Reviews of Zeitgeist (2007) and related work
- Sequel: Zeitgeist: Addendum (2008)
Zeitgeist (2007
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A milestone of cinema, comparable to deepfakes a decade later. Even more than Loose Change (2005), Zeitgeist signalled that the power to make reasonably attractive, misleading documentaries on niche topics, and reach a mass market, was now in the hands of driven individuals. Because of computers and other affordable electronics, production no longer required a pile of money or talent.
The movie is charmingly misanthropic, sprinkled with half-truths and involuntary appearances by Bill Hicks, Carl Sagan and long quotes from Network (1976) for rhetorical flair. All the other misinformation aside, it irks me to see the historicity of Jesus challenged so poorly; see instead Reasons to invent Jesus.
‣ Zeitgeist: Addendum (2008)
Somewhat lower in bullshit content, but still enormously unreasonable. For a more sane overview of the economics, see e.g. When Corporations Rule the World (1995).