Since the archives are only open so long every day, I have some time to read and relax in other ways. On the recommendation of a friend, I recently watched a four-part documentary on the role of Freudian psychology in shaping society, especially American society, in the twentieth century. The director's name is Adam Curtis, and it originally aired on the BBC in 2002.
Wikipedia: The Century of the Self
YouTube: The Century of the Self
The film's argument is provocative, and is certainly food for thought. There are a couple of more posts on this subject germinating, but more on those later.
Wikipedia: The Century of the Self
YouTube: The Century of the Self
The film's argument is provocative, and is certainly food for thought. There are a couple of more posts on this subject germinating, but more on those later.
3 comments:
Oh man, this is SO fascinating. I feel like I've heard about this documentary somewhere before, and even perhaps watched it. After several years of graduate school, though, it is about 1000 times more interesting. The self! The masses! That's the 20th century right there, right?
Oh, and one more comment. I certainly hope they go into more detail about the Soviet Union than they do in the first episode (it seems to be all about the U.S. and Nazi Germany). The Soviets were all about these kinds of techniques too! As were perhaps Japan, Spain, Italy, France, etc. This reminds me a lot of that Stephen Kotkin article "Modern Times"
Exactly, it's a really penetrating way to look at things (and it gets better). Unfortunately, like a lot of this kind of thing, there is very little interest in the Soviet Union. Or for that matter, anywhere outside the US and GB. "Modern Times" is a good point, I've always found the article really thought provoking.
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