gtfo of there quick. Others told me to stick it out.
They were of no help.
The shame was building inside of me, and just when I thought it had reached its pinnacle, I was yelled at by a theater worker to put my phone away. My attention was redirected to the screen just in time to hear the filmmaker compare fascism to socialism and claim they are the same (they’re not) and to watch as the filmmaker also implied that Abraham Lincoln, FDR, Hitler, and Trump were the same, which is, of course, ridiculous unless the comparison is that they are all white men.
I had to leave.
It’s not like I was expecting the documentary to be fair and balanced or anything because we all know that documentaries are meant to show a skewed point of view; but, I would like to think that people would put a little more effort into fact checking the elements of the film before putting it in theater.
But, alas, I suppose this is just another one of those times where I’m disappointed and the world is unfair. Sigh.
Alyssa Explains It All 