The ideas presented in
Zeitgeist:
the Movie (2007) challenge the dominant ideology and are becoming increasingly
more relevant nowadays. In a week when
the UK government are proposing supposed anti-terror legislation which vastly
infringes on personal privacy and basic human rights, a viewing of Zeitgeist is
timely and recommended. As Allan Massie noted in
his article in the Scotsman this week:
“It is bizarre that, since the European Convention on Human
Rights was incorporated into our law, respect for the liberty of the individual
citizen has diminished, and, as this proposed extension of state surveillance
makes clear, we are all viewed with suspicion by authority.”
It seems that acts like the European Convention on Human
Rights might be being used by authorities as more of a ruler to judge the
extent to which they can legally reach to enforce control over populations
rather than promote a culture of liberty.
This is just one example in a string of actions made by the UK government
which proves their increasing tendency towards a full blown totalitarian state. Instead of getting embroiled in the specifics
of such an argument though, it might be more enlightening to step back and look
at the bigger picture – this is exactly what Zeitgeist does.
Zeitgeist is essential viewing for any discerning, vigilant
human being anywhere. If you’ve always
had the feeling that the whole Western, capitalist system is fundamentally
wrong and unjust, but never really had the knowledge of economics, religion and
politics to realise why, then this film is for you. It starts to explain, in a simple and
accessible format, the sickening corruption that is in the blood of the world’s
greediest power brokers.
In ‘Part one: the greatest story ever told’ the film starts
by explaining the concept of the myth.
By relating to astrology and religion, it begins to explain how humans
have always used myths to describe and understand the course of nature and the
world around them. It takes Judeo-Christian
faith as an example of how myths are created and used, as well as underlining
the fact that they’re all based on Paganism and early astrology and, so,
essentially plagiarised.
The truth according to Zeitgeist is that astrology was
represented by myths and stories in order to simplify and explain the complex
intergalactic movements at play and how this affected basic things like growing
and harvesting crops in order to eat and stay alive. These truthful myths were then manipulated
over time into religious myths. When you
consider how much blood has been shed in the name of various gods throughout
human history, it’s humbling to realise these religions are based on nothing
more than an analogy of nature.
Zeitgeist explains that religious myths have always been used to control
and segregate people, creating fear and war.
This brings the film into the second part, titled ‘All the
World’s a Stage’. Here the film presents
the 9/11 myth as understood and promoted by the US government. It goes on to systematically dissect the
myth, explaining the inconsistencies and lies within. The truth behind this myth is that, according
to Zeitgeist, the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an elaborate and intricate plan
undertaken by the most corrupt people behind the US government itself. The aim of the plan was to create a myth so
widely accepted by an outraged global public that the US would have
justification for the invasion of Afghanistan and then eventually Iraq in order
to cease control of oil resources and undertake an illegal war which would last
for years, thus generating exponential profits for international defence
contractors. Apparently the London
terrorist attacks were all for the same purpose too. Apparently Vietnam was the same kind of war
but without the oil. Apparently the men
in power have been doing this for centuries: creating myths which create a
desired reaction amongst a population in order to justify some (usually morally
abhorrent) action which normally results in financial gain for themselves.
It also explains that these myths are used to create futile
and artificial divisions among humans in order to create a global culture of
fear and thus control entire populations.
“Divide and conquer” is the motto given to this strategy of empowerment
– make a population fight among itself and become the all-powerful referee.
‘Part three: Don’t Mind the Men Behind the Curtain’ goes on
to explain how the corrupt, nonsensical, synthetic global financial system is
the main method by which the men in power control governments and the public by
a system of slavery. I’m not exactly
clued up on economics but it’s quite easy to understand that the global
monetary system is fundamentally unfair.
Central banks regulate how much money is printed and loaned out into the
system, and charge every single penny at interest. There’s no reason for the interest, other
than the fact that the men in charge of the whole system pocket the interest as
profit and retain absolute control over governments and populations. The dominant monetary system is a crooked
invention – it is not a necessary human resource.
Part three also describes how educational systems are
designed to stop people from being “too educated” and “thinking too much”. It also explains how entertainment, drugs,
alcohol and all other permutations of entertainment are meant to pacify entire
populations, stop them from being too intelligent and distract them from
finding out the horrible truth of how the world is really run. By this point in the film I’m profoundly
aware of Karl Marx’ statement “religion is the opiate of the masses”. As it appears nowadays, this could be
translated more relevantly to “myths are the opiate of the masses”. It was once religious myths which were used
to control people, now it’s myths of all kinds.
