Exposing Steve Bannon

Exposing Steve Bannon

2017, Politics  -   52 Comments
5.83
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Ratings: 5.83/10 from 200 users.

From the always provocative documentary series Empire Files comes Exposing Steve Bannon, a searing portrait of the central figure behind the curtain of the Trump presidency.

From its earliest moments, the film minces no words in its criticism of Bannon's motivations and personal character. Driven by what the filmmakers claim was a "youthful lust for war", Bannon served in the United States Navy from 1976 to 1983. During this period of time, he developed a political world view defined by a need for military supremacy.

His professional career has been colorful to say the least. After working as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs for six years, he undertook a brief stint as a producer of far right propaganda films. Later, he joined Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE). At one time a lucrative enterprise, known for its wildly successful World of Warcraft Marketplace, the company went belly up after three of its most prominent investors were arrested on charges related to child molestation.

Longing for a position of power and influence, he befriended influential alt-right journalist Andrew Breitbart, and ascended to the position of Executive Chairman of the Breitbart News website following the founder's death in 2012. Critiques of the site - particularly those that focus in on its hateful rhetoric and incendiary race baiting tactics - mirror those that have long plagued Bannon himself.

As disturbing as these career highlights appear to be, Bannon was relegated largely to the fringes before he hitched his wagon to the Donald Trump train. After curating a successful campaign strategy for his chosen candidate, he was appointed as the president's Chief Strategist when the new administration took office in January of 2017. The filmmakers hypothesize about what this might mean for the future of the U.S. and their relationship to the rest of the world. Needless to say, the diagnosis presented in the film isn't pretty.

As recounted in the film, Bannon's personal life is equally unappealing, allegedly marred by episodes of spousal abuse, child neglect and workplace harassment.

Exposing Steve Bannon provides an informative, but hugely unflattering portrait of a crucial figure in modern politics. Many may feel compelled to praise the film for its brutal honesty while others may dismiss it as unnecessarily cynical and smarmy.

Directed by: Abby Martin

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Mike Foley
Mike Foley
6 months ago

Those closeups of Bannon. My God, he looks like a bloated boozer on steroids with skin cancer.

Haricot Vert
Haricot Vert
1 year ago

Abby has an agenda and is still sore Hillary won.

Bear
Bear
3 years ago

Well, now I've just gotta watch this one, Abby. You've got a bunch of deranged Trumpian Bootlickers all in a lather, because they don't allow ANY criticism of Cheetoh Jezuz or his hirelings (fired or not). Talk about yer "triggered" "snowflakes".... I just KNEW that those insults were going to boomerang on those whiners.
BTW, "naval intelligence?" In his fever dreams, maybe. Bannon was a Surface Warfare puke, the waterborne version of cannon fodder, bottom third of the cohort, unremarkable and (as the saying goes) "Little potential for professional advancement; not a candidate for retention" a.k.a. "Passed Over" in officer-speak.
BTW2, hope it finally explains why he wears multiple shirts simultaneously. That's just straight up diagnostic.

Montana
Montana
4 years ago

This is such bull*hit. This reporter exaggerates. GoodGawd I’ve heard the most hideous accusations towards Bannon. He’s not a racist, this documentary was a racist. Get your blinders off. People tell facts like Bannon then you’re called a racist. Bull*hit if he is.

Joe
Joe
4 years ago

I think that this documentary was done just because some hates Bannon personally. It is a lot bull

Someone
Someone
4 years ago

yeah Bannon is a bad guy, but this documentary is worse. RIP unbiased and objective documentaries

Luther
Luther
4 years ago

Update: In May 2019 the Bannon called the Trump Administration a "criminal enterprise" run by a "scumbag".

I guess Trump was just a stepping stone in Bannon's larger goals as a Catholic fascist and Naval Intelligence operative...

andrew
andrew
5 years ago

andrew breitbart isn't far right.....

johnnyringo
johnnyringo
5 years ago

She seems to be really warming up to this man and his way of thinking.

James
James
5 years ago

Everything you see on Breitbart can be seen on the Huffington Post. The targets of the attacks are different.

During the election, it was the alt-left that bombed, attacked people physically, tried to shut down speaking engagements, and hurled vitriol at anyone having the audacity to wear an innocuous red hat.

Johnson
Johnson
5 years ago

Andrew Breitbart was not "alt-right". "Alt-right" is a slander term of the left which they use to defame everyone who opposes their ideas.

