Adam Curtis - Oh Dearism

[MacoBomb]

The instrumental reggae/dub-track that starts at 01:14. Does anybody know what it is?

[Wengl3]

7 people watched, didn't understand, and just said 'Oh Dear'

[Nomadmandude]

The Fountain theme music in the background at the beginning.

[NormanArches]

"There is a great...number of people who don't buy such hype,...there are no magical solutions ...They are called conservatives".

Having no idealism whilst finding fault with anyone who has acts as guilt transferral. He shows much of the disjunction at the heart of all ideologies and I expect this is why many private school educated Tory Boys who see themselves as purveyors of 'common sense' have recently got upset with his work and tried to knock him down: because he touches on too many truths.

[TheElliottSambells]

Blatant attack 'dickhead'.

[colinfilthy]

Charlie Brooker is slowly morphing from someone funny into a CiF loony.

[ChorltonBrook]

He doesn't half like to over generalise though ...

[T1Brit]

Adam Curtis is a brilliant message giver. But his films always assume that the audience have blindly swallowed every fashionable viewpoint that has been tossed out of the TV by news and politicians and activists and the like.

But there is a great silent number of people who don't buy such hype, who always assume that people are what they are, that there are no magical solutions, and that the path to peace and prosperity is the same as it has always been. They are called conservatives.

[The3rdPlateau]

I hate to say this, but at 1:30 is that Sarajevo? ...because I think i saw a photo of that same kid sniped dead during the bosnian genocide wearing the same clothes...as though it was later that same day or something. wow

[jacksawild]

@The3rdPlateau Yep, that is the kid we all saw shot to death. Having a good memory isn't the blessing people assume it to be, is it?

[thejobloshow]

Did you idiots even watch the video right above these comments?

This is just one man's viewpoint.

[f0b0m]

lol I cant believe that there are so many blind followers of this idiot. I cant think of a more error ridden 'documentary' series than all watched over by machines.....

Oh well, your choice and your semen that you ejaculate over him.

[T1Brit]

@f0b0m He is brilliant at what he does and his films are always fascinating and thought provoking. You don't have to agree with everything he says to appreciate them do you?

[f0b0m]

@T1Brit There is an unmistakable air of pretentiousness in his work. And yes I do disagree with a lot of what he says but thats not my squabble. Its the thought process behind creating the pseudo intellectual babble. He essentially made it out that Ayn Rand was the thought leader of some cybernetics cult that we are all a part of.

And on this video: He showed one example of Live aid going wrong but he conveniently ignored the examples of news creating positive political impact. Contd.

[f0b0m]

@T1Brit + he simply tries to shove conclusions down people's throats instead of asking thought provoking questions. (this registers on my bs meter)

For me what it says is that despite being a non religious country, there is still a huge market for credulity in the UK as long as its covered in fancy words, creepy sounds and archive footage.

[T1Brit]

@f0b0m I agree his stuff seems more like a cross between artistic statement and political propaganda - especially this latest one 'all watched over by machines... etc '

But that is what he does. It is not the kind of hard documentary that tries to make a case.

The creepy sounds and archive stuff are brilliantly done and create a unique mood that is all his own.

It is really just great thought provoking entertainment, to me anyway.

[MaxwellEdisonPhD]

@f0b0m So where are the 'errors' then? Can you substantiate your argument or is your opinion purely rhetorical? I'm guessing you have a one-sided view yourself and you just disagree with him.

[colinfilthy]

@MaxwellEdisonPhD Jesus Christ, every sentence that comes out of Curtis' mouth is a massive over-generalization.

[waltermh111]

@colinfilthy No, he doesnt over generalise with every sentence.

Your being reactive.

Or better, name an overgeneralization so we can understand where your coming from.

Now there is the line that once both sides were evil, the news didnt know how to report.

But he wasnt speaking for himself, he was speaking to the mindset of the news cycles thought processes, and its true, as a general rule they failed at their job because they didnt know how to report on the issue.

[robenestobenz]

He's the best documentary maker around, for my money. But it's odd the way people get all worshipful for Curtis and take everything he says as The Way It Happened.

Some of his recurrent themes are the pitfalls of simplifying complex stuff to a satisfying narrative model we can make sense of, and determining truth from narrow or singular sources (again, simplification of a sort), aren't they?

