Adam Curtis Films
The Trap: What Happened to our Dream of Freedom
TV-PG
Kevin Adam Curtis (born 26 May 1955) is a British documentary film-maker. Curtis says that his favourite theme is "power and how it works in society", and his works explore areas of sociology, psychology, philosophy and political history.
Where to Watch The Trap: What Happened to our Dream of Freedom
4 Episodes
- The Trap: What Happened to our Dream of Freedom: Part 1. 'F**k You Buddy'E1
The Trap: What Happened to our Dream of Freedom: Part 1. 'F**k You Buddy'In part one, Curtis examines the rise of game theory during the Cold War and the way in which its mathematical models of human behaviour filtered into economic thought. - The Trap: What Happened to our Dream of Freedom: Part 2. 'The Lonely Robot'E2
The Trap: What Happened to our Dream of Freedom: Part 2. 'The Lonely Robot'Part two reiterated many of the ideas of the first part, but developed the theme that drugs such as Prozac and lists of psychological symptoms which might indicate anxiety or depression were being used to normalise behaviour and make humans behave more predictably, like machines. - The Trap: What Happened to our Dream of Freedom: Part 3. 'We Will Force You To Be Free'E3
The Trap: What Happened to our Dream of Freedom: Part 3. 'We Will Force You To Be Free'The final part focusses on the concepts of positive and negative liberty introduced in the 1950s by Isaiah Berlin. Curtis briefly explains how negative liberty could be defined as freedom from coercion and positive liberty as the opportunity to strive to fulfil one's potential. Tony Blair had read Berlin's essays on the topic and wrote to him in the late 1990s, arguing that positive and negative liberty could be mutually compatible. As Berlin was on his deathbed at the time, Blair never got a reply. - The Rise and Fall of the TV JournalistE4
The Rise and Fall of the TV JournalistShort film chronicling the transformation of mainstream media and the balance of political power in the last few decades by looking at how the role of the broadcast journalist has changed since the 1950s. From: Charlie Brooker's Newswipe, third episode of the first series.