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While trying to parse the 2016 election I watched Steve Bannon’s magnum opus Generation Zero[1] and was struck by how much certain parts of it felt like an Adam

by krrrh 9y ago

While trying to parse the 2016 election I watched Steve Bannon’s magnum opus Generation Zero[1] and was struck by how much certain parts of it felt like an Adam Curtis film, with its heavy use of stock footage for tone rather than exposition. My main problem with Adam Curtis is that he’s more of a political artist than a historian, but his fans treat him like the latter. I guess that’s the problem with Bannon too. [1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bsqu9gh6xhk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bsqu9gh6xhk

bitoneill 9y ago
I think of Adam Curtis as a journalist. You may disagree with his facts or interpretation of them, but he tells an interesting story with his investigations.
- krrrh 9y ago
  It’s a stretch to call what he does journalism, but I suppose it depends on where you draw the circle around “journalist”. He uses real world events and people as his raw materials, but the subjects of his films are his own perspectives even if he isn’t up front about that. I wouldn’t classify Erol Morris as a journalist either, but he is much more in that category than Curtis because he is more interested in making the unknown known than presenting his own philosophy. While I don’t think that Adam Curtis can hold a candle to Chris Marker as an artist, or in terms of telling an interesting story or conducting an investigation, I would put his work in the same category of “film essay”.
jdoliner 9y ago
Looking at this the other way around, I think people want to conceive of politics as an objective science when in reality it's much more of an art form. Steve Bannon realized earlier than most people that politics is all about narrative and has used that realization to forward his political goals. Curtis is similar, although I don't think he has as specific a political motivation as Bannon. I think he more just likes narrative for narrative's sake and happens to have chosen politics as the backdrop for that. Probably not fully understanding how people would respond to it.

by krrrh 9y ago

bitoneill 9y ago

I think of Adam Curtis as a journalist. You may disagree with his facts or interpretation of them, but he tells an interesting story with his investigations.

krrrh 9y ago
It’s a stretch to call what he does journalism, but I suppose it depends on where you draw the circle around “journalist”. He uses real world events and people as his raw materials, but the subjects of his films are his own perspectives even if he isn’t up front about that. I wouldn’t classify Erol Morris as a journalist either, but he is much more in that category than Curtis because he is more interested in making the unknown known than presenting his own philosophy. While I don’t think that Adam Curtis can hold a candle to Chris Marker as an artist, or in terms of telling an interesting story or conducting an investigation, I would put his work in the same category of “film essay”.

jdoliner 9y ago

Looking at this the other way around, I think people want to conceive of politics as an objective science when in reality it's much more of an art form. Steve Bannon realized earlier than most people that politics is all about narrative and has used that realization to forward his political goals. Curtis is similar, although I don't think he has as specific a political motivation as Bannon. I think he more just likes narrative for narrative's sake and happens to have chosen politics as the backdrop for that. Probably not fully understanding how people would respond to it.