[robertanthonyuk]

adam curtis is a genius

[Treblaine]

So basically we need to face up to the reality of politics and not try con frame things into "stories" of individuals, ignoring the greater ideals and circumstances.

[Treblaine]

IT'S NOT A BIG BUNCH OF FACTS CARVED INTO A CONCRETE BLOCK BY A FUCKING FACT COMPUTER!

[HelenaXVI]

I can't believe how people genuflect to this guy. He sounds like he possesses esoteric knowledge and sees through us common stupid folks. I wonder what complexes and insecurities would emerge if he would be psychoanalyzed. And lots of the stuff he says is crap, actually.

[Flowmotion1000]

@HelenaXVI I enjoy his programmes but I agree with you to an extent; it's all too easy to be sucked up by his didactic delivery.It's all pretty interesting and entertaining though.

[RadicalAwesomeness]

@HelenaXVI

Hurr durr, people shouldn't watch Curtis becuz I don't like him and he's insane.

[HelenaXVI]

@RadicalAwesomeness Well, according to mister Curtis most people are insane, including me, so why can't I say the same thing about him. Besides I didn't say people should not watch him, I said they shouldn't swallow it too easily. Documentaries are supposed to provoke critical thinking, not genuflection. "Omg he sez de trus omg he is so great! Go Adam Curtis, I rip anyone's balls off if they dare to doubt you!"

[waltermh111]

@HelenaXVI Thats not what Curtis says at all. You shouldnt judge him on this cutoff, but even then your missing the point.

You need to think more critically and not be so reactionary.

[shaniyyy]

@HelenaXVI He did not say that at all, how did you even infer that? He is saying that the news tends to treat conflicts as good vs evil, and nothing in between. But it turned out that people are not good or evil, but incredibly complex beings who react in a myriad of ways, depending on their position in society, their surroundings, etc. The news finds these things too confusing, hence simply ends up portraying all conflicts as a series of violent events with no background.

[lurchpop]

get fucked and jog on wanker

[VirianFlux]

I want a real block of facts from a fact computer built for an internet age.

[mcpencil]

5:20 E.T.??

[XionXi]

Adam Curtis never fails to scare the living shit out of me.

[densaner77]

Adam Curtis is a brilliant and original documentary filmmaker. Can't wait to see what his new series is like!

[MrFreako2010]

Even if he were wrong on some particulars, he's absolutely correct about the basic ways in which "the news" has changed in my lifetime (50 years). The current endpoint in North America, however, is more of a completely blatant and shameless infotainment approach (parodied in Curtis' introduction), than it is an "oh dear" journalism. remarkable for a short.

[mookie2637]

I agree AC is a fantastic film maker - one of the only people making this sort of thing at the moment. And broadly speaking he is one of the few who are prepared to whittle away at our assumptions, particularly about freedom. However, he also has a tendency to ascribe intentions to people and a sense of underpinning meaning to change which sometimes feels misleading to me.

[GogoKetchup]

Unfortunately, Ethiopia hasn't made any progress after Mengistu was overthrown, They elected Meles and now he privatised companies exclusively for Tigray ethnic groups whilst stealing resources form others and shamelessly begging western countries for money.Yep,One of the many forms of Odearism in the 21st century when a country turns itself for an even worse circumstance when all thought progress was achievable.

[shanksy67]

..well tbh I think a few of his central points are argueble, as charlie says , its one mans viewpoint.

[monda220]

"...its like living in the mind of a depressed hippie." adam curtis is gold

[niriop]

Does Curtis make mistakes? Absolutely. Do I agree with everything he says? Of course not. But Curtis is a sincere film maker, and a damn good one at that, out there trying to expose the underlying evils of modern Western political culture, and for that we should respect and honour his work, regardless of how disturbing its findings and conclusions (but always reserach for yourself as well).

[futurahi]

Does anyone know where I can get hold of or watch Adam Curtis's 'Oceans Apart' Documentary? ... it a really early doc from the late 80s about America and Britain.

[TrueDaturaMindNz]

did you find it?

