The anti-teacher, anti-public school movie “Won’t Back Down” was released into 2,500 movie theaters (owned by its producer Walden Media) and died a quick and ignominious death. Despite massive advance publicity at NBC’s “Education Nation” and a CBS promotion, despite Michelle Rhee hosting screenings at both national political conventions, despite attention on the “Ellen” show, the film had one of the worst opening weekends in recent history. The critics ridiculed it, and within four weeks, the film had disappeared.
It became a dead film, but it lives on as a zombie film. Its producers Philip Anschutz and Rupert Murdoch never expected to make money. They are billionaires, and they didn’t care about the box office receipts. They wanted their propaganda film to persuade people that teachers are lazy, that unions are evil, and that parents must seize control of their school and hand it over to a charter corporation.
Their goal was nothing short of privatization of public education.
So now they have taken their dud and, with the help of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are showing it to legislators in conservative states, hoping to keep their campaign alive with a zombie film that died months ago.
Call it the ALEC road show.
You know who Rupert Murdoch is. He is the man who owns Fox News and many publications and is now embroiled in a scandal in Great Britain, where his reporters hacked into the telephones of scores of people, including a dead teenage girl.
Maybe you don’t know much about Philip Anschutz, who owns Walden Media. He has been a successful movie producer (“Chronicles of Narnia,” among others). His energy company is very involved in the controversial practice of hydrofracking in many parts of he nation, which environmentalists oppose. He contributes generously to libertarian, anti-government think tanks. He supported anti-gay campaigns in Colorado and California.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on Transparent Christina.
Maggie and Viola must be so proud.
Seriously, we do need to reach out to these two, explain why we’re strongly objecting to this film, and without rancor or personal attacks, help them to understand why this film was so offensive, and so mendacious.
Perhaps they’ll then, eventually, hear their own conscience and consider a public affirmation of their support for public schools and make it clear that this was “just the characters we were playing” and that in real life, they remain steadfast supporters of public schools, and reject the toxic stew of charters, triggers and vouchers.
Kiefer Sutherland made a speech at West Point in the recent past, acknowledging that his successful series, “24”, had brainwashed too many people—especially youngsters—into seeing it as an implicit endorsement of torture as a military or intelligence policy.
He made it clear that his character on this TV show was not how he, Kiefer Sutherland, felt in real life. He also made it clear that the show was fantasy, and should never be taken as any sort of sanction or justification of torture.
Viola and Maggie could—and should—do the same thing. Better to recant now, and explain this to the public, rather than a decade or two down the road, after they realized they were paws in this game and have now been tossed aside by those who used them.
Don’t forget that both these women belong to very powerful unions that do a great job of advocating for actors (even the non rich non famous actor in my family!).
Real classy of them to appear in an anti union film, right?!
Walmart sales are declining. Even for a billionaire, that’s not good news.
From the article:
“…[Missouri] Speaker of the House Tim Jones filed a parent trigger bill that would allow parents at schools ranking in the bottom 20 percent on state standardized tests to petition for charter status, or gain authority to fire teachers and principals. Jones filed a similar bill last year that didn’t advance out of committee.
‘Children should not be the victims of the ZIP code they live in when their education is at stake,’ the Eureka Republican said. ‘I don’t think parents would go such a route unless they have exhausted all other remedies because it is a drastic remedy. But it’s only going to be utilized in drastic situations. So I think parents should be the ones who are ultimately in charge of their children’s education, and not bureaucrats.’
Jones clearly states that children are “victimized” by a zip code. So how does it follow that firing teachers and principals will end this “victimizing?” Isn’t it the “zip code” itself that needs the reform?
Enough with this “Won’t Back Down” nonsense. The NEA and the AFT need to mobilize NOW to educate the public and our state legislatures about this propaganda. These organizations need to couple the protest with advocacy programs. This should be a national campaign.
I am TIRED of the majority of public school employees ignoring their responsibility in this fight while a small handful of people take the activist role. There are far too many of us to continue to be belittled by the rich and powerful.
We need to organize now. Yes, there are problems in any system, unions included. I get that. Yes, I understand that some feel their union has sold them down the river. I get that, too. However we are weak without each other. If your local association has let you down, you can overhaul it. We need to improve these organizations by organizing these fixes, continue to support those that are strong, and get our collective behinds in gear to counter these attacks.
Hollywood does not dictate reality–we live “reality” everyday. Let’s show that we are the experts in education instead of allowing ourselves to be divided by those who have billions of dollars to spend on keeping us down. If everyone who reads this “activates” five people in his or her personal network who then get five more involved, and so on, we will have the strength to defeat the destructive privatization agenda of the rich and influential and finally TAKE BACK OUR SCHOOLS. It is up to us to spread the message of truth.
