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Patriotic Millionaire Ryan Smith Releases New Documentary: The Brainwashing Of My Dad

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With the country swept up in competing and contradictory media narratives, a new documentary film called “The Brainwashing of My Dad” explores the toxic effects of right wing media manipulation from a uniquely human perspective.

Directed by award-winning documentarian Jen Senko and produced by actor Matthew Modine, “The Brainwashing of My Dad” explores how filmmaker Senko’s father morphed from an easy-going, lifelong Democrat into an angry, Right-Wing fanatic.

Patriotic Millionaire Ryan Smith served as the film’s executive producer.

“‘The Brainwashing of My Dad’ brings together diligent research into the history of the conservative media movement along with personal stories from everyday people,” Smith said. “It shows how damaged a relationship can become after a loved one gets hooked on right wing media.”

Featuring interviews with media luminaries, cognitive linguists and grassroots activists (Noam Chomsky, Steve Rendall, Jeff Cohen, Eric Boehlert, George Lakoff, STOP RUSH, HearYourselfThink and Claire Conner, just to name a few), the film delves into the transformation experienced by Senko’s father and explains how that transformation fits into a much broader demographic picture — one orchestrated and designed by right-wing media over the past three decades.

“The timeliness of this film has amazed me!” Smith said. “After being a part of this process for the last few years, I can’t help but see the effects of the conservative media in the hate on display by Donald Trump and his supporters.”

“The failure of the media is, to me, at the heart of the failure of our political discourse,” Smith said. “Whether it’s seeing so many people who still deny climate change or so many people vote against their economic interest, I know now that the source of information for these folks is what needs to be addressed.”