Obama's "daddy issues"

In author-turned-documentarian Dinesh D’Souza’s film “2016: Obama’s America,” many controversial issues, opinions and hypotheses are formed. When it comes to this type of documentary, one that is based solely on one-sided pseudo-facts and interviews with like-minded individuals, every aspect must be taken with a grain of salt. D’Souza takes a different approach to the “true nature” of President Barack Obama.

Director D'Souza interviews George Obama,
President Barack Obama's half brother, in "2016: Obama's America."

Instead of thinking he is a terrorist or Muslim, he thinks he is an anti-colonialist -- an accusation that could use some support. The film is spoken from D’Souza’s point-of-view and voice. He begins to speak about his life as a child in Mumbai, India, and how he used to read stories of empires around the world. He does not consider America an empire, he instead considers it something greater because almost all past empires have fallen. Eventually he mentions his life in college, and then finally speaks about why he is so interested in Obama. He claims his interest has to do with their similarities throughout life. They were born in the same year, married in the same year and even graduated in the same year.
As odd as this may be, he makes his point of how all previous presidents were known figures before they became presidents. Ronald Reagan was a movie star, whereas Obama was only a senator for two years. Where did he come from? To answer this question, D’Souza begins to search every possible aspect of Obama’s past to figure out what he is trying to do today and what will happen if he gets re-elected. D’Souza does bring up some odd behavior from Obama’s first term. Giving a bust of Winston Churchill back to Britain, cancelling the Keystone Pipeline construction which could have given tons of Americans jobs, siding with Argentina when it came to the Falkland Islands instead of siding with Britain as in the past, and even ignoring Syria are all used to support D’Souza’s claims. D’Souza does a decent job of backing up these allegations of mistakes Obama has made in his presidency by using actual clips from speeches he has made.

Other than that, the film is pure speculation and based off of words White House officials allegedly said. A lot of the ideas in the film stem from Obama’s book “Dreams from My Father.” D’Souza speculates that the main reason Obama acts the way he does is because of his father leaving him when he was a child. D’Souza even speaks to a psychologist about this, and he says that most children who are missing a parental figure in their life want to make it seem like they have a purpose. He goes on to speak to more politicians and speculates that Obama knows he is able to get people on his side very easily.
According to D’Sourza, people always want to help him, which is why he got into the business in the first place. D’Souza then begins to predict why Obama did certain things in his first term. He believes that, like his father, he wants to give to the poor and take from the rich, which is why he sides with the Occupy movement. He also wants the world to have fewer nuclear weapons so that the playing field can be equal. But he wants this to be done while all other countries feel the complete opposite. D’Souza predicts that in 2016, the Middle East will be united (with the title of the United States of Iran), and the United States’ defenses will have reached an all-time low while debt will continue to grow past the trillion dollar mark. These remarks seem a bit outlandish and are presented without evidence, fueled only by the filmmaker’s speculation. Attempting to sway public opinion with a poorly-developed documentary based on a book written by the director almost seems like an episode of “The Twilight Zone.” It just does not make sense.

Even when asked to state the basis of his opinions in an interview, he said he would but no reason is given except for the fact that Obama did not have his biological father while growing up and that he had a few socialist colleagues on his way up to the top. Associating every individual who has worked among a socialist, communist or otherwise “un-American” thinker with the movements that they represent is not an accurate judgment of a person’s political affiliation. Apparently a socialist and a republican are not allowed to be colleagues in America.
 “2016: Obama’s America” receives 2.5 out of 5 stars.