Myths which are created by horrific actions commissioned by the men in
power and perpetuated by the media which they themselves own.
I don’t think the word Illuminati is mentioned in Zeitgeist
– I don’t think it needs to be either.
This film doesn’t concentrate on the so-called Illuminati or any other
secret society. Instead it’s about myths
and how they’re used to manipulate the ideologies of the people, control them
and thus conserve the system of oppression and slavery that is beneficial for
the elite ruling classes. The people at the top of the system aren't some conspiratorial, secret organization though. There is no Illuminati or lizard people. The people in power are just products of the system - whether they were born into power (as is often the case and makes for prime fodder for conspiracy theories) or worked their way to the top, these people are just people who want to succeed and just like the rest of us. There is a complex system of relativity at play - wealth is relative as the monetary system is invented and so the power structures are imagined. All people are part of the same global population - differences and divisions are synthetic and learned. To say that the system is corrupt because of those in charge is to foster a culture of 'us' and 'them', thereby creating more divisions. Real change of the whole system relies on solidarity - to acheive that relies on the way people think and perceive the world around them.
Later on, the film suggest that “a new consciousness is
emerging which sees the Earth as a single organism”. I can forgive people for criticising this
idea and dismissing it as simple and dogmatic, but I like it. It reminds me a lot of Carl Jung’s notion of
the ‘Collective Unconscious’ whereby all people are connected by an unconscious
realm of thoughts and dreams. The idea
of all living things existing ‘as one’ is repeated time in time again in
religion, philosophy and, now, psychology.
I think Zeitgeist’s big idea
is to get us to dismiss the divisive ways of the world powers and realise that
we are in this together - at the risk of sounding like a hippy.
Overall,
Zeitgeist is extremely persuasive. I was very aware of this and constantly
questioned how much is speculative propaganda and how much is truth. After a quick search on the director, Peter
Joseph, I found
a good interview with the man himself
and he seems like an extremely intelligent, socially conscious human
being. In this interview he admits that
he (and anyone else who has challenged the system throughout history) has come
under a lot of pressure for his challenging ideas.
Zeitgeist is so big I’m frankly amazed he
hasn’t been assassinated yet (since that’s what
Zeitgeist says happens to “all the good guys” – Ghandi, John
Lennon, Martin Luther King Jnr, the Kennedys, etc).
I won't be surprised if many people don't enjoy this film. It makes you think and many people I know generally don't watch films to think, they watch films to be told. The great irony of
Zeitgeist's success is that it uses a medium to spoon-feed people information to tell them that they shouldn't allow themselves to be spoon-fed information. I'm reminded of John F Kennedy's words:
"The great enemy of the truth, is very often not the lie – deliberate,
contrived and dishonest – but the myth – persistent, persuasive and
unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the
discomfort of thought." John F Kennedy
Zeitgeist is
composed mostly of pre-existing audio and video clips and Joseph states in his
interview that all of the information in the film is from a source. I tend to sway towards the viewpoint that,
while an enormous amount of creative license has necessarily been used to
structure these facts into a persuasive argument, Zeitgeist is more than just propaganda. Paradoxically, you could say that Zeitgeist
is a myth with a motive, just like the ones it criticises, but there’s too much
logic and truth to this story for it to be classed as simply another loopy,
anarchistic conspiracy theory.
What Zeitgeist
doesn’t do is offer any kind of solution or alternative to the way things
are. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing,
after all two hours is a good length for a feature (especially one with so much
information and thought-provoking concepts to process) and there wouldn’t be
enough time to feasibly undertake such a task without losing the concentration
of the audience. I realise that there
are three subsequent films in the Zeitgeist series and I expect these will be
more concerned with offering a theoretical framework for some sort of positive
change. I fully intend to watch and
review these, relating my thoughts to this first review.
For now, I’ll sum up by saying that Zeitgeist is an
incredibly influential film which deserves a lot of serious attention. One man can’t provide a solution to fix a
world riddled with corruption, but he can sure put his ideas out there and stir
up debate. The beauty of digital video
is that it is such an accessible and easily-distributable medium, perfect for influencing
a critical mass that is necessary to reach in order to change the way we live
our lives and run the world. I’m not
totally in the know of the whole Occupy movement, but I imagine it might well represent
the embodiment of a discontented mass who campaign for truth, justice,
transparency and a new global monetary system.
A group who think much like Peter Joseph and seek to evolve the
zeitgeist – the fundamental way we all think, live and run the world.
