The Power of Nightmares: Part 1 Review

I found the first part of The Power of Nightmares to be very interesting. I think that it is the beginning of a series that sheds a great deal of light on the American Military-Industrial Complex and the history of war that we have built in our country. At the beginning of the film I was having a little bit if a hard time following who the main players were and keeping them all straight since the film skips between the Soviet Union, Egypt, the U.S.A and other countries. By the end it made a bit more sense who the key players were and I felt more prepared to watch the second part which I was worried I would be confused for. It is an interesting film that offers commentary from all different kinds of people from varying backgrounds and political affiliations which is nice to see in a film about such a controversial and unclear subject.

Before watching this film I had never heard of Sayyid Qutb or any of his theories. I found it very interesting to hear about the way that he viewed American gluttony in the period of American industrialization and booming growth. The moment that is described in the film about Outb’s feelings when he was at the dance (I believe it was a dance) and they played “Baby it’s Cold Outside” and while it was the typical symbol of lust, love, and American freedom, Qutb felt that it was actually an unmistakable sign of being trapped by their own “selfish and greedy desires”. The clip and commentary just made me think about what it might be like to view something like that from a more ethnographic standpoint or from an outsider’s standpoint—I am sure that the people did not look as free as they felt.

            I was a bit confused about how Qutb ended up in prison but the description of the torture that he endured was sickening and not that I could ever condone it but I can somewhat understand how a person in that situation could develop such deep hatred and disgust from America after that. The film mentioned that his experience in prison being tortured helped him come to the further realization that Americans were infected with a disease called ”barbarous ignorance” and this disease was spreading around the world, and much to his disgust and surprise it had spread to Egypt and was running rampant. This was the disease of feeling free and being much less than that, it was really an act of being sold out by one’s own politicians.

            The film went on to discuss Leo Strauss and the group of students that he formed in which he planted the seed of the two myths in society; 1) religion, and 2) they myth of the nation…this was the idea that America had a specific mission, a destiny to be the force of good that brings down all forces of evil, starting with the Soviet Union.

            The film continues to discuss the way that the war played out in the Soviet Union and how the neoconservative agenda helped to shape the way that Americans viewed the Soviet people. This topic investigated Strauss’ first myth, religion and how the Christian religion was used by neoconservatives to push their particular, “force of good” agenda further. The big point that neoconservatives continued to push was that the Soviet Union was the force of all terrorist evil in the world and their time was up, they had to answer to the forces of good, America. What happened next was very interesting, there was a huge push to prove the claims against the Soviets and so the CIA was told to prove their theories and at that time it was uncovered that the CIA would not find any information on the matter because they had made it all up…The shocking part for me to hear was that Casey, the new head of the CIA did not believe that any of the claims had been false and thus he went on with his search to prove that the Soviets were indeed terrorists…and eventually he found the information he needed in order to launch a full out attack on the Soviets.

            The film basically ends there with a perfect segway into the second part of the series where we will surely see the aftermath of the attack on the Soviets. I think that this film fits in very well with the reading and discussions from class as it seems to provide a different discourse/a new kind of context for the history that we call our own. I myself can admit that I have been so unaware of the entire story that explains the war that we have been fighting in my country for over ten years and it is actually very embarrassing and shameful that I know so little about why it is even happening…I think that the first part of this film, while hard to watch is critical to understanding the history and I look forward to the next section!