When the White House put out a demented Iran War propaganda film that included clips from Top Gun, Braveheart and the Transformers inter-cut with actual footage of US strikes against targets in Iran, it seemed the war had entered a new, horrifying post-modern phase, where reality and entertainment had merged into one. The appearance in that film of Pete Hegseth, the self-styled “US secretary of war” gave the whole thing an added dose of steroidal frat-boy menace.
But now Iran has struck back in the propaganda war with a two-minute long AI film featuring Trump and Netanyahu as Lego men, sitting at a table with the devil, writing out a “Ceasefire Request”. This is sent to the Lego Iranian high command, who promptly rips it in half. This causes the Lego Trump to start crying.
In a rather nastily well-observed detail, at this point the Lego Trump’s right hand then starts to bruise, a reference to the fact that real-world Trump has actually been spotted with bruises on his hand, which has led to speculation about his health.
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Then we have a war sequence, in which Iranian, Russian and Chinese hackers attack the US, and we then see a missile with a Lego Iranian writing “In memory of the victims of Epstein” on the side.
There’s more Trump and Netanyahu weeping as Iran’s missiles begin crashing into Israeli and US targets, and the coffins, draped in the US flags, begin returning to America.
In the final scene, a devastated Lego Trump climbs onto a stage made of US coffins, and holds up a sign reading “VICTORY!” But as we pan around, we see the back of the sign, which reads “I am a loser”. We also see that Trump’s pants are on fire.
It will be a worry for the US that the Iranian propaganda effort is so robust, so defiant and so – well – witty. The film has been made by someone with a very sharp eye for what will most rile Trump, such as showing him as weak and calling him a loser.
But what is even more worrying is that this Iranian film is a more accurate representation of how the war currently stands than any of the delusional ranting coming from the White House. Has it really got to the point where, for a reliable picture of the war, we must ignore the US and listen to Iran?
