I'll start by saying I distrust Chomsky. The thesis he puts forth in Manufacturing Consent is (at best) a reach, and his "followers" (knowing he doesn't encourage followers), I consider by and large to be idiots.
I checked this out at the video store to provide some gravitas in balance against a few other very silly heliumweight comedies I'd checked out, and to have a kick at laughing at some silly rant about the media conspiracy.
In spite of this, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie.
Mark Akbar and Peter Wintonick have made a very watchable, entertaining, and yes, informative documentary laying out Mr. Chomsky's ideas. They are helped along by the fact that Chomsky is an engaging speaker. He comes across as level-headed, voluminously informed, and ready and willing to engage skeptics in discussion. In fact, at one point in the narrative, you hear Chomsky say (through cutup provided by Akbar and Wintonick) "When someone puts out thought which is outside of conventional wisdom, you _should_ sit up and demand extraordinary proof of these theories."
The only failing is that in my mind, the extraordinary proof which one should expect is not here. There is a damning quantity of evidence brought forth by Chomsky, particularly as brought to bear on the subject of the coverage of US foreign policy. You almost want to believe that, yes, there's really some massive behind-the-scenes scheming going on.
If Chomsky was an anthropologist, rather than a linguist, he might conclude that Washington DC is a closed society, everybody attends the same social functions, goes to the same parties, wants to be accepted by the gang, and won't willfully turn around and bite their fellows.
Chomsky sees a Plan. I see our glorious simian heritage rearing its ugly head again.
I checked this out at the video store to provide some gravitas in balance against a few other very silly heliumweight comedies I'd checked out, and to have a kick at laughing at some silly rant about the media conspiracy.
In spite of this, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie.
Mark Akbar and Peter Wintonick have made a very watchable, entertaining, and yes, informative documentary laying out Mr. Chomsky's ideas. They are helped along by the fact that Chomsky is an engaging speaker. He comes across as level-headed, voluminously informed, and ready and willing to engage skeptics in discussion. In fact, at one point in the narrative, you hear Chomsky say (through cutup provided by Akbar and Wintonick) "When someone puts out thought which is outside of conventional wisdom, you _should_ sit up and demand extraordinary proof of these theories."
The only failing is that in my mind, the extraordinary proof which one should expect is not here. There is a damning quantity of evidence brought forth by Chomsky, particularly as brought to bear on the subject of the coverage of US foreign policy. You almost want to believe that, yes, there's really some massive behind-the-scenes scheming going on.
If Chomsky was an anthropologist, rather than a linguist, he might conclude that Washington DC is a closed society, everybody attends the same social functions, goes to the same parties, wants to be accepted by the gang, and won't willfully turn around and bite their fellows.
Chomsky sees a Plan. I see our glorious simian heritage rearing its ugly head again.
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