Adam Curtis - The Century of the Self

After watching this award-winning documentary The Century of The Self, I finally understand why I feel ambivalent about Adam Curtis' documentary. On the one hand, he is concerned with the same issues that I am concerned about: (1) the tyranny of the free-market capitalism; (2) big business and government sleeping together; (3) whether one can trust the masses to make an informed and rational decision on which political candidate to elect for one's government.

However, on the other hand, his portrayal of pseduoscience (e.g. Freudian theory, psycho-analysis etc) as though they were legitimate explanations for human behavior really bugs me. In this film, there are certain topics he touches on, like crowd behavior, human nature, etc, that he ascribes to the psycho-analytical theories.... There is an abundance of literature that is based on empirical evidence and not hocus-pocus psychoanalytical bullshit that Adam Curtis entirely missed. I do not know whether it is because Curtis did not know about these studies or that psychoanalytical theories is more "exciting" and "easier" to understand (although not based on any empirical evidence or rigid scientific research).

There is a part of this documentary that really drives home the point that I am making: as the documentary progress, we are told that one psychoanalytical movement after the other fails... and Curtis implicitly hinted it was because the previous theories were "wrong". How about this: the theories were wrong because the methodology is wrong, it is not a legitimate way of assessing human behavior, psychology and nature. The theories were wrong not because the psychoanalysts were coming up with wrong theories, but because the enterprise of psychoanalyst is just dead wrong and not helpful. Incidentally, a lot of the psychoanalytical "theories" and "findings" can be explained by other more austere and parsimonious psychological, behavioral and evolutionary theories without invoking ridiculous concepts such as "the unconscious self" or "the psych of the crowd".

If one takes out this aspect of the documentary, sure, it may become less "exciting". However, I would still recommend people to watch this documentary. Because there are aspects of this documentary that is informative: how government officials and the business community seek to manipulate and shape the public's behavior through what they thought were the "true" nature of human nature by psychoanalytical theories. If anything, I think the documentary reveals the true "intent" of big business and government, which is not always flattering. Also, after one watches this documentary, I think one should seriously question the
culture of consumerism, and if one looks at recent events (i.e. stock market crash, etc), you will be surprised to find that there were a lot of historical precedents.

The Century of The Self, Episode 1: Happiness Machines Part 1


The Century of The Self, Episode 1: Happiness Machines Part 2


The Century of The Self, Episode 1: Happiness Machines Part 3


The Century of The Self, Episode 1: Happiness Machines Part 4


The Century of The Self, Episode 1: Happiness Machines Part 5


The Century of The Self, Episode 1: Happiness Machines Part 6


The Century of The Self, Episode 2: The Engineering of Consent Part 1


The Century of The Self, Episode 2: The Engineering of Consent Part 2


The Century of The Self, Episode 2: The Engineering of Consent Part 3


The Century of The Self, Episode 2: The Engineering of Consent Part 4


The Century of The Self, Episode 2: The Engineering of Consent Part 5


The Century of The Self, Episode 2: The Engineering of Consent Part 6


The Century of The Self, Episode 3: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed Part 1


The Century of The Self, Episode 3: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed Part 2


The Century of The Self, Episode 3: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed Part 3


The Century of The Self, Episode 3: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed Part 4


The Century of The Self, Episode 3: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed Part 5


The Century of The Self, Episode 3: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed Part 6


The Century of The Self, Episode 4: Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering Part 1


The Century of The Self, Episode 4: Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering Part 2


The Century of The Self, Episode 4: Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering Part 3


The Century of The Self, Episode 4: Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering Part 4


The Century of The Self, Episode 4: Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering Part 5


The Century of The Self, Episode 4: Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering Part 6