2. Manufacturing Consent
Manufacturing Consent is a sharp, penetrating documentary which explores the views of Noam Chomsky, inguistics professor, author, philosopher and political activist, on the mainstream media. The directors follow Chomsky as he delivers speeches in crowded lecture halls and talks to journalists around the world succinctly making the point that propaganda is to democracy what violence is to a dictatorship. The first half, Thought Control in Democratic Society, explores the necessity of illusions to guide us - the masses - in a direction which specifically serves the needs, and promotes the interests, of the privileged elite. Mainstream media helps to frame the fallacy by actively excluding nonconformist and unorthodox opinions and by deliberately ignoring controversial issues. Chomsky contends that 20 percent of the population is indoctrinated to support and manage cultural life. "Then there's maybe 80 percent of the population whose main function is to follow orders and not to think . . . And they're the ones who usually pay the price." The film runs for almost 3 hours and manages to examine all areas of our culture, including how we consume entertainment. For example, Chomsky labels Sport, "another example of the indoctrination system . . . It offers people something to pay attention to that's of no importance, that keeps them from worrying about things that matter to them." If you consider the slick of effluence which seeps from our televisions each evening and then watch the images in Control Room which were deliberately hidden from us as war raged in Iraq it is impossible to argue this point. This documentary makes you think and Chomsky illustrates why he is one of the most brilliant intellectuals of our time.