The release of conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza's latest book and film, America: Imagine a World Without Her, has not been without controversy. After the film received tremendous critical acclaim – including an impressive A+ rating from CinemaScore – and the book debuted on the New York Times bestseller list, Costco made headlines for pulling the book from its shelves. According to reports, the second largest U.S. retailer has since reversed that decision after feeling the heat from customers and the media.
On radio this morning, D’Souza joined Glenn to discuss his latest work and the reaction it has received. Is the United States truly in a downward spiral, or is the best still yet to come?
One of the most interesting elements of D’Souza’s new work is the perspective it offers. D’Souza highlights the viewpoints of the most anti-American and the most patriotic Americans you can find, and it is that dichotomy that helps ground the film.
“I realized that there's this powerful critique of America. I call it ‘America the inexcusable,’” D’Souza explained. “It's being taught in our schools and colleges. It's spilled out in Hollywood and the media. It's espoused by Obama. And I thought… I'm going to get these guys and I'm going to let them rail against America. I'm going to have them explore the consequences of their beliefs.”
At one point, D’Souza asks radical political activist Ward Churchill if he would liken the United States to Nazi Germany, and if he would drop an atomic bomb on the country. It is seeing the way Churchill pauses and contemplates the scenario that is particularly fascinating.
“It's remarkable to see that these are people in America who hated America, and they are not marginal people. They are writing textbooks. They have powerful influence in government,” D’Souza said. “So this becomes a film that is a moral defense of America and the free market system against these powerful leftists… who now control the commanding heights of our culture and our politics.”
Earlier this week, Glenn spoke about his experience this Fourth of July. While he is typically the guy who cries at the fireworks display, he did not feel that connection this year. Pat agreed, as did several other members of TheBlaze staff. D’Souza explained this project tackles those feelings.
“I think, Glenn, that there is a natural patriotism that beats in the breast of Americans. It's been suppressed, derided, insulted and beaten down. And it's, and that's happened with political motive,” he said. “What I want to do in this film is I want to expose and refute this leftist critique. I want to show that the American history that it's based upon is selective and distorted – and deliberately so. Finally, I want to affirm people’s patriotism so that they fall in love with America all over again, and their motivated to do more to defend and protect the American Dream.”
Much like Glenn, D’Souza believes in order to “restore America,” we must first teach the “story of America.” A generation of students is now being raised to believe a very different version of history than that of their parents and grandparents. That trend must stop.
“The leftist narrative of America [is] highly distorted,” D’Souza said. “It leaves about 80% of America’s history out. So we can't restore America without telling the new story of America, in which we expose these lies about America.”
Ultimately, D’Souza hopes that this project will begin to inspire the American people again.
“Well, the last film 2016 was a little bit of a horror film, and it did leave some people feeling kind of stunned and depressed like, ‘Oh my God’ what have we done,” he concluded. “But the new film, America, is not a depressing film. It's a hopeful film. It's energizing. It will help… people fall in love with America.”
