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I was a fan, but then as I got older, and better at critical thinking, I realised that his films are basically a rant with a backing track of b-roll from the 8/
by KaiserPro 6y ago
I was a fan, but then as I got older, and better at critical thinking, I realised that his films are basically a rant with a backing track of b-roll from the 8/16mm bin.
I think the thing that tipped me over was the assertion that alan greenspan and a few others were all in league together because they read Ayn Rand.
After that I realised that hes basically peddling left of centre rants in a pretty style[1].
[1] Left of british centre, and mid 2000s centre. There is nothing wrong with this. I am vaguely sympathetic of his views. But they should not be represented as either fact, or balanced.
- _cs2017_ 6y agoAh you essentially answered my question about summarizing his views. It's quite scary that what seems like a conspiracy club lite is getting such a huge amount respect from the highly educated HN audience. It seems the near future is converging to a bunch of conspiracy theorists duking it out with each other in front of the captive audience -- the general electorate. Maybe it will make things easier for everyone involved if some conspirators actually do take over the world, thus making this spectacle slightly less surreal.
- gmtx725 6y agoIMO it's a strange misinterpretation of his work to think he's a conspiracy theorist. I think it is undeniable that every era has an ideology that captures the zeitgeist of the times, I think Curtis just explores the origins of those ideologies and what motivated their progenitors, he is not alleging they had shadowy plans for world domination...
- polytely 6y agoOh I read that not as a literal "it's a conspiracy" but more that the echos of Ayn Rand's worldview are visible in how the people in power view the world and their role within it.
- gmtx725 6y agoCalm down, his films are just interesting takes on the ideologies that govern our times, combined artfully with arresting archive footage and music. They're not always claiming to be capital-t 'truth'...
- flagrant 6y ago> the assertion that alan greenspan and a few others were all in league together because they read Ayn Rand. That's a pretty facile reading of it. It might surprise you that Curtis is centre right himself.
- _cs2017_ 6y agoHe self identifies as a liberal in this interview https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-who-s-really-in-power-in-the-age-of-trump-1.5487766 https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-who-s-real.... He also supports the Occupy movement, which I suspect is not a right of center movement.
- flagrant 6y agoLiberalism is centre-right. Please remember that Adam Curtis is British, the American political spectrum doesn't really apply here.
- _cs2017_ 6y agoAh thanks for clarifying. I actually didn't know that. So IIUC, UK liberals are kinda like US libertarians?
- KaiserPro 6y ago> Liberalism is centre-right. No, the liberal democrats are centre-left. Liberalism/authoritarian is mostly a different axis to left/right. Its perfectly possible to be a left/right leaning liberal in UK politics.