John Q Synopsis
A political fixer and a Hollywood producer orchestrate a fake war to bury a presidential scandal. As their deception spirals, patriotic fervor grows, exposing how media manipulation and narrative control can rewrite truth and manufacture national unity.
A Scandal at the Worst Time
Less than two weeks before a tightly contested presidential election, a potentially devastating scandal emerges from the Oval Office. The President of the United States has been accused of making inappropriate advances toward an underage girl. The timing is catastrophic. With the media poised to break the story and the opposition prepared to capitalize on the fallout, a crisis team is quickly assembled.
Presidential aide Winifred Ames enlists the help of Conrad Brean, a highly experienced political spin doctor. Known for his discretion and creativity in times of crisis, Brean understands the stakes immediately. The narrative must be changed—and fast. His plan: create a war to redirect public attention away from the President’s misconduct.
Constructing a Fictional War
Brean chooses Albania as the fictitious adversary, relying on the general public’s lack of familiarity with the region. With a vague narrative of national threat and vague patriotism, the framework for a war is quickly laid out. However, to sell the war to the public, visuals and emotional appeal are required.
For that, Brean turns to Hollywood. He recruits Stanley Motss, a successful film producer, to craft the illusion. Motss embraces the idea like a seasoned professional. Together, they begin orchestrating a media campaign with all the elements of a traditional war story—drama, conflict, and heroes.
One of the campaign’s first products is a heart-wrenching video of a young Albanian girl fleeing war-torn chaos with her kitten. Using green screen effects and pre-recorded sound bites, the footage is designed to elicit maximum public sympathy. A theme song is commissioned, and news outlets begin reporting on the escalating crisis in Albania.
Intervention from Intelligence
The CIA, aware of the administration’s sudden focus on Albania, becomes suspicious. Agent Young confronts Brean, demanding an explanation. In a strategic move, Brean warns that exposing the fraud would serve no one—least of all the CIA. It is implied that revealing the truth could undermine national security, or at least the current power structure.
Agent Young retreats. However, the story takes another turn. The president’s political rival, working in tandem with intelligence officials, publicly declares that the war has ended. This sudden ceasefire prompts the media to return their attention to the original scandal, placing Brean and Motss back in crisis mode.
Creating a War Hero
To reignite public fervor, a new element is introduced: a forgotten soldier left behind enemy lines. Motss and Brean decide to create a hero, inspired by the symbolism of someone abandoned like “an old shoe.” They identify a military prisoner, Sergeant Schumann, whose name fits the narrative.
Motss and Brean orchestrate a new campaign. A folk song titled “Old Shoe” is recorded by Johnny Dean and designed to sound like an old patriotic tune. A vinyl record is artificially aged and “discovered” in the Library of Congress. A national campaign begins. Shoes tied together in pairs are thrown onto trees and telephone wires, creating the illusion of a grassroots movement.
A Fatal Miscalculation
The team goes to retrieve Schumann, only to learn he is not the ideal hero. In reality, he is a criminally insane Army convict. During the trip back to Washington, their plane crashes. The team survives, landing near a remote area where they are helped by a farmer—an undocumented immigrant.
While waiting for extraction, Schumann violently assaults a young woman at a gas station and is killed. Rather than abandon the narrative, Motss and Brean reshape the truth once again. Schumann is posthumously portrayed as a national hero, killed in action during a rescue mission. The farmer who helped the team is granted expedited U.S. citizenship to enhance the human interest angle.
A military funeral is staged. Media coverage fuels emotional responses from the public, solidifying support for the President.
The Price of Production
With the President’s approval ratings climbing, re-election seems inevitable. Yet Motss grows increasingly dissatisfied. He sees the public crediting the victory to a bland campaign slogan—“Don’t change horses midstream”—rather than to the grand spectacle he orchestrated. Motss insists he deserves recognition. He threatens to go public with his role in the hoax unless his demands are met.
Brean warns him that revealing the truth would have dangerous consequences. He even offers an ambassadorship as a reward. Still, Motss remains adamant.
Faced with the risk of exposure, Brean makes a decision. Security agents are dispatched. A televised news report later announces that Stanley Motss died of a heart attack in his home.
A Legacy of Lies
The President secures re-election. A final twist occurs when an Albanian terrorist group claims responsibility for a recent bombing. The fake war, originally designed as political misdirection, may have inadvertently become real. The line between fiction and reality is erased, leaving the public none the wiser, and those who built the illusion buried beneath layers of spin, deceit, and sacrifice.
