This weekend I saw the new Michael Bay film. The only thing that deserves prominence in TRANSFORMERS 2 (http://www.transformersmovie.com/) is the careful valorization it does of military disobedience.

The conflict between the government agent in charge of taking care of the “transformers” and the military that takes care of them is resolved in favor of the latter. The images and dialog present and justify an hierarchy violation. The military puts a parachute in the nominated servant for the President and they play him off an airplane in the middle as if he was disposable.

Of the fiction for the reality. President Barack Obama, commander in boss of the USA Armed Forces in reason of the American Constitution, ordered to close Guantánamo. The world press announced that this decision takes the risk of being sabotaged by the Congress, which threatens to deny the necessary budget for closing the vile prison. It is not secret that some Americans soldiers demonstrated that they are obstacles to the closing of the Guantánamo camera of torture. A military judge arrived refusing to suspend the judgment of one of the processes.

Films always supply examples. The examples can be good (this is the case of “The Road to Guantánamo”, that it questions the injustices of the American Military Tribunals and the torture sponsored by the USA in Guantánamo) or bad examples (this is the case of Taken, in that the torture is justified and valued in certain situations -
http://sithan.multiply.com/journal/item/37/TAKEN)


When they make their choices, the scriptwriters and movies directors know exactly what they intend. The same is true for those that finance the production, and they made possible material conditions for the conclusion of the movie. In spite of valuing a break of military hierarchy (a terrible example exactly when the American society needs to submit their military ones to the civil power to end with the abomination of the tortures and of the Military Tribunals of exception), Michael Bay's new film finishes well. The world is saved and the actors and digital protagonists appear in the track of an aircraft carrier beside the military ones.

The militarism is a terrible phenomenon, which is reinforced in all of the social institutions. Media and culture can turn to create slaves faithful of the military values. Was that not what happened in Nazi Germany?

I read several criticisms that TRANSFORMERS 2 has received:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1055369/

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/06/27/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-wreaks-havoc-on-the-saturday-box-office-report/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_revenge_of_the_fallen/


In general, the authors of the texts were limited to do propaganda of the film. The most meticulous write-up made a small summary of the movie. But nobody played in the problem of the violation of military hierarchy. Innocent or no, all valued the film and the perverse message that it diffuses.

I don't have doubt on which Nazi message that Michael Bay film passes to the expectant. And you?

Believe me, military and authoritarian values are pushed in many other institutions in US society besides the military. The last place one would expect to find these values is in a public library, but I worked in three different systems in California and, believe me, those values were pushed hard there. They have seeped into every crevice in the country - as they did in Germany under the Kaiser and then under Hitler.
The bosses in these places love to throw around military/corporate words and metaphors, hoping that some of the power enjoyed by the Army or by Haliburton might somehow rub off on them. These not so well educated bureaucrats are more and more using words like "the chain of command" or "I run a tight ship." Right after 911 employees at one, the Long Beach Public Library, were ordered to racially profile library users if they asked to look at photographs of local buildings. If they looked like they were from the Middle East, we were supposed to try to get their names and illegally turn them over to the Long Beach Police Department, in violation of the Privacy Clause of the California State Constitution and the clear intent of the US Constitution. If we had done so, some of them may have wound up in Gitmo.

I have seen this movie before few days only. I recommend this movie :)

This is a good article:

http://www.truthout.org/080609A?n