Right America: Feeling Wronged
a film by Alexandra Pelosi
45 mins (approximate)
HBO Documentary Films
We sometimes think of Rev. Fred Phelps as a lone wolf, an outsider that not even hardcore Republicans want to be associated with, thanks to his funeral protests and “God Hates Fags” signs.
After seeing the deeply disturbing Right America: Feeling Wronged, filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi’s latest, you’ll see that Phelps’s attitudes actually represent a much larger portion of the Far Right than some of us have realized.
Shot in October 2008, Pelosi followed John McCain and Sarah Palin on the campaign trail. As the losing team stopped at various spots in the Midwest and South, Pelosi conducted impromptu interviews with their supporters.
As she has with her other subjects (which includes Ted Haggard) Pelosi focuses her camera and lets her interviewees speak for themselves. In not offering her own judgments or commentaries, Pelosi (the daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) gives new meaning to the term “let them hang themselves.”
It begins with relatively gentle, albeit childish name calling. “NoBama. Obamanation”, says several giggling McCain supporters in Beaver, Pa.
But one woman isn’t giggling.
“There’s only one God, and you better sit up and take notice,” she says angrily. Others speak of how frightened they are for the future of America.
In Ohio, a local McCain campaign manager points to the Obama/Biden sign on her neighbor’s lawn. “They’re a lesbian couple,” she says. “I’m afraid to get into an argument with them.” She whispers the word lesbian. Is she afraid she’ll become one if she speaks the word aloud?
Things get much, much worse the further south Pelosi and her camera travel. A toddler is seen wearing a sign that proclaims “Spreading the Wealth Sucks.” Men in North Carolina say they’re “not ready for a black president” — they then tell us that they’re not prejudiced.
One man uses the N-word freely, and informs Pelosi that if he had his way, she wouldn’t have the right to vote. “But that’s just me,” he says.
As the film progresses, we see just how obsessive the far right is with homosexuality. The Obama/Osama jokes flow freely. The current president in even compared to Hitler.
In packed coliseums where McCain and Palin appear, the lack of diversity is painfully obvious. All that’s missing are the white hoods.
Perhaps we can thank the Lord (to paraphrase our opponents) at who won the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
Right America: Feeling Wronged, will air on the following dates:
HBO: March 7 and 10
HBO 2: March 2, 18 and 31
Due to different feeds for HBO in different time zones, please check local listings.
David Alex Nahmod lives in San Francisco, where he does film/DVD reviews & celebrity interview for a variety of publications. Visit him at: DavidsOpenForum.Blogspot.com
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David:
I saw this movie with my partner Jamie this week. It was profoundly disturbing and shows how much work we need to do.
Comment by Wayne Besen — February 26, 2009 @ 5:18 pm