From: nlns@igc.apc.org (New Liberation News Service)
Subject: New Film on Chomsky/Media
Organization: The Ohio State University Department of Computer and Information Science
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 18:51:04 GMT

/* Written 12:05 pm  Sep 25, 1992 by hrcoord in cdp:media.issues */
/* ---------- "ACT:Asking the News" ---------- */
From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: ACT:Asking the News

/* Written  9:48 pm  Sep 24, 1992 by web:act in cdp:gen.newsletter */
ASKING THE NEWS SOME QUESTIONS

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media
Dir. and prod. by Peter Wintonick and Mark Achbar

Reviewed by Darrin Nowakowski

The American linguistics professor Noam Chomsky has developed a
 reputation as a fierce critic of United States militarism abroad. In his 
recent book, Manufacturing Consent, he attacks the mainstream media 
in North America for presenting establishment-biased, non-objective 
news. In typical Chomsky style, the book is so thoroughly documented,
 exhaustively researched, and imbued with detail, that the reader is 
overwhelmed by the sheer weight of data rather than the rhetoric of 
argument.

The Canadian-produced film about Chomsky, also titled Manufacturing
 Consent, does far more than regurgitate the book in a documentary 
format. Wintonick and Achbar's film is both a Chomsky lecture and a
 biography of the man himself. Regardless of whether you have read 
all of his books, or none of them, the film has a great deal to offer.

The producers mix their own visual images -- ironically, shot with a 
surplus RCMP surveillance camera -- with clips from the news media, 
to blend dry details and tense scenes with comedy. After sifting 
through over 130 hours of lectures, guest appearances, debates and
 interviews with Chomsky, spanning over two decades, Wintonick and
 Achbar chose 165 minutes to keep in the film.

Think of it as a Chomsky's Greatest Hits collection.

The film itself is full of ironic twists, reminiscent of earlier 
political documentaries like Milhouse or The Atomic Caf. For example, 
when Chomsky is being interviewed for a BBC morning talk show, he 
tries to explain that the two-minute limit allowed most news spots 
makes it impossible to explain anything other than an already 
familiar thought or idea. Before he is able to finish his point, the host 
cuts him off, explaining that his time is up.

Aside from a general critique of the media, Manufacturing Consent 
is also concerned with some global political events. An example of 
media support for the establishment, for instance, is the lack of coverage 
in the press of the Indonesian invasion and occupation of East Timor. 
This film does cover the repression and genocide of the Timorese 
people -- to whom, in fact, it is dedicated. Included is some Australian 
news footage of East Timor which provides one of the rare opportunities 
for North American audiences to view the situation there.

Manufacturing Consent also examines some of Chomsky's personal
 controversies. More than a few right-wing intellectuals openly despise 
his criticism of American foreign policy, though in a cameo appearance
 William Buckley can do nothing more than roll his eyes and make faces 
at Chomsky as the latter suggests that American militarism is no 
different, in principle, than that of the Soviet Union.

Chomsky's description of the American educational system as a form 
of "institutionalized ignorance", and his statement that the Bible is "the
 most genocidal book in the whole canon of literature" raised a few
 eyebrows. His anarchist political bent and his attacks on other 
American institutions, like professional sports, do not always endear 
him to the mainstream population.

Yet Chomsky's upfront honesty and softspoken eloquence command 
respect. This film provides a great way to learn more about Chomsky's 
ideas and Chomsky the person.

Manufacturing Consent is playing at the Euclid Theatre (College and 
Euclid) from October 1-7. The October 1 screening will be a benefit 
for the East Timor Alert Network.

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