So I just got done watching “Shooter” (thanks, NetFlix!), advertised to be the new “Bourne Identity”. Great cinematic drama, action packed and interesting from start to finish. I don’t want to spoil anything (yet!), so I’ll just say Marky-Mark (Mark Wahlberg) plays an ex Marine gunnery sergeant slash scout sniper gone survivalist, and pulls it off fairly well. Well, somewhat believably, at least. It was even a cute touch to put Marky-Mark in an Eagle’s jacket at one point in the movie.

If you’re looking for raw action with lots of political intrigue and bad guys who should be good guys, this can be a fun, if predictable, watch.

Now for some spoilers… stop reading now if you’ve not yet seen the movie and don’t want me to reveal important plot lines. (But come back after you’ve seen it and see if you agree!)

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It’s just too bad they didn’t leave it at “interesting” and “exciting”.

The movie is set in current times, throwing around well known political points like Iraq’s WMD’s, Abu-Ghraib, and the fighting in Africa. The bad guys, namely the ever so lovable Danny Glover (Hugo Chavez’ favorite America hating actor), are highly placed civilian contractors in the employ of the US government. Danny boy’s role is that of a former Army Colonel who orchestrates massacres for a fat wicked senator (played by Ned [Deliverance] Beatty); Danny tries to set up Marky to take the fall for the murder of an African Bishop disguised as an attempt to kill the President. Twisted, but it all fits together nicely…

Then, if you think about it just a little, you realize the movie is depicting many of the evil schemes that assholes like Chavez, CNN, the NY Times, the political left, and other notable conspiracy theorists of the day accuse our government of perpetrating on a daily basis. Conveniently putting recognizable faces on the conspiracies makes them memorable… and since the vast majority of the public take their cues (and learn the news) from actors and pop-stars, this bullshit becomes truth in their minds.

Nice work, Hollywood. It’s so evil and insidious that I almost can’t believe how effective it is and will become.

I see through it – but I don’t have much confidence in my fellow citizen to do the same. I have no idea how to fight an idea that is planted and nurtured in a willfully ignorant public that refuses to even take the time to consider the issues and vote their conscience once every few years. Religion may be the opiate of the masses, but the 21st century’s control mechanisms are far closer to those described by George Orwell than anything dreamed up by ancient biblical story-tellers. And Hollywood rakes in BILLIONS every year.

Welcome to the new world.