The Iraq campaign

Back in the day, long before YouTube, long before Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, long before any kind of widespread video remix and political satire, Phil Patiris made a film called The Iraq Campaign. I remember being blown away by it when I saw it (back in the early 90’s), and used it frequently for a few years to help people “see” how propaganda works. I’ve long since lost track of my VHS copy of it, but today I stumbled upon the film again at YouTube. It’s eerie watching it now, like a postcard from a long ago era. But also NOT, rather, it’s like a quick clip of yesterday’s news. How far we’ve come since 1991 — and how far we haven’t.