Thread by @Londonstani

Watching the #SteveBannon film @TheBrinkFilm - while eating chicken Biryani. Potential for live tweeting...

Gotta admit, Bannon saying “it’s not about your religion, race or secual preference.. it’s about economic nationalism” is not a Bannon im used to seeing

Also interesting to hear Bannon talk about how he saw “globalisation sending jobs abroad” when he was an M&A banker at Goldman. “Jobs were shipped abroad without thought of social or civic costs”

If these comments are sincere does that mean the ethno-nationalist project Bannon’s advocating sees “financial elites” as the “enemy within”. The word “elite” is thrown about by alt rightists to mean anymore they dont agree with - but is the ire aimed primarily at the bankers?

If that’s the case, does Bannon’s ideology spring from the same place as the #Occupy movement? If it does, I’m sure its not lost on Bannon that the people who fund him (Mercer type financiers) are part of the world he rails against.

If I were Bannon, i’d be worried that my backers are a risk as much as they are an asset because they represent the very world that im castigating. Perhaps, this is the genius behind broadening “elite” to go from a specific professional/socio-economic class to a cultural outlook

im sure its not lost on Bannon that revolutionaries make alliances with Capital then get gazumped by them. For rich backers a bit of populism is useful in inter-class competition. Very few “revolutionaries” out fox the vested interests that adopt them. Hitler is the obvious eg.

Oh, and almost on queue, a shot of Bannon’s book stack. Three books out of 11 are on Hiltler... including Albert Speer

If I was a rich Republican bank rolling Bannon id be a bit worried

Interestingly, the filmmaker decides to use news clips to make the point that the alt right in Europe started changing their messaging to focus less on race domestically, but focus on “outsiders” ie refugees and newly arrived immigrants. So, Bannon wouldnt say that on camera?

Fuck... dunno know why, but Rahim Kassam deploring the Arab/Muslimness of Edware Road, London’s “Little Arabia” is infuriating. I bet he’s spent a good few evenings down there smoking over priced sheesha.

This Rahim Kassam guy is fascinating. So, there’s a bunch of bigots sitting round a table going on about “the problem is Islam.... the Muslim birthrate is so high etc etc”, and he just seems so happy to be in the room!?

I mean, do all these anti-Islam bigots just accept him? Very interesting dynamics

What’s really interesting is that even as everyone else is trying to play catch up on social media, Bannon is already beyond that and talking about traditional media and how to game it “there’s no such thing as bad media”.

It’s always important to consider motivations, and as such I cant help but wonder why Bannon agreed to cooperate with the filmmaker. He knew its not going to be a hagiography. Is there an audience behind the audience that he’s aiming for?

Similarly, could the film itself serve to promote the idea that he is galvanising the European right. So for people like me thats all 😱. But perhaps by making out the famously fractious right can be galvanished, he’s in effect encouraging something that doesnt yet exist

There’a a guy in Italy whose face they pixellate. From what i can tell, it’s either Alexander Nix formerly of Cambridge Analytica, or Tom Hiddleston... come on dont tell me you havent seen the resemblance

47min in Bannon is being question by a reporter about the identity politics behind a trailer he’s made for Trump’s mid terms. He looks like he might be drunk, laughs - kind of accepting what she’s saying - and then says “what would (Nazi propagandist) Leni Riefenstahl do?”

Bannon”how would Leni (Riefenstahl) cut that scene?”... im not sure how to take that; dog whistling neo Nazis, trolling his centre-left liberal opponents?

Im realising watching this film that although i sometimes think of alt right figures as social media Svengalis, they actually suffer the same issues as us - their opponents. “We need a website!! 😥:... your logos are shit 😡” etc etc

I’m surprised by the scene where Bannon gets annoyed with @RaheemKassam. He finishes a call with him and says to the guy alt right European guy “neither of us have the problem Raheem does.” And i thought “ahh.. ok!” and he goes “these British guys dont want to do any work”

It’s kind of like those army ads “this is belonging”. Only Muslim in a room of anti-Islam bigots and get grossly typecast for being British? “this is what acceptance looks like”

There are quite a few bits of insight @TheBrinkFilm offers about Bannon; one is that although he’s seen as representing a new agressive, digital style of political communications, he’s quite old school in a lot of ways. His focus is narrative and audience - and branding

He likes film - a lot. But he literally wants to get his tin can of film roll and go out and play his movie on a projector while people sit on benches and watch

Interesting Bannon quote from the film “the question is does the US become the country that was bequeathed to us, or does it become something radically different”

So, @TheBrinkFilm is not focused on the digital side, but interesting how it suggests Bannon floated a rumour about Soros funding migrant caravans etc, then supporters are repeating it as fact and calling for his arrest. There was a lot of digital promotion that connected the two

Also interesting to hear Bannon talking about how “anger motivates” and how what he really cares about is “winning”.

Watching this film, has reinforced a sense ive had for a while that Bannon doesnt really believe his schtick. I mean he probably believes it in broad handfuls but he’s not believing it with a ferocity that he’s trying to instil in his audience. Its more about power.

Lessons for progressives from the Bannon film; we need to be much better at media and comms - its not good enough to think a “good” message automatically carries and all those that dont agree can just be dismissed

But, also, there are contradictions in the alt right that are not being exploited. How does ir square to have a “take back control for the masses” message when support comes from financiers like Mercer and the former head of Goldman?

And, the knee-jerk anger of progressives is not helpful. The alt right messaging strategy is like Godzilla - the more you fire your missiles at it, the stronger is becomes. So - stop firing those missiles!

Ultimately, I think the ultimate failure of hate-based politics is that it has a natural limit. It never commands a majority. Hope and progress always hit deeper and encompasses more people. It was apt that the film ended with the rise of the new Democrats