2016: Obama’s America

“2016: Obama’s America” is a political documentary by conservative* author and commentator* Dinesh D’Souza. The film is based on D’Souza’s 2010 New York Times best-selling book “The Roots of Obama’s Rage.”

The documentary begins with D’Souza on screen describing his experiences as an Indian-American immigrating to the United States, as a college student at Dartmouth College, and then as an editor at the conservative magazine Policy Review, comparing himself to Obama, whose father was Kenyan.

The film changes location to Indonesia, where a young Barack Obama is being reared* by his mother Ann Dunham and stepfather Lolo Soetoro. A psychiatrist* discusses the negative effect of an absentee father on his children, and Obama’s half brother, George Obama, is interviewed.

As Obama’s parents’ relationship becomes strained, Obama is sent to Hawaii to live with his grandparents and meets Frank Marshall Davis. Obama begins his college studies at Columbia, where the film claims he is influenced by anti-colonial* figures. His progression into an intellectual* is highlighted by a return visit to Kenya.

D’Souza discusses Obama’s father, Barack Obama Sr., and what D’Souza describes as Obama Sr.’s anti-colonialist views of the British Empire. This, according to D’Souza, explains why Obama supposedly rejects American exceptionalism* and why D’Souza believes he is attempting to “reshape America.”

D’Souza delves into what he terms the “founding fathers” from Obama’s past, including Frank Marshall Davis, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Edward Said, and Roberto Unger.

As a result, the film argues that President Obama wants to significantly reduce the United States’ influence within the world while increasing the influence of nations that he believes have suffered or been held back economically or militarily due to the United States and Western domination.

(SD-Agencies)