P4OUR
P4OUR
5 years ago

Good job, Abby! Let me ask you this. Now, did you make this knowing that you were going to put in an ambiguous title, the way you did? I ask because all of these idiots seem to have thought it was going to be about a good Steve Bannon! You sneaky beautiful woman, you!

P4OUR
P4OUR
5 years ago

Steve Bannon is not complex or enigmatic. He is so straight forward about who he is and what he's about. As the President would say, "He is so not very good, he's not a good guy."

Joshua
Joshua
6 years ago

I should've just listened to the very first comment and saved myself the agony of this monumental waste of time.

Sport
Sport
6 years ago

Very little of any value here. Bannon was obviously not what the makers of this film hallucinated.

Michelle
Michelle
6 years ago

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good man to do nothing.
Edmund Burke
Open up your eyes, the narrator is just giving information about an evil racist. Goodmen and women come in every color and race.

normroussy
normroussy
6 years ago

Read , The Web of Debt , and , The Public Bank Solution , by Ellen Hodgson Brown.

Hilary
Hilary
6 years ago

Left wing propaganda bullshit for weak minded Democratic idiot s

Tom boner
Tom boner
6 years ago

Aparently every comment must bbe approved? Whats up with that? Years ago, your comments section was better in every way.... people could respond to eachother, it would HAVE a date stamp on comments... many things actually inspired debate. What happen? I use to consider this one of the best sites on the internet, now not so much

Felipe
Felipe
6 years ago

I was interested to watch this piece, as I don't know all too much about Steve Bannon. I was disappointed that the narration was so hate-filled - e.g. the phrase "White people" or "White men" was always delivered with venomous emphasis and scorn. There are no solid philosophical arguments here, and there is no detailed critique of political theory - just a scowling narrator with a very hateful tone. Totally non-objective. One minute she is likening Bannon to Adolf Hitler, and then the next criticizing his appeal toward JUDEO-xian values, all while heavily downplaying the threat of islamic extremism. Really? This is very poor journalism.

Bobby
Bobby
6 years ago

Bannon is a right wing nut who has made his dream come true but holding the leavers of power. However, this is not a documentary, it's a hit piece. 0/10. The funny thing is you do not even need to exaggerate or spin anything, bannon is what he is, just show that! Lose your monologue and interview actual people.

therealBarron
therealBarron
6 years ago

Bwahahaha, what joy just to see all the butt hurt little snowflakes comment on how terrible a documentary can be on a terrible man.

WHATZEFUGG
WHATZEFUGG
6 years ago

outright propaganda from documercenaries par excellance

Satasha
Satasha
6 years ago

To sum it all up, Bannon is an opportunist that pines to have the US return to the 1950's when he was a small child.

It seems Trump has begun to realize that as he appears to be marginalizing Steve Bannon in his administration.

michael
michael
6 years ago

Abby, seriously , a "pampered' seaman on a submarine ... wow. you're an unpatriotic piece of crap ... and you even used the term "white privilege" .... here's my recommendation... if you hate white American's ... just leave the USA ????

michael
michael
6 years ago

... disgusting and shameful liberal biased fake propaganda trash. This type of FAKE documentary is exactly whats wrong with American Main Stream entertainment media !

Ken Hart
Ken Hart
6 years ago

This documentary should be index of cultural marxist´s "propaganda" Actually more like demonizing propaganda of a person. As a European, who like to know more about Bannon, but this documentary is absurd and most have made of by some really sick individuals.

Ryan
Ryan
6 years ago

The leftist view is horrible. Dont waste your time.

PAUL Wheeler
PAUL Wheeler
6 years ago

Total dribble from leftist elitest. Bannon is an average American with love for his country. It's become very typical of BuzzFeed and other hypocrites to spew this garbage.

Joe
Joe
6 years ago

Bit extreme on the left. Distorted facts and missing facts to persuade the audience to view Bannon as a twisted psychopath. Yeah, I was no fan of Bannon beating the wife and other truly bad things he's done. What about the good things? Nothing, nothing good mentioned of him in this video. "Exposing," nah, that's way to neutral of a word for this video. Bashing would be closer to what this video does. A bit delusional about the progressive ideology it seems. Organic the progressive movement is not. Fair this video is not.

Bob
Bob
6 years ago

Progressives seem to forget, true conservatives like myself are also opposed to Trump/Bannon. Make this into a progressives only resistance and it will unit the right against the left and fail. Unit the Conservatives and Progressives against the forces of hate.

