America: Imagine the World Without Her Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		1.0

America: Imagine the World Without Her Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 23, 2014

We typically try to steer away from overt political commentary at Blu-ray.com, but there’s unfortunately not a way to completely avoid that subject when considering America: Imagine the World Without Her, for this is a piece of political propaganda of the highest order. Starring conservative hero and Fox News regular Dinesh D’Souza, who sprang to fame among right wing circles with his anti-Obama “documentary” 2016, this piece comes replete with several clips from Fox News, along with the imprimatur of Rush Limbaugh, whose pull quote adorns the cover. It should therefore not be very surprising to anyone who has given our current sociopolitical climate even a cursory glance that America: Imagine the World Without Her plays like something of a fever dream for those who are convinced our current President is out to destroy our country, albeit with the help of nasty, nefarious “progressives” or “liberals”. Slickly produced, but filled with absolutely outrageous content (probably even for some diehard conservatives), America: Imagine the World Without Her attempts to “correct” the supposed record of the liberal establishment in “shaming” (D’Souza’s own oft-repeated word) America by bringing up such peccadilloes as injustices fostered against Native Americans, black slaves and even Mexicans. Unfortunately, D’Souza, not exactly the subtlest of screed creators, goes to extremes at the other end of the spectrum, offering an ironic “apology tour” (an epithet conservatives often aim at Obama, of course) where he actually attempts to justify things like slavery.

Like the worst hypothetical outing on History Channel, America: Imagine the World Without Her begins with a “pretend” battle during the Revolutionary War where a certain General named George Washington gets offed by a British sharpshooter. That magically makes Washington’s head, along with his three stony siblings, disappear from Mt. Rushmore, which in turns leads to a cascading series of vanishings including everything from the Lincoln Monument to the Statue of Liberty. D’Souza’s take on his subject is clear from the get go: America ( by which he of course means only the United States, not upstarts like Mexico or Canada) is the savior of the world, and with no savior, things are obviously going to hell in a handbasket. Of course, D’Souza’s corollary thesis is that things are already nicely handbasketed in Hades anyway, making part of America: Imagine the World Without Her a study in unintentional irony.

D’Souza then goes on to list a bunch of “indictments” against America, part of this so-called “shaming” he has been forced to endure since immigrating here some thirty or so years ago. These include the enforced slavery of untold numbers of Native Americans, not to mention the requisitioning of their lands; the annexation of a huge swath of the continent which used to be part of Mexico; and, of course, slavery. These are not the only issues D’Souza raises, but these might be seen as the central trifecta in what D’Souza insists has been decades, maybe even centuries, of unfair thinking and, ultimately, reportage about America’s legacy.

The piece includes some brief interviews with firebrands like Ward Churchill, while occasionally giving lip service to concerns voiced by Native Americans or descendants of slaves, but always with a slightly condescending air that seems to suggest these people are misguided at best, and disappointingly unappreciative at worst. D’Souza rather incredibly tries to defend practices like slavery by using straw man arguments like “well, white people were enslaved, too,” and the even more specious “well, everyone was doing it, so why single out America for disparagement?” It’s really distasteful and completely undercuts his own attempt to build a supposedly more rational response to America’s history. This is rational?

As Jon Stewart likes to point out repeatedly on The Daily Show, there seems to be a certain kind of victimhood that is endemic to some of the approaches fostered by people like D’Souza. D’Souza posits himself as a freedom fighter of sorts, refusing to be “intimidated” by liberals who question practices like slavery, while insisting that America has never made even the slightest mistake in its two centuries-plus of existence. He also glosses over his recent arrest for campaign finance violations (which he pled guilty to), simply mentioning in passing "So, I made a mistake," though it's notable that his presentation makes sure to show him in handcuffs in an obviously staged scene (like Stewart says: victim mentality). Stewart himself often has intriguing conversations with conservatives and right wing pundits where he’s able to forge a kind of middle ground of understanding. Since Stewart has lately gotten into feature filmmaking, maybe he and D’Souza should collaborate on a piece. That is something worth imagining.

America: Imagine the World Without Her Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

America: Imagine the World Without Her is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. As should probably be expected from a piece cobbled together from new footage and some stock elements, there is a somewhat variegated look to this presentation. The bulk of the film looks very good, including the contemporary interview segments as well as some of the historical recreations (fanciful as they may be). Colors are accurate looking and nicely saturated. Some of the stock footage is culled from various sources that do not offer quite the same level of detail and precision, and there are occasional issues with image instability and video noise.

America: Imagine the World Without Her Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

America: Imagine the World Without Her features a perfectly workmanlike DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 that springs to life with effects during sequences like the Revolutionary battle scene where Washington gets taken out, or the kind of syrupy string laden score that wafts through much of the film. The bulk of the sound design here is simply D'Souza himself either narrating or interviewing people, which obviously does not offer a lot in terms of surround activity or sonic "wow". Fidelity is nonetheless excellent and there are no problems to report.

America: Imagine the World Without Her Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Complete Interviews (1080p; 33:53)


• Extended Scenes (1080p; 14:04)

America: Imagine the World Without Her Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm sure there will be those who are going to insist that my own personal biases have somehow blinded me to the "truth" of this supposed documentary. I would only say I am a first generation American, the son of an immigrant (Jewish) father who rose to the rank of Major General in the United States Army and who instilled in me a profound respect and admiration for my country. In my many years at the ballot box, I've voted for Republicans, Democrats and Independents, basing my choices on ideas and character rather than party affiliation. But something like America: Imagine the World Without Her just ends up making me both angry and sad. Certainly our political discourse deserves something better than this kind of glossy but empty diatribe. Nonetheless, there are going to be members of this particular choir who will want D'Souza to preach to them, and for them, technical merits on this release are generally strong.