2 ms·

AWOBMOLG was more about mythologization of tech as oracular & all powerful, leading us to think that we can handle anything. Techno-utopianism. A lot of the se

AWOBMOLG was more about mythologization of tech as oracular & all powerful, leading us to think that we can handle anything. Techno-utopianism. A lot of the series is about the belief that we could, with technologies predictive powers & neoliberal market ethos... And how it doesn't pan out. We have "New Economies" greatly bloom in the world. And about how instead we got the 1997 Asian financial crisis. We thought we were taming market complexity (via in part neoliberalism weirdly) but turns out not so much. We have the rise of cybernetic thinking & Limits of Growth (& it's limitations in assuming we cannot change human behavior). "Sure everything is trending towards shit, but we're humans, we can definitely go create some genius machine that will fix this, right" Curtis rarely comes out and makes broad conclusions, but the watcher is definitely left with impression of absurd hubris & folly & chaos-triumphant, in AWOBMOLG and in much else of Curtis's excellent excellent catalog of contemporary history documentaries.

denton-scratch 4y ago
> Curtis rarely comes out and makes broad conclusions Indeed; his films (and their titles!) are oblique and suggestive. They are about politics, but it's very hard to discern his own political posture clearly. I wonder what kind of a man he would be to meet.
- rektide 4y ago
  He's still a bit reserved somewhat in interviews but they are fun to watch. Just my take, but I think the core concept is really that there is no one actually genuinely leading, no one left with a compelling believable vision in any position of power, and that total power vacuum keeps letting mad scenes play out across history. The need for hope, to show a willingness to go in authentically good direction at scale, is a fuel that powers the public spirit, and we keep suffering long eras where it's simply unavailable.

denton-scratch 4y ago

> Curtis rarely comes out and makes broad conclusions Indeed; his films (and their titles!) are oblique and suggestive. They are about politics, but it's very hard to discern his own political posture clearly. I wonder what kind of a man he would be to meet.

rektide 4y ago
He's still a bit reserved somewhat in interviews but they are fun to watch. Just my take, but I think the core concept is really that there is no one actually genuinely leading, no one left with a compelling believable vision in any position of power, and that total power vacuum keeps letting mad scenes play out across history. The need for hope, to show a willingness to go in authentically good direction at scale, is a fuel that powers the public spirit, and we keep suffering long eras where it's simply unavailable.