Bret
Bret
6 years ago

Everything said on this documentary was spot on

John M.F. Dread
John M.F. Dread
6 years ago

Odds are at least 60% of the commenters here are the same person.

Reusch
Reusch
6 years ago

An irrational leftist emotional rant. Tried to watch it all the way for fare assessment but gave up midway through because of demonstrated utter lack of objectivity.

cdnski12
cdnski12
6 years ago

Bannon needs to start off with a small war ... that the USA can actually win. ... like another Grenada ... maybe Cuba or Venezuela?

Kai
Kai
6 years ago

I see the Trolls are out here in droves!!! While the "Empire Files" definitely has a left slant...I can assure you...it's no more so than right leaning MSM. Brietbart is extreme right-wing, and yes, my mother reads Breitbart and have seen a lot of racist innuendo on that site. It's actually pretty accurate in it's description of the ideology these sites espouse. Don't believe me? Go to the forum section on any of those sites.

Katherine Tino
Katherine Tino
6 years ago

I'm a liberal but this is a bad doc to mention the failed Iran mission and not talk about the hostages that makes no sense.

Val
Val
6 years ago

Hey Abbey,

Do you actually believe your own Documentary? Talk about a FlipFlop...
Are you part of the Clinton Cartel now ? What was your incentive to do this Documentary?
You were more believable on RT news. How can you change your truth seeking quest with a piece like this here? I refuse to believe you actually believe this even if you truly were responsible for the content.

Where is the Hillary Documentary and where we would be now had she gained the WH. I still cannot believe you did this piece.

Shane
Shane
6 years ago

What rubbish. Any supposed documentary beginning with "Exposing ..." is not worth wasting time on.

crablegs
crablegs
6 years ago

Obviously this woman is misinformed and has a feeble mind. She just wants to be popular with organized sheeple. Trump and the true patriots of this nation are working hard to fix the Obama-Clinton sickness, in spite of these bed bugs that plague our media.

pat
pat
6 years ago

looks like the puppetmasters are going to need to up their game on propaganda. They underestimate the people.

Hugo
Hugo
6 years ago

Simplistic propaganda. A cheap shot is never missed. He spent his 10 years in the navy as a "pampered" officer. He abused a female employee calling her a "bimbo." He established his website for disaffected - she spits out the word with scorn, "men". The presenter presents the Shah's Iran as a hell on Earth while implying that Islamic State Iran is some kind of paradise. Then she begins the attack on his personal life. She deserves to be sued for libel. Worst kind of hagiography. Shameful.....and I don't even like the guy.

Mals
Mals
6 years ago

I have been viewing Breitbart.com for years and I have NEVER read anything hateful.

Rebekah BenVerlyn
Rebekah BenVerlyn
6 years ago

The background sound (music??) is so overpowering that I could not even hear the speaker.

Rebekah BenVerlyn
Rebekah BenVerlyn
6 years ago

Background sounds (music?) is so loud and dissonant that the speaker is completely lost. I couldn't even finish what I had looked forward to watching.

Alan
Alan
6 years ago

The lady doth protest too much. This is such left drivel that you might be advised to go "Next".

No one is as bad as she has conjured up. I think she is describing herself.

Tracy
Tracy
6 years ago

IF you're going to make a one-sided propaganda film, at LEAST make an effort to make it convincing. Make it persuasive. This seems more like it came from a jilted ex-girlfriend's 'burn book' where she gripes & tries to convince her friends that her ex is the worst guy ever. From the narrator's snarky, adolescent tone, to the hyperbole. It is laughable, rather than informative. TDF would do well to STOP adding films that are NOT documentaries. I was hoping to watch an impartial doc, to learn a thing or two about this complex, enigmatic figure.

Ed
Ed
6 years ago

A leftist propagandist berates a right propagandist for extremist propaganda...in the form of extremist propaganda. As a popular comedian likes to say "I don't care who ya are...that's funny right there."

john
john
6 years ago

''A united multicultural progressive movement''?( last sentence)
Do you really think seriously that multiculturalism can unite?Unite against what exactly? No-they are divided not only among themselves but against the very host country culture they live in.There is no way forward in this argument.The only thing for sure is that both sides are moving further away from each other.We have segregation not integration,mostly, not always, but the longer we don't deal with these issues the worse it's going to get.Amen.

LpointMpoint
LpointMpoint
6 years ago

Let me save you 26 minutes of your life. Leftist - "Waaaaaah!"

You're welcome.