Every day, appearing on the box, there are stories about Tories bailing out banks and robbing the poor, threats over debts that the financial infrastructure signed us up for and, conversely, a widening gap between the super rich elite and the rest of us all.
For a while the viewing public have reacted to this massacre in the real world by burying its head deep inside the imagination; the films the vast majority of us have been lauding over are sci-fi, super human, escapist stories. But alas, we cant escape reality to the extent that we can imagine an end in our stories where the elite don’t meet their comeuppance – one can find it particularly poignant that the biggest, most overrated film of them all, Avatar, ends with humans losing. It’s as though even our imagination is begging to be set free from the shackles that hold us in invisible chains.
Some don’t want to confront reality and seek solace in ever increasing dumb and dumberer films (anything with Adam Sandler anyone?) But some are prepared to tackle the issues of the day and they are arming themselves with facts and stats, all with the aid from a new genre of film, which could in years to come be looked upon as that which helped guide the viewer into a whole new paradigm.
Could these be the most important films ever made?
Inside Job
All this financial crisis was just brought about by chance wasn’t it? The bankers didn’t plan on taking trillions of pounds off the tax payer, nor did they want to deny countries of their sovereignty, and they certainly arent trying to turn America into a third world country, or are they? Well as it goes yes they are.
Charles Ferguson’s Oscar winning Inside Job, has to be the documentary everyone makes it their priority to watch. As millions around the world face unemployment, our NHS faces privatisation and millions slip beneath the poverty line, Inside Job explains what our news wont go near and exposes the banksters for the piggies they really are.
Loose Change 9/11
Everyone in the west must live in fear. There are terrorists out there and we must all be on guard. It’s okay though, our governments have decided that by killing millions around the world and spending billions fighting an abstract concept they are sure to make the world a safer place. The only real justification for the war on terror is the events of 9/11 – we can’t really count Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction because, of course, they didn’t exist. So that make’s what happened on that day pretty important right? Well, what did happen? For some there seems to be evidence that implies Orwellian sized problems for the world we live in.
Crude
Joe Berlinger’s 2009 film documents the decades long legal fight between the indigenious tribes of Ecuador and oil giant Texaco, who stand accused of poisoning the Amazon to the extent the water is unsafe and people are dying of cancer. The film is excellent in highlighting the corporate doublethink of greed at any cost, and manages to convey the frustration of the Ecuadorian populace in a way that does justice to their cause. One for those who don’t know the real cost of a litre of petrol.
The Obama Deception
He broke down barriers to get elected, he had a Noble peace prize within months of taking office, and he was here to undo the damage done by the previous President. The pomp and ceremony that saw Obama become President was enough to elevate him to untouchable status, almost..
For many Obama’s election promised a new paradigm for America but there were also those who alleged he was very much working for the same people as those who preceded him. The Obama Deception, released 2009, predicts events that at the time would have been laughed out of the room. Three years on however, with the economy in a more precarious position, with more wars and a more unstable Middle East, perhaps its time to take note of what this film has to say.
Wash your Brain
As much as governments are to blame for the situation a country finds itself in, so the movie industry is for creating a viewing public that is docile enough to accept it. Or so the theory goes.
Wash Your Brain looks extensively at Disney, and other Hollywood productions and claims that they are more propaganda and mind programming techniques than escapist stories and fairytales. It sounds unbelievable, but then you remember what Donald Duck did during the war, and that there are, it seems, all together too many Mickey Mouse fans out there. Wash your Brain can at times be heavy going, but Freeman Fly’s interesting takes on everything from Lady Gaga to Chicken Little make this an excellent starting point for anyone looking for alternative views of what we see appearing on the box..
