Four by Adam Curtis: Power of Nightmares, Century of Self, The Trap, The Living Dead [4-DVD set in Amaray Case]
Disc 1. The POWER of NIGHTMARES. Instead of dreams of a better world, today's politicians only promise to protect us from nightmares. The most frightening is the threat of an international terror network. The nightmare is an illusion -- a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics and international media -- a fantasy that restored the power and authority of politicians in a disillusioned age. 3 hrs.Disc 2. The CENTURY of the SELF. The triumph of the self is thought to be the ultimate expression of democracy, of power to the people. Bur are we really in charge? This series reveals the untold and controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in the UK and US. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests? Among the main characters are Sigmund Freud and his nephew Edward Bernays, who first used psychological techniques in advertising. Curtis quotes a Wall Street banker: "People must be trained to desire, to want new things." 4 hrs.Disc 3. The Trap explores how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic, creatures led to today's dysfunctional idea of freedom. The baleful influence of win-lose game theory on economics and international relations, of free market theory on society, over-the-counter drugs, bureaucracies and schools. The rhetoric of freedom used to justify violence and "shock therapy" in Eastern Europe and in Iraq, with horrific consequences. One of the most intelligent films of all time. 3 hrs.The Living Dead explores how those who aim for control over us manipulate our past. "On the Desperate Edge of Now" investigates the way the national memory was altered between Nuremberg and the Cold War. In "You Have Used Me as a Fish Long Enough," attempts to doctor individual memory with drugs were abandoned in favor of rewriting history. "The Attic" tells how Thatcher used PR to cast herself in the role of a new Winston Churchill. 3 hrs. See also the extensive descriptions on Wikipedia.