Nicholas Schou’s article in The Atlantic, How the CIA hoodwinked Hollywood, discusses the insidious access the Central Intelligence Agency has to Hollywood movers and shakers especially since September 11, 2001.
“Since the mid-1990s, but especially after 9/11, American screenwriters, directors, and producers have traded positive portrayal of the spy profession in film or television projects for special access and favors at CIA headquarters.
Ever since its inception in 1947, the CIA has been covertly working with Hollywood. But it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the agency formally hired an entertainment industry liaison and began openly courting favorable treatment in films and television. During the Clinton presidency, the CIA took its Hollywood strategy to a new level—trying to take more control of its own myth making. In 1996, the CIA hired one of its veteran clandestine officers, Chase Brandon, to work directly with Hollywood studios and production companies to upgrade its image. “We’ve always been portrayed erroneously as evil and Machiavellian,” Brandon later told The Guardian. “It took us a long time to support projects that portray us in the light we want to be seen in.”
With so many new opportunities for TV writing there is some balance, and even a glut of shows where government, big corporations, and anyone in a position of power is assumed to be inherently evil.
But, back to Hollywood -Frederic Richter, at the Center for Applied Liberal Arts, will be teaching Espionage on Film this semester (only 7 places left). Here’s a brief description of his course:
“From the far-fetched, albeit entertaining, worlds of the James Bond films to the nuanced depiction in The Lives of Others to the docudrama feel of Zero Dark Thirty, the characterization of the spy has continued to change along with current events.”
CALA is also hosting our second film series this fall – Political Landscapes: A View from Abroad. Please RSVP by clicking here. If you cannot attend every screening, Hunger (Director Steve McQueen), at Ireland House on November 4th is a must-see!