originally Meet The Parents (2002) was going to reveal DeNiro's character as a spy by showing his CIA kidnapping and torture manuals, but the CIA didn't like that and proposed what ended up in the film

no, they cannot. they used extralegal means to try for a while, but those days are past. here's more information:

Meanwhile, the CIA worked to ensure that Hollywood films did not depict them in any form in their early years. In one case, they managed to remove all reference to themselves from the 1952 comedy, My Favorite Spy. A memo from that year records how a lawyer for Paramount approached the Agency seeking to ensure that three CIA character names bore no resemblance to those of real-life CIA agents. While [historian] Willmetts mentions this memo, he focuses on a handwritten note at the bottom that describes My Favorite Spy as ‘a lousy picture’ that ‘makes no reference to CIA’ and, in consequence, ‘no further action’ was to be taken.

Actually, the memo makes clear that the original script explicitly referred to the Agency, and another handwritten note says they told the lawyer to ‘omit all references to CIA.’ As such, the reason why the finished film (lousy or otherwise) ‘makes no reference to CIA’ is because the CIA leaned on the producers to change the script. This was successful and thus there was ‘no further action’ to be taken. It is an explicit example of movie censorship by the Agency during this period.

The CIA did not just prevent the entertainment industry from referring to them directly. They also protected the historical reputation of their predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (1942-1945). We discovered that, in 1956, through a network of informants and assets centred in CBS, the CIA learned that a small-time company, Flamingo Films, was developing a series of films about the exploits of the OSS during the Second World War. The Agency then engaged CBS to develop a rival product to muscle Flamingo Films out of the market, without ever intending to help CBS actually produce their series. This operation was successful and neither the Flamingo Films nor the CBS series were ever put into production.

In 1961, the CIA suffered its first high profile failure when its attempt to invade Fidel Castro's Cuba was defeated at the Bay of Pigs, resulting in hundreds of deaths on both sides. In the aftermath, the CIA started using films to massage their public image, eight years earlier than Willmetts contends when he highlights 1973's Scorpio. While previous films had received production assistance form the Agency or mentioned the CIA, the first to do both was actually the James Bond movie, Thunderball (1965).


National Security Cinema, Alford and Secker, pp. 31-2

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