I’ve wondered were the teacher outrage is? Maybe they’re scared of loosing their jobs? It doesn’t look like compliance is saving them though.
And the powerful unions always sited in the press, where are they? Are they just trying to negotiate the terms of surrender?
And parents? I know, we’re all so preoccupied with survival …it’s easy to blame the teacher, or the district or the budget crisis without digging deeper. We just sigh and organize another fundraiser, or hire a tutor, or pay for extra curriculars that was once part of our public education …
You’re right, we need to get together, get focused, get organized it’s the hope we have, that I can see.
http://signon.org/sign/repeal-no-child-left-1
My cable provider offers the WORST movies through the VOD system. I noticed that Won’t Back Down was recently offered as a new option.
Is your cable provider owned by Murdoch or Walden Media or one of their subsidiaries?
Hmm, Don’t know. It’s RCN.
My cable provider offered the movie, as well, much to my chagrin. I have Verizon FIOS.
Thanks for delving into the story behind this vicious film! So often we are like the gardener who feverishly snips off the dandelion blooms, never digging down to expose the “roots” of the problem. This cabal of dark doers you mentioned are motivated by goals that, were they exposed would doubtless awaken the public to the kool aid sellers they are…I live in hope.
Sad thing is, we’ve all seen this show before,; each new assault on teachers, unions and public schools becomes more virulent, more divorced from facts and reality and, worst of all, glibly swallowed by a public that would endorse any draconian plan that exits the “bad teachers” who can have that labeled affixed to them with often, contrived evidence, if any at all! I know of a teacher in DPS whose career was ended because she was accused of “Putting a fish in the school freezer!” I kid you not! The poor lady;
didn’t go fishing, and hated to even eat fish! To seal the deal the inquisitors went to a baby teacher and broadly hinted that if SHE didn’t give witness to this evil deed, she would certainly have a short career in the system. Later, the axed teacher ran into her and she tearfully told why she had to help in this mini conspiracy and how deeply saddened she was at the result. Stories such as hers are experienced in the unknown hundreds. I fear that we are victims and witnesses to the end of public education in America, and with the dismal scores of the “Charter Schools Cure” the end of an educated public in the very near future. The whole demise could be labeled by the cabal you enumerated in your wise essay…”Mission Accomplished.” As Poe put it,
“Quote the raven, “Never more”…never more for teachers, never more for public schools, and never more for living in a country not owned and run for the benefit of the 1%ers and their corporate kingdoms!
I’m disappointed to hear Anschutz is getting involved in supporting corporate backed reform. My family loves the Movie Bridge to Taribithia; one of the grown up “heroes” is the music teacher …
I don’t really love the Narnia movies, too much violence glorification. I wonder what C.S. Lewis would have made of this push to privatize? He was a devoted intellectual and professor…perhaps he’s rolling I’m his grave?
Hi,
Won’t Back Down was offered on my cross-country United flight over the Christmas holiday.
😦
Diane,
Today’s “Chronicle of Higher Education” includes an article about a soon-to-be-released documentary about for-profit colleges – “Forthcoming Film Is Defense of For-Profit Colleges, Critics Say” by Eric Kelderman. According to the article, the documentary film entitled, “Reconstructing the Dream,” is, “a project of Michael E. Platt, the founder and chief executive of PlattForm, a marketing company in Kansas that provides lead-generation and other promotional services largely for proprietary colleges.” The for-profit higher education arena is fraught with problems different but akin to the problems in the K-12 charter sector. And, unfortunately, these problems overwhelmingly impact the most vulnerable students. Releasing a “documentary” about the benefits of for-profit colleges seems like the “Won’t Back Down” strategy all over again.
There is a slight error there that should be corrected. Murdoch didn’t hack into a dead teenage “film” it was the phone of a dead teenager. Just confusing, not crucial.
Blame it on autocorrect. If you check the post, you will see that I already fixed it (yesterday)
Scabs are scabs; scab movies are scab movies. Holly Hunter owes us — the people of Chicago and the members of the Chicago Teachers Union — an apology. The rest of them are simply unreconstructed scabs. One of the films I use to help my brothers and sisters here in Chicago understand some of the history of unions in the USA is “Harlan County Wars,” where Holly Hunter’s work is stunning. The picket line and jail scenes are memorable, and she does some of her best work. For her to put her talents to work in a scab film is shameful. When she comes to Chicago next, her first stop should be at the Merchandise Mart office of the Chicago Teachers Union to film a personal apology to Karen Lewis and the 30,000 of us in the CTU. For now, her work in “Won’t Back Down” is the work of a scab.
The mainstream Hollywood companies are unable todetermine the thingspeoplechoose or can getas they did up to now. At the time you additionally distribution internet and news online sites, from chat to complete motion pictures. It really is a brand-new society. Some of it great, some not.