I wrote this comment on Adam Curtis's blog dealing with Chuck Norris movies that brainwashed the U.S. to fight immoral wars. I'd just watched Men In Black at the time and so it seemed only right to explain how the disinformation and brainwashing game still goes on.
With respect to the notion that "you begin to wonder whether the whole of the subsequent economic and foreign policy of Britain and the United States wasn't created by the rubbish movies of the 1980s" the reality is closer than is palatable.
Violence in films paints a reality that is most effective by programming populations to be prejudiced against the artificial enemy of the day and most damaging is the mind control it exerts on young uneducated males, and their propensity to join the military and kill foreigners obediently. The CIA and Pentagon among others permit Hollywood to use their war hardware in return for script editorial veto and inclusion. If a war movie isn't appropriate, the alphabet soup agencies and war psychos have the money and influence to make movies that frame issues to their liking.
A lovely example from the 90's found that security males fond of dark glasses, coiled wire to an ear, and complete obedience to their pensions over and above their personal relationships and any morality were beginning to be seen as a sinister accessories tainted by black budget projects being openly discussed on the internet.
The solution was for a cool movie portraying the males in dark civilian attire and glasses as behind-the-scenes dudes with sexy kit, and off planet responsibilities. It was so successful the lay person now thinks "Men In Black" references special security guys even though the original Men In Black phenomena is super-high weirdness that troubles the Feds as much as it does the witnesses who receive a visit.
The geniuses in disinformation fixed it as neat as one could wish. They steered a movie that positioned their Feds as the 'Official' Men In Black even though civilians came up with the term to describe a UFO related phenomena.
Hollywood made the MIB's cool and real life supernatural cache made them bad ass cool. A complete win for synthetic reality.
The following interview with Nick Redfern by Mike Clelland is a first class introduction to the subject or even a reference for the researcher.
