Simple Man Entertainment

Finally someone is going to get to see “Hillary: The Movie”, but unfortunately it is not because it has been released for public viewing, it is because it is at the center of a Supreme Court case regarding the governmental regulation of a political film as a campaign ad. The decision in this case might well determine how people can make movies and educate the people about them.

David Bossie who is a former congressional aide produced the Clinton movie as well as another film titled “Obama: The Hype Effect”. David Bossie ran into legal problems regarding both of these films because he wanted to release them during Hillary’s run for the White House and in Obama’s case during his general election campaign against John McCain. Bossie says that both of these films are about important moments in American politics, but do not tell people not to vote for either Clinton or Obama.

“Hillary: The Movie” was originally shown in eight theaters, and Bossie’s group also wanted to run ads on television and as well as show the movie on cable TV’s video-on-demand in key election states at the height of the primary season. Unfortunately federal courts cited the McCain Feingold law saying that Bossie’s ads would violate that law.

The judges went on to say that the movie was a 90 minute attack ad ruling that if the ads appeared on TV Citizens United would have to identify its financial backers and if the movie appeared on cable television not only would Citizens United have to name it’s financial backers, but they would also have to pay the costs to air the film.

This of course prompted Citizens United to appeal to the SCOTUS arguing that their film is not a political ad, but rather a documentary style film comparable to those shown by “Frontline”, “Nova”, and “60 Minutes.” Theodore Olson who represents Citizens United stated that while “Hillary” does present a critical assessment of Clinton’s political background it does not convert the movie into an appeal to vote against Senator Clinton.

Michael Moore the filmmaker who was responsible for the controversial film “Fahrenheit 9/11” also ran into problems when he tried to air his film criticizing President Bush during the run up to the Presidential election in 2004. The people responsible for throwing up the road block that stopped Moore from airing the film was none other than Citizens United. David Bossie went on to say that Moore’s recognition of the power of documentary film is what inspired him to make this film.

I really hope that the Supreme Court treads lightly when considering this case from both sides. Not only is the infringement of free speech at risk here, but so is freedom of the press and our own right to pursue certain forms of entertainment as our pursuit of happiness all of which are guaranteed us by the constitution. With other films currently out there like “W”, “Fahrenheit 9/11”, “Frost Nixon”, and “An American Carol” Who has the right to say this is not politically motivated entertainment or to censor it for that matter.

I for one can't wait for this movie to be released for public consumption, because I really want to see it. I hope you all have enjoyed this post and the video clip of the movie I am including here. Have an awesome day, CIAO4NOW!!!!!!