A Movie Guide To Occupy Wall Street
Filmmakers
Alex Gibney (“Enron”), Peter Joseph (“Zeitgeist”),
Michael Moore (“Capitalism: A Love Story”)
and Charles Ferguson (“Inside Job”) top
the list of documentarians whose work
scrutinizes the establishment and
actually calls it what it is: damaged
goods.
As Occupy
Wall Street spawns a number of offshoots
including Occupy Los Angeles, Occupy
Colleges and Occupy Seattle, its
protestors defy boxes and squares,
labels and tags and the status quo.
Instead, these groups are a lightning
rod for a dizzying array of America's
ills, from gargantuan student loans to
joblessness to vampiric bankers.
CRY BABIES IN
DIRTY UNDERWEAR
While OWS may
be perceived as a collective expression
of jealousy and the lazy man's attempt
at a money grab, it's about humanity and
our course for survival. The gripe:
total disgust and dissatisfaction. The
problem: our system. The system: ongoing
crimes by the corporatocracy. The
divide: political parties. The poison:
money. The protestor: you. The goal:
change. The modification plan: to be
determined. [Listen to official OWS
statement] [Read official OWS statement]
But what
about our perceptions? How do we handle
the media spin?
SHOOT THE
MESSENGER, OR FLIP THE SCRIPT? You choose:
a. the
mainstream media should deride the
protestors for not having a clear list
of policy demands that can lead to real
change for the tanking economy.
b. the
mainstream media should lambast the
government and Wall Street for
continuing to tank the economy.
c. the
mainstream media is an obsolete,
irrelevant tool of the corporatocracy.
BITING THE
HAND THAT FEEDS, OR SIGNALING THE ALARM
BELL?
You choose: a. if a
protestor is using an iPod, has an
account on Google, pictures on Facebook,
money at Chase, and receipts from Wal-mart,
he/she is a hypocrite.
b. if a
U.S. citizen sucks power from the
electrical grid, drives a car, has
plastic bottles, Tupperware, toys,
pharmaceutical drugs, or telephones, and
complains about gas prices or carbon
emissions, he/she is a hypocrite.
c. since
today's protestors were born into a
society where means of communication,
clothing production, food production,
and money distribution are provided and
controlled by corporations, using
cutting-edge technology to address
societal problems is fair play.
TOP 10 WEB
CLIPS
1. Quantitative
Easing Explained
2. Trader
on the BBC says Eurozone Market will
crash
3. Financial
Derivatives: What are They?
4. Jacques
Fresco: US has never been a democracy?
5. Who is
Peter Joseph? by Charles Robinson
6. Occupy
Wall Street Interview with Chris Hedges
7. Anonymous:
the new face of cyber-war
8. Occupy
Wall Street: Police brutality, media
blackout
9. Jim
Rogers America is Collapsing pt 1/5
10. RSA
Animate - Changing Education Paradigms
OWNED OR
OCCUPYING?
____________________________________________________
HOW DID WE GET
HERE?
How did city
council members, anti-capitalists, small
business owners, foreclosed homeowners,
indebted college students, union leaders,
retired teachers, veterans, nurses,
401(k) pension holders, medical patients,
pro-lifers, pro-choice advocates,
twentysomethings and fiftysomethings of
every race, color, and creed come
together under a single banner: "We Are
The
99%"? Here's a
list of films and web clips that help
explain the birth of a movement:
TOP 10
FILMS 1.
Inside
Job (2010) dir.
Charles Ferguson,
written by Charles Ferguson, Chad Beck,
108 min.: This Oscar-winning documentary
from Sony Classics piles on the chronic
aches and pains of Wall Street, from
Lehman Brothers to AIG, mapping out the
systemic corruption that causes the
financial crisis to keep bleeding. 2.
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) dir.
Michael Moore, written by Michael Moore,
127 min.: With the U.S. subprime
mortgage fiasco well under way and the
casino mentality in full throttle, Moore
goes door to door looking for a sound
explanation of why we trust in a system
that is leaving more and more people
behind. 3.
Zeitgeist: Moving Forward (2011) dir.
Peter Joseph, 161 min.: This non-commercial
follow-up to "Zeitgeist" Parts I and II,
"Moving Forward" is perhaps the most
widely viewed non-profit film in history
with over 10+ million views on Youtube
and an international following. Tossing
out all of the 'isms' including
capitalism, socialism and communism, the
film proposes something new.
4.
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the
Room (2005) dir. Alex Gibney, written by
Bethany McLean, Peter Eikind, Alex
Gibney, 109 min.: Obsession, compulsion,
and addiction, coupled with shell
companies and a high stakes game of
endless profits, created the deception
and fraud that ultimately drove Enron
into the ground.
5.
Food, Inc. (2008) dir.
Robert
Kenner, written by Robert Kenner, Kim
Roberts, Elise Pearlstein: The "spinning
of a pastoral fantasy" gets unspun in
this must-watch look at the food on our
dinner table and the wage slaves who
bastardize it for the big companies that
monetize Mother Nature.
6. 2012: Time for Change (2010) dir.
Joao G. Amorim, 85 min.: Even if you're
not into shamanism or psychedelic drugs,
"Time for Change" offers more than just
Iboga roots to chew on.
7.
The Corporation (2003) dir.
Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott, 145 min.: A history of the institution that
dominates our lives, The Corporation
examines how organizations become
psychopathic.
8.
A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash
(2006) dir. Basil Gelpke, Ray McCormack,
94 min.: Peak oil may be the one
elephant in the room we're hoping the
techocrats and wizards can chase away,
but as this doc explains, no magic wand
is that big.
9.
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low
Price (2005) dir. Robert Greenwald, 98
min.: Wal-Mart is the poster child for
an American corporation gone bad in this
in-depth analysis of how the retail
giant keeps prices low and profits high.
10.
Casino
Jack (2010) dir. Alex Gibney, written by
Alex Gibney, 118 min.: Wherever money
and politics meet, lobbyist Jack
Abramoff leaps in through the back door,
highlighting just how much the fabric of
the U.S. government resembles swiss
cheese.
By Laurene Williams at TheWrap
Fri Oct 7, 2011 9:54am EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/07/idUS283171780220111007