'

[futurahi]

sorry, it seems to ultra rare or not in digital form :-(

[PersianPaladin]

oh dear

[skjachin]

anyone know where i can the music from this

[RogerHoare]

Adam Curtis is an artist who, in exposing the constructed "narratives" employed by certain elites, creates highly selective narratives of his own. The problem is, so many would-be intellectual telly watchers tend to see Curtis as a purveyor of the "real" story or hidden Truth. It's not about whether what he says is true or not — it's about how he selects the truths he uses. He's a liberal with a leftist agenda, and what he produces should be handled as carefully as any other kind of propaganda

[LaughterIsDeadly]

lol i love the talk show host. You can tell the depth of his intellect by his opening bit.

He introduces the film like he doesn't agree with it. Go figure.

[PrometheanRunGood]

Charlie is doing a public service here by introducing people like Adam Curtis to those who haven't seen his stuff.

[Freshhhhh1982]

Adam Curtis has made the best documentaries I've ever seen. Interesting and scary at the same time.

[Mezocosm]

its like living in the mind of a depressed hippie, !

its not like.... I do live in the mind of a depressed hippie

[MadXMax187]

he needs to make a NEW documentary... ive seen all his docs, they are GREAT highly recommended to anybody interested in society and politics

[bizarrejapan]

Mr. Curtis is THE KING!!!!

[ArtAristocracy]

HIPPIES PUNKS ADDICTS UNITE reconnect to political power now

[WAAAAAAAAAAAY]

I don't think Adam Curtis has made a bad documentary. Each one is astute and takes on big subjects in a great way. This is one of the best of the short ones. The news has gradually made us think that people have a natural inclination towards violence by showing sporadic footage of war and destruction, but it's not the case. People are not naturally bad - it is the socio-economic environmentthey find themselves in. [this comment is too long]

[The3rdPlateau]

@WAAAAAAAAAAAY Quite the contrary, your comment is normal length (in my book) if not short, it's just that the YouTube comment character limits are WAY, WAY too small.

[Hemouth]

i hate hippies!!!!

[ragnare]

"...like living in the mind of a depressed hippie"

That was the last 20 years of the 20th Century.

The 21st Century will increasingly resemble liiving in the mind of a confused and frightened hippie pissing himself at random intervals

[28g34ajbsd]

@ragnare pissing toothy pissed-off snakes!

[soulwam]

Wow... Adam.. Thanks for your very perceptive view!

[safens0und]

good stuff

[eriko111987]

This is beyond "Oh Dear."

Adam Curtis consistently amazes me. 

[dduff442]

This is a brilliant and succinct video essay. What is described cannot be conveyed in any other medium, so this it pure cinema and cinema at its finest.

[LordShivasServant]

@dduff442 I couldn't agree more.

TV may have fucked us over, but it can be used in such a way to say things which have never been said. GOOD video certainly exists.

[TheAnonymousSeeker]

@Craigee2008

ah.

Carry on then :p

[TheAnonymousSeeker]

"The west won the cold war"

WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?!?!!?!

The cold war wasn't even a war! D:

[Schloonktapooxis]

@TheAnonymousSeeker

it is now.

[erum7451]

@TheAnonymousSeeker Watch his doc called the power of nightmares.

[LordBifford]

@TheAnonymousSeeker Half of victory involves the enemy fucking himself up with his own mistakes.

[superfishle]

"Then in 1989 the West won the Cold War..." That reminds me so much of the end chapter of 1066 and all that. Where the Americans were Victorious and history came to a Full Stop lol

[zoanthropos]

As in the film Clockwork Orange, perhaps some change is effected somewhere in our minds and perhaps we choose between being the violator or the victim. And there they have their division of types. Active and Passive. Psychotic or subdued. There they get their punishing obedient armies and their docile civil servants and cowards. And the totalitarian control that is coveted.

[zoanthropos]

Its how the olden day emperors did it. Its how the priests do it with their crucifixes and its the only method the latter day ones know how to use.

Guantanamo, Saddams execution its all is staged for you and me its not for punishing people taken prisoner on charges of terrorism. The intention is to create states of horror within our psyche, distresses which we cant deal with. They enact nightmares before our eyes. So that we break down.

[zoanthropos]

The key lies in the staging of the snuff movie. What would it take to make you watch one?

And then a worse one? Soon youre taking part in World War 2 and studying Hiroshima and saying not so much ,Oh Dear but instead ‚Ill do anything as long as thats not done to me.

Then you start going to circuses to watch gladiators, and you start laughing instead of screaming.

