“Love him, hate him; you don’t know him” is the tagline advertising the new documentary: “Obama 2016.” Based on Dinesh D’Souza’s 2010 book, “The Roots of Obama’s Rage,” the film explores Obama’s past, and focuses particularly on the influence of his absent father, Barack Obama Sr., a man full of extreme anti-colonial and anti-American values.The film seeks to interpret Barack Obama’s actions as president in light of his anti-colonialist background.
D’Souza discusses the similarities between Obama and himself, focusing especially on the fact that they both have strong ties to a world where colonialism is, or very recently was, a strong reality. He interviews Obama’s Kenyan half brother George, and others in Kenya who knew Barack Sr., in order to get a more complete picture of what he supported. The film also mentions the influence of radical anti-American men on the younger Obama, including Communist party member Frank Marshall Davis, founder of Weather Underground Bill Ayers, and Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
As the film explores Obama’s childhood, it effectively uses sound clips from Obama’s own reading of his autobiography, “Dreams from My Father.” The cinematography keeps the look of the film interesting even during interviews, although shaky handheld camera shots and extreme closeups can also be distracting. There are a few instances of poor sound quality, and places where the film could be more concise.
As might be expected from the tag line, the film rarely criticizes Obama’s specific policies (you can hear plenty of that without paying to see a movie). Instead, it focuses on how little America really knows about Obama’s past, why an unknown candidate was elected, and how the anti-colonial ideals that he inherited from his father explain many of his seemingly nonsensical actions as president.
The biggest problem with the film is that fails to clearly devine anti-colonialism.
Though D’Souza briefly mentions that Obama’s form of anti-colonialism blames the rich for the problems of the poor and differs from the Founders’ anti-colonialism that led to the Revolution, he spends very little time describing how it differs.
Overall, the film gives a very interesting perspective on the motivations of a president who is different from any president we’ve had in the past.
Some things could have been done better, but it is nevertheless an important perspective to hear.
