Zeitgeist and Other Stuff we Want to Believe.
So it might be a bit late, but my attention was brought to the film Zeitgeist today. A good ol' conspiracy theory film, or some would argue, one with a difference, but then they're all different really.
I'm immediately skeptical about these things. I love them, but there is a part of me that wonders why people can't just shut up and get on with their lives. I saw Loose Change and loved it. I was also really freaked out by it too. The film footage from the crash sites of the plane that went down in Pennsylvania showing virtually zero wreckage, and the coroner who came to do his stuff saying that he left after a few minutes because there wasn't a scrap of human flesh to be found, does make you wonder. But it also makes me wonder when the footage was taken. Should we just believe them if they say it was moments after the crash? Just like we question what we're told in any other situation, why shouldn't we question what we're told in these 'documentaries'?
I know it turns in to a bit of a 'if they think that we don't know then they don't know that we know' kind of situation (see cartoon at bottom), but really; why buy a a film like this over anything else we see? I mean, maybe the government made the film so that we think we're on to them but really they know we think we know so now they know that they can make us think we know what's really going on. You know?
Anyway. I digress.
Me, as said, I love a good conspiracy. The first I ever saw was The Pelican Brief. Yeah, not quite the same but boy was it exciting at the time. Then years went by and I wondered about aliens, Nessie, UFOs, whether we did land on the Moon, various people I've met, until I finally saw Loose Change, and, again as said, I loved it. But, in the big picture - so what.
You know, I wouldn't put it past Bush. That's the most messed up thing, but it happened. It's happening, people are dying, blood is being shed and millions and millions of dollars are going to fucked up causes while people starve and hack each other in to pieces over either religion or land. Or guns. Or oil - pretty much anything. There is nothing I can do to stop that.
But, you might say, what about in the future? What if I rally together hundreds, nay, thousands of people and march on down to *insert city* cityhall/government building/palace and demand for the wrongs to be righted! The innocent to be freed! The injust made just! The taxes to be lowered and the war to end! If those people in power did orchestrate 9/11, do you really think they'll listen?
But then again, maybe they didn't orchestrate it. Maybe it really was crazy terrorists. Will we ever really, really know? I am willing to say; absolutely no, never in a month of Sundays. Which is why conspiracy films sometimes rub me up the wrong way.
We love, love, sensationalism. Just look at any newspaper. Look at the sales figures for The Sun compared to The Guardian - but really; any newspaper. Watch the news. Watch films. Look at adverts - it's everywhere, but when it's presented to us in a 'you're the victim the government are EVIL' way; God are we ready to lap it up. Religion, money, government and man made disasters (war, terrorism etc) are delicate subjects, dividing friends, lovers, towns, cities, and countries and are probably the best possible conduits for passion, and as always, we are suckers for a good bit of passionate, sensationalist, contoversy.
Tonight, I will watch Zeitgeist, and see what I make of it. I'm telling you now, I'll probably love it and come away cursing....Bush...or someone equally responsible for, you know, like everything, but maybe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, I'll look back and wonder if my life is any better, or indeed any worse, for watching it. The answer will be no, and I'll go about my life, taking responsibilities for my actions, and making the best out of my world that I can.
I'm immediately skeptical about these things. I love them, but there is a part of me that wonders why people can't just shut up and get on with their lives. I saw Loose Change and loved it. I was also really freaked out by it too. The film footage from the crash sites of the plane that went down in Pennsylvania showing virtually zero wreckage, and the coroner who came to do his stuff saying that he left after a few minutes because there wasn't a scrap of human flesh to be found, does make you wonder. But it also makes me wonder when the footage was taken. Should we just believe them if they say it was moments after the crash? Just like we question what we're told in any other situation, why shouldn't we question what we're told in these 'documentaries'?
I know it turns in to a bit of a 'if they think that we don't know then they don't know that we know' kind of situation (see cartoon at bottom), but really; why buy a a film like this over anything else we see? I mean, maybe the government made the film so that we think we're on to them but really they know we think we know so now they know that they can make us think we know what's really going on. You know?
Anyway. I digress.
Me, as said, I love a good conspiracy. The first I ever saw was The Pelican Brief. Yeah, not quite the same but boy was it exciting at the time. Then years went by and I wondered about aliens, Nessie, UFOs, whether we did land on the Moon, various people I've met, until I finally saw Loose Change, and, again as said, I loved it. But, in the big picture - so what.
You know, I wouldn't put it past Bush. That's the most messed up thing, but it happened. It's happening, people are dying, blood is being shed and millions and millions of dollars are going to fucked up causes while people starve and hack each other in to pieces over either religion or land. Or guns. Or oil - pretty much anything. There is nothing I can do to stop that.
But, you might say, what about in the future? What if I rally together hundreds, nay, thousands of people and march on down to *insert city* cityhall/government building/palace and demand for the wrongs to be righted! The innocent to be freed! The injust made just! The taxes to be lowered and the war to end! If those people in power did orchestrate 9/11, do you really think they'll listen?
But then again, maybe they didn't orchestrate it. Maybe it really was crazy terrorists. Will we ever really, really know? I am willing to say; absolutely no, never in a month of Sundays. Which is why conspiracy films sometimes rub me up the wrong way.
We love, love, sensationalism. Just look at any newspaper. Look at the sales figures for The Sun compared to The Guardian - but really; any newspaper. Watch the news. Watch films. Look at adverts - it's everywhere, but when it's presented to us in a 'you're the victim the government are EVIL' way; God are we ready to lap it up. Religion, money, government and man made disasters (war, terrorism etc) are delicate subjects, dividing friends, lovers, towns, cities, and countries and are probably the best possible conduits for passion, and as always, we are suckers for a good bit of passionate, sensationalist, contoversy.
Tonight, I will watch Zeitgeist, and see what I make of it. I'm telling you now, I'll probably love it and come away cursing....Bush...or someone equally responsible for, you know, like everything, but maybe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, I'll look back and wonder if my life is any better, or indeed any worse, for watching it. The answer will be no, and I'll go about my life, taking responsibilities for my actions, and making the best out of my world that I can.