Thats how they get us to comply: With an ample quantity of cruelty manifested grand scale in our habitat.

[ptwob]

2:02 someone says: cut your hair!

[omritheprice]

it's all true!!!

[videochemist]

It's quite simple really. People only act like savages towards each other when those with power make them do so by design. They create and uphold the system of evil to satisfy their greed for wealth and more power.

"oh dear, look what our rulers have made us do again."

[badnewswade]

But it's true! The only correct response is "oh dear." Fucked if I can do anything about it.

[nilbud]

@badnewswade Well you could sell everything you own fly to one of the bad spots and set up some kind of medical treatment centre if only to save the lives of a few dozen dying children.

In reality you chose to do fuck all.

Take some responsibility for your inaction ffs.

[badnewswade]

You first, old chap!

[ephemeralprotagonist]

Adam Curis has got to be one of the best, yet under-rated film makers ever.

[nilbud]

@ephemeralprotagonist It's ok I think he's great and that is massive praise indeed. He must feel great personal satisfaction in that kind of endorsement.

[thisisgrey]

@ephemeralprotagonist it's amazing what a great journalist he is and at the same time what an amazing video editor he is

[LordBifford]

@thisisgrey I love the fast pace of his documentaries. Most docs are so slow, with lots of empty bits of scenery.

[thisisgrey]

@LordBifford and the fact that we are watching a supposedly boring subject with just old footage and that we are glued to the screen just makes it more amazing

[AdamGCurtis]

@ephemeralprotagonist I'm glad that I share his name...

[vengefulnoob]

Oh so true

[k9thru12]

Read Steve Coll

Niall Ferguson

Christopher Andrew

and the

"Fools Experiment"

Dump Gold

New Stock Bubble based on Police State Tactics

Google and Wikipedia are now false "MANAGE"

[k9thru12]

4238 A L E X JONES Black Ops? Tiger Teams use Psych and Tact Ops +LL EMPS Titian Rain a Nato op for Profit Not China Russia or the Arabs Project Blue Beam is wide are population interference and emp warfare Spy Blimps at 65k up run on Solar and use Emp Flu Shoot is a front for Bio Warfare Pop Con and Eugenics...Social Nets used by Establishment.

[Yehbytheway]

You could call it 'cultural terrorism'

It's a marxist thing .

Google it.

[plasticbarf]

Is this part of a longer programme? I am a little confused as to what this short is.

[somberlight]

Yes. The presenter is Charlie Brooker and this program is either Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, or * Newswipe. Theres five seasons of screenwipe, one of Newswipe and one episode of Gameswipe, all in BBC4, i think. thats all i know :) i recommend checking him out, his critique of everything is .. whats the word.. "spot on!" there are clips on youtube, search "Charlie brooker on", the result should be a good selection of his rants

[somberlight]

also, somebody had whole of newswipe season in their account. name escapes me but search for news wipe and look for playlists, i think thats the account.

[Treblaine]

@somberlight

Ah have you seen charlie brooker's twitter feed?

I find it interesting that on it he wished xthemusic a Happy Birthday.

There have been allegations that xthemusic "violated the copyright" of certain BBC productions but I wouldn't know anything about that :)

[matchbox555]

what a bunch of crap

adam curtis should be shot for putting out endless piles of dogshit

[MovingToMontana]

You mean like his multi-award winning documentary series on the Century of Self? Or his numerous Royal Television Society nominations for film-maker of the year? Perhaps, my grammatically challenged friend, the crap you refer to, is his internationally celebrated critique of the war on terror?

[matchbox555]

curtis is the master of bullshit

he doesnt produce documentaries

he produces his own fantasies

even HE KNOWS hes bullshitting, but he manages to fool people with his upper class accent and clever editing of 50s footage to give an air of authority to absolute nonsense

he is also a dismal pessimist

i wish he would kill himself

[MovingToMontana]

You don't know what you're talking about. Read more books and stay in school.

[matchbox555]

i know exactly what im talking about ive watched all his bullshit. he LITERALLY makes it up as he goes.

hes a total fucking fraud.

[MovingToMontana]

Any links to proof of your claim?  Citations?

[matchbox555]

yeah

references : the considered educated opinion of matchbox555

suck on that.

