Apolitical 'Zero Dark Thirty' a Victory for New Media

President Barack Obama makes a cameo appearance in “Zero Dark Thirty” via a news clip that lasts less than 20 seconds.

We barely hear from – or about – Obama otherwise.

Would that have been the case had New Media not been alive and kicking? We’re guessing not. We know the studio behind the film felt pressure about the original release date – mere weeks before the presidential election. Conservatives and New Media outlets alike questioned the timing of a film detailing Obama’s one bona fide success. Why else did the studio ultimately opt for a time after all the votes had been tallied?

One reason “Zero Dark Thirty” is getting such attention is because it plays its subject mostly straight. No sucker punches. No political speeches shoehorned into the narrative. No overt cheerleading. It’s a procedural thriller ripped from the headlines, not the op-ed pages of The New York Times.

The film certainly makes it apparent that enhanced interrogation, or what the mainstream media blithely calls “torture,” helped lead the U.S. military to Osama bin Laden’s hideout. It’s been humorous to watch the film’s creative team deny that, all the while appeasing both the liberal media and liberal Hollywood along the way.

Given their instincts, don’t you think they would have been partial to incorporating their own ideologies into the story? They could have, but New Media outlets like Breitbart News would have hounded them over their inaccuracies and bias.

“Zero Dark Thirty” is now playing in select theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. It opens nationwide Jan. 11, 2013.