Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron and Naomi Klein Short Film: The Shock Doctrine
Naomi Klein is a Canadian journalist and activist who wrote the book No Logo, a landmark text about the anti-globalization movement. For her new book, The Shock Doctrine, she turned to an interesting source to help promote it: filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron. She felt that the dystopian future presented in Children of Men was very similar to the world she was seeing in front of her eyes now, with corporations and governments subduing the masses using a technique not unlike the effects of shock therapy. So she was able to get Cuaron and his brother Jonas to put together this short film that helps get across the ideas from her book in an pseudo-educational film sort of way. For more info on the book and the short film, visit www.naomiklein.org.
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Comments (4)
I enjoyed this video for the most part but
found a few problems with it.First I want
you to know I am not at all in contention of
a Shock Doctrine being a real concept that
is initiated by those who would profit.
It is curious to me that one would produce a
short film to rally against the idea of
shock treatment be on an individual or
community and then turn and use editing
techniques to what seems like to make you
the viewer shocked and afraid.
If something is shocking or a great weight
and importance the facts I think should be
more deftly displayed to speak for
themselves not surrounded by redundant black
and white clips of shock treatment and loud
banging sound effects.
The greater problem I have with this short
and the reason I decided to post is the
quick edits of factoids.Am I supposed to go
back and pause on those screens of numbers?
Was that the point of it being so quick to
drive home the idea of being kept in shock?
If you have facts and numbers to support your
argument against such tyranny why would you
blaze through them?
There are a lot of films available on the
internet for free that share the same tone
as this.From 911 conspiracy videos to
showcasing WTO protests they all strike the
same chord of drama.Something about these films seems to marginalize the message.The content is important but seems to use the same kind of fear claw of propaganda others would use to oppress.
Very MTV.
In the end of the video were are told a solution of seeking information but I feel that is too vague and comes after a blitz of scrambled images.Perhaps I should look at this as nothing more than advert for the book.
What about this film works and doesn’t work?
Posted by MoriaOrc on September 27th, 2007What would make films like this more effective?
For the most part this is a promotional tool for the book. If you want more substantial discussion about the ideas in the short, I assume you can find it within the book.
Posted by Sean on September 27th, 2007I get that this was to be only promotional material.With a running time of only about 7 minutes I also understand to gain further knowledge on the subject you would have to search more.
I am glad to see more of this information getting out there and have seen more documentaries in recent years.
I see that some of the impact these subjects might have get lost in a static.
I think this short encapsulates things within the activist documentary genre that turns people off not by its content as much as its often cliche or insulting approach.
Why do some of the diagrams also have a funny aspect to them?
Why the spray paint on the walls,barb wire booming closing of doors and zzzzttz sound effects?
I realize the nature of film needs to be entertaining and do something other than a news report but sometimes it all looks like the same panic with no real direction.
It also feels insulting when in a film like the 11th Hour Leonardo DiCaprio wistfully comments about how the world will end.
It is more sensational static when Alex Ross gets red in the face with a bullhorn.
All these films I think are in a genuine effort to convey the severity of each issue.
It is just a shame that many films feel they have to be in such an over the top reaction to the mainstream press.
P.S. I love the Podcast and the FilmJunk site.
Posted by MoriaOrc on September 28th, 2007I rarely ever comment but I have been talking with friends recently about this stuff and I got enthusiastic for blogging when I saw your post.I would love to hear your thoughts.
Well, if you’re talking about why a so-called “message movie” needs to be entertaining, it’s just so that people will actually go see it. I agree that this can undermine the message at times, but I still admire a movie that tries to be didactic in some way. It’s kind of up to the viewer whether or not they want to get anything out of it.
Posted by Sean on September 28th, 2007Leave a Reply