[KobyTeeth33]

matchbox555 is full of shit, he just makes shit up as he goes. He's a total fucking fraud.

references: listening to this douche in his own words.

[TulseLuper]

Name five things Adam Curtis has said that are untrue. And cite all of those things. Otherwise, fuck off.

[matchbox555]

the hypothesis in every film he has made is bullshit

he thinks the war on terrorism was about giving power to politicians (power of nightmares)

that the 20th century social movements were determined by psychologists doing experiments (century of the self)

that everything govt touches causes bad consequences (pandoras box)

his reading of history is a fucking joke

these are not documentaries they are entertaining delusional fantasies

now fuck off

[Rodrigoandnietzsche]

u fuk off

[LaughterIsDeadly]

@matchbox555 LOL you clearly never watched them. GOOD JOB GOOGLER. also, I can see how lazy you got towards the end of this post, got tired of looking stuff up to justify your opinion cause you watched this video and didn't like it for w/e reason? did you even watch all of it?

It's funny you think he doesn't know his history, I'm guessing you didn't go to oxford like he did. Sounds like you're just entertaining delusional fantasies from your 8th grade american history education.

[matchbox555]

@LaughterIsDeadly lol oxford means nothing

i have a feeling when cuirtis gets older he will tell people his documentaries were bullshit and purely made to entertain his own self indulgent fantasies and sense of narcissism

[LaughterIsDeadly]

@matchbox555 Oh yeah? Have you been? Tell me about it.

You have a feeling? You truly are a student rational and critical thought.

[matchbox555]

@LaughterIsDeadly no i havent been to oxford, but you can ask nick griffin he went there

[matchbox555]

@LaughterIsDeadly i also have a hunch that curtis is psychologically disturbed and probably has lots of suicidal thoughts

[Jcolinsol]

@matchbox555

That can honestly be said of pretty much everyone these days.

Curtis has an insightful way of looking at history, I appreciate it. I also appreciate his, rather sardonic, sense of humor.

He's better than the social commentator.

[LordBifford]

@TulseLuper It's difficult to refute his big points without going into a long-winded rant that just irritates people.

[LaughterIsDeadly]

@LordBifford

"It's difficult to refute his big points without going into a long-winded rant that just irritates people."

Because you can't refute it without misunderstanding facts. So if you're ranting on about misinformation or speculation from morons, yeah it's annoying.

[SlimeTron5000]

@TulseLuper NO U

[OutOfTheBoxThinker]

@TulseLuper : Curtis does have quite a lot of knowledge about socio-political issues throughout the 20th century and I really admire him for exposing some of the more obscure facts out there, but he does have a quite peculiar way of connecting the dots that comes off as naive sometimes. But maybe that's just how far one can go in mainstream media these days?!?

[elryan1982]

@TulseLuper it's not so much an issue of truth/lies, more that curtis falls victim to the same thing he criticizes: massively oversimplifying huge, complex issues to fit into 5 minutes of entertaining tv.

[jackjude]

@elryan1982 true...his are arguments, as such, are very convincing, concise catchy and his tone exhortative that they seem to displace or arrest the patchwork of self acquired knowledge many of his audince have on the subjects he tackles.

[Ming64]

@elryan1982 That's absolutely it, Especially in his recent series on BBC2. I love Curtis's films - they're incredible to watch but they do tend to set off the old bullshit detector from time to time. Apophenia, much?

[AndroidPolitician]

@TulseLuper

I can name one thing: Adam Curtis literally said Al Qaeda is only called Al Qaeda because the government named it and that it adopted the name after 9/11 to gain infamy. He also said Bin Laden had no role in 9/11 other than funding it.

Surprise surprise Al Qaeda has been calling itself that since the late 80s and Bin Laden planned the attacks and has a detailed operational role.

[burlearth]

@AndroidPolitician Not entirely true, yes the name existed but the CIA had to use the name 'Al Qaeda' as a brand and asccociate it with loose groups -it was not an organization- so they could prosecute them (or any Mid-East terrorist) as a criminal organization under the RICO act, BUT, Al Qaeda ain't, in reality, a networked organization, it's a belief. So in certain terms Curtis is right. Also, Curtis never claimed Bin laden adopted the name to gain infamy or that he had NO involvement in 9/11.

