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FANTASY MOVIES

July 31, 2006

Hollywood thrives on fantasy. From the Wizard of Oz to Star Wars to Maid in Manhattan, films transport you to a different world for two glorious hours.

Of course, fantasy can also be bitter and paranoid. Take the new "documentary" America: Freedom to Fascism. This piece of work "shows" how the income tax (which is by the way an unconstitutional theft that exists only to pay money to bankers as interest on the national debt) is leading us inexorably down the road to fascism. The producer, Aaron Russo, no doubt hopes to unseat the income tax like Michael Moore unseated President Bush.

Some reviews are now out. They include one today from The New York Times Pulitzer-winning tax correspondent, David Cay Johnston (CORRECTION: the Johnston piece was a news story, not a "review"), and one from Friday's New York Sun.

The Times review piece notes that the movie plays fast and loose with facts before you even enter the theater:

Aaron Russo, the producer of films like “Trading Places” and “The Rose,” promotes his new film, “America: From Freedom to Fascism,” which opened Friday, as having had its international premiere before a packed audience “during the Cannes Film Festival.”

The film was not on the program at Cannes, however, not even for screenings made under the festival’s aegis without being in the awards competition. Mr. Russo, the film’s director, writer and producer, just set up an inflatable screen on a beach. Photographs posted at one of Mr. Russo’s Web sites depict an audience of fewer than 50 people spread out on a platform on the sand.

Here are some quotes from the reviews pieces that the producers might use to promote this film. I have added the exclamation points! and selectively edited, in the style of movie ads everywhere.

"...you'd almost have to be crazy yourself to believe a word of it!" - The New York Sun.

"Arguments made in court that the income tax is invalid are so baseless...!" - The New York Times

The thesis of the movie apparently is that every President and Congresscritter since Woodrow Wilson has been in on this conspiracy. If so, American fascism has to be the most disciplined and patient political force ever known.

For some more reviews:

C/Net news
Austin Chronicle
Rotten Tomatoes

Of course, the TaxProf is also on the case.

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