Dreams from My Real Father

Dreams from My Real Father

DVD cover with pictures of Barack Obama Sr., Barack Obama and Frank Marshall Davis
Directed by Joel Gilbert
Produced by Joel Gilbert
Written by Joel Gilbert
Narrated by Ed Law[1]
Music by Wayne Peet
Edited by Paul Belanger
Joel Gilbert
Production
company
Highway 61 Entertainment
Distributed by MVD Visual
Release dates
  • July 24, 2012 (2012-07-24)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Dreams from My Real Father: A Story of Reds and Deception is a 2012 American film by Joel Gilbert. It presents his conspiracy theory[2] that U.S. President Barack Obama's biological father was Frank Marshall Davis, an American poet and labor activist in Chicago and Hawaii, rather than the Kenyan Barack Obama, Sr.[3][4] The film claims that Davis (who had been a closet member of the Communist Party USA)[5] influenced the young Obama's ideology, a claim disputed by Obama biographer David Remnick.[6][7] The title is derived from Obama's memoir about his early life, Dreams from My Father (1995). Reviews of the film were generally negative, noting that Gilbert had not proved any of his allegations, and the film was described as a "pseudo-documentary" and in "bad taste".[4][8]

Background

The film alleges that Frank Marshall Davis, an African-American journalist, poet and labor activist, met Obama's mother Ann Dunham through her father Stanley Dunham. Filmmaker Gilbert claims that the senior Dunham was not a furniture salesman, but rather a CIA agent tasked with monitoring Communists in Hawaii.[8] His claim is unsupported. In his memoir, Obama had noted that his grandfather Stanley Dunham and Davis were friends in Hawaii, and both had grown up in Kansas.

Filmmaker Gilbert said the film was the result of two years of research. He claims he found nude and fetish photos of Obama's late mother Ann Dunham, which he says were taken in late 1960 by Davis in Davis' Hawaii home. Gilbert compared these to Dunham's high school pictures and says he found the similarity to be "obvious". The Hollywood Reporter said, "He did not use an expert, however, to support his finding."[8]

Gilbert says that more than one million copies of his film were mailed to voters in Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire and Colorado prior to the 2012 United States presidential election. He refused to disclose who funded the film's wide mailings. The Daily Beast reported that there was no way to verify the numbers claimed by Gilbert.[4]

Reception

Critical reaction to the film was largely negative. David Maraniss, author of Barack Obama: The Story, described the film as "preposterous," saying that it is "depressing to have so much fictional, unreported, conspiratorial, unhistorical stuff floating around." Among anti-Obama productions, Maraniss said "This DVD is the worst of the bunch."[3]

The Daily Beast commentator Michelle Goldberg wrote, "It's tempting to ignore Dreams from My Real Father because it's so preposterous... What matters here is not that a lone crank made a vulgar conspiracy video, one that outdoes even birther propaganda in its lunacy and bad taste. It’s that the video is finding an audience on the right."[4] Steve Murphy, a Democratic consultant, said, "It's about the lowest thing you can do to accuse, with no evidence, the opposition candidate's mother of being a porn star... There are two motives behind this – racism and money. It's a cynical attempt to make some coin and exploit the views of the fringes of mainstream views."[8]

Slate said that the film "peddles a conspiracy theory so convoluted that more traditional birthers must be envious of its creativity".[9]

The Hollywood Reporter stated that the film makes unsubstantiated allegations that President Barack Obama lied about being the son of Barack Obama, Sr.. Its reviewer also wrote, "It's about the lowest thing you can do to accuse, with no evidence, the opposition candidate's mother of being a porn star".[10]

Orly Taitz, who has said he believes that Obama was not born in the United States (the birther theory), disliked the film, as it claims Obama's father was an American, albeit a Communist.[11] Neither allegation was supported.

Gilbert rejected this position: "...'birthers' are barking up the wrong tree. It's not a question of where Obama was born -- but rather, one of paternity."[12]

Bill Armistead, the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, called the film's theory "absolutely terrifying."[13]

WorldNetDaily's Jerome Corsi accepted the film's claims to purportedly have photographs of Obama's late mother, saying it was "compelling."[14]

Barack Obama’s estranged half-brother Malik gave an interview to Gilbert and expressed interest in his theory.[15][16][17]

2014 Federal Election Commission complaint

In 2014 activist Loren Collins filed a complaint against Gilbert with the Federal Election Commission, saying that the filmmaker was required to disclose his donors, especially for the pre-election distribution of numerous unsolicited DVDs of the film to voters in several states. The Washington Post reported that in March 2016, the FEC, split evenly between Republican and Democratic members, ruled that Gilbert’s DVD mailing was considered “press,” and therefore not subject to donor disclosure. They said the film was comparable to other political documentaries.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Tapson, Mark (Aug 14, 2012). "Dreams from My Real Father: A Story of Reds and Deception". frontpagemag.com. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "‘Super Trump’ to Invade Times Square", New York, 13 September 2016
  3. 1 2 Stratton, Jim (October 18, 2012). "Anti-Obama DVD floods local mailboxes". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Goldberg, Michelle (September 28, 2012). "With 'Dreams from My Real Father,' Have Obama Haters Hit Rock Bottom?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  5. ↑ Davis, Frank Marshall. Writings of Frank Marshall Davis: A Voice of the Black Press. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 25. ISBN 9781604733846. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  6. ↑ Weigel, David (8 April 2016). "How a film about Obama's communist 'real father' won at the FEC". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  7. ↑ Lee, Michelle Ye Hee (23 March 2015). "Frank Marshall Davis: Obama's 'Communist mentor'?". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Staff (September 28, 2012). "New Anti-Obama Film Claims His Mother Posed for Nude Photos". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  9. ↑ Marcotte, Amanda (September 28, 2012). "Conservatives Stoop To Slut-Shaming Obama's Dead Mother". Slate. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  10. ↑ staff (September 28, 2012). "New Anti-Obama Film Claims His Mother Posed for Nude Photos". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  11. ↑ Reilly, Ryan J. (May 16, 2012). "Batty 'Birther' Movie Divides Conspiracy Diehards". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  12. ↑ Carter, R.J. (June 6, 2012). "Joel Gilbert: Birthers Asking Wrong Question on Obama Parentage". The Trades. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  13. ↑ Rayfield, Jillian (September 20, 2012). "Alabama GOP chairman goes birther". Salon. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  14. ↑ Corsi, Dr. Jerome (2012-04-25). "FILM: PRESIDENT'S FATHER NOT BARACK OBAMA – 2 years of research, rare photos support compelling case".
  15. ↑ Stockman, Farah (24 July 2015). "With brothers like Malik Obama, who needs enemies? - The Boston Globe". Boston Globe. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  16. ↑ Lind, Dara. "Why Donald Trump is bringing Barack Obama's half-brother to the debate". Vox. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  17. ↑ Mercimer, Stephanie (19 October 2016). "Trump overlooked one small detail when he invited Obama's half brother to the debate". Mother Jones. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  18. ↑ Weigel, David (April 8, 2016). "How a film about Obama's communist 'real father' won at the FEC". Washington Post.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.