[AndroidPolitician]

@burlearth

I never said Curtis said he had no involvement in 9/11, he just said that Bin Laden's only role was funding which is totally untrue.

Also he did explicate state the name "Al Qaeda" was never used until after 2001 which is ridiculous considering that it's been used since 1988.

It is a functioning organization, the organization just operates in a way to bring groups together. Like people get paid to do work etc. as members of Al Qaeda.

[jackjude]

@TulseLuper ... it very hard to establish what is untrue as Curtis is a polymath, there is stuff in the recent Ecosystems ep where his grasp of scientific facts are apparently simply untrue (according to some environmental scientists I know) and in 'The Power of Nightmares' according of a chanel 4 cameraman I know,,,all agree though that his stuff is VERY intelligent and thought provoking nonetheless. I don't have the background knowledge to know any different.

[ejames3000]

What a shame that a talented documentary-maker should be given a five-minute platform within a Charlie Brooker show in which to condense an infinitely complex subject. The rise of "infotainment" doesn't get a mention, nor does the increasing currency that irony now holds in all media. We have only to look at Michael Portillo flirting with Diane Abbott on a sofa to appreciate that the BBC no longer regards people who take politics seriously as part of their target demographic.

[shahideurope]

have you noticed how all Adam Curtis documentaries begin with the counter culture of the 1960s

[Yehbytheway]

Check out Greg palasts channel and watch the vulture funds vid

[Paulmancieri67]

I love Adam Curtis documentaries. My only question here on this one is what proof does he have in regards to the Live Aid Money being used for corrupt purposes. He only says it "may" have been used to prolong the war. Great short though.

[MudHut67]

It is a sad fact that a lot of money raised by Governments and NGOs alike get in to the wrong hands, it is not intentional.

[Paulmancieri67]

While I do agree with you were here I just am not sure what he is referencing when it comes to the Live Aid money.

[nedgey]

And there is no such thing as facts set in stone as a separate entity to views. At least his don't seem to be sensitive to the views of those loyal to governments, corporations, religions etc.

[nedgey]

Go Adam Curtis. Even if the historical flow of events and influences are tainted by 'his opinion' or just a 'story' of what's happening/happened, it's all still very educational, factual and engaging.

At the very least his docos are plausible conspiracy theories... Personally I think they provide much understanding and truth though.

[nameofthepen]

Who is this guy kidding?

I NOMinate him for journalism's Darwin Award.

Disinfo = "...and everyone was evil..."

You call yourself a reporter?

Nooo...I don't think so. Try reading the talmud, and then follow up with the protocols of zion and a trip to the Georgia Guide stones.

Wakey, wakey, folks! Come out of denial. Stop listening to the news.

The goal of our ZOG-infested governments is to kill you and me.

They're very good at it.

[TodMcInerney]

I like your comment re ZOG- infested governments is to kill you and me.

We have to all wake up cause we will end up killing our selves thus helping the ZOG achieve their goal.

[Scoppertop]

It's their end-game for the "New Jerusalem". And they don't care who you are, either... Bernie Madoff broke the Jewish law that doesn't allow them to rob each other or charge usury against fellow Jews.

[MovingToMontana]

Adam Curtis is one of the most respected documentary film makers in British Television and you can barely form a coherent sentence.

[nameofthepen]

MovingToMontana - please do! ;-)

[KukakakaAoD]

No, he calls himself a documentry maker.

also, you do not seem to understand the idea of a Darwin Award. Unless this single mini-documentary causes him to never make another documentry agin.

[MudHut67]

He was portraying how the media viewed it, the media looked for 'good' side and an 'evil' side. He was just illistrationg that from the media perspective there was just 'evil'. Stop being so irrational for a change.

[nameofthepen]

"Stop being so irrational for a change. "

-MudHut67

''The first reaction to truth is hatred''

~Tertullian

[MudHut67]

Ha, that was not hateful. I was merely trying to widen your a view a bit. You yourself seem to feel threatened by the way you tried to use my own views against me. Don't take this comment as anger, because quite frankly I have no ide what this 'ZOG' is. I am merely refuting what you said.

[red1964]

@nameofthepen

Zog, as in King Zog Skanderbeg III of the Albanians? He died in 1961 and is therefore well beyond infesting any government you care to name. Even Albania.

You're not David Icke are you? If you are, you were shit playing for Hereford.