Behind the Curve

I thought this documentary would be about the flat earth theory, and what they believe, and why they believe it. And it was that a little bit. But not much. So I was a bit disappointed at first.

But the documentary turned out to be about the flat-earthers themselves, and what makes them believe it; or what makes them not not-believe it. And that was fascinating.

In addition to showing a very-respectful portrait of flat-earthers, it also interjected commentary from physicists and psychologists, who offered their take on the phenomenon (which is actually quite large).

One of the important points that the physicists in the documentary made was that, it's easy to just dismiss the flat earth movement as silly nonsense. The problem is, though, that once people start adjusting their reality to fit a nonsensical theory, then it affects other parts of their reality, as well, and also affects the people around them whom they affect with the theory.

And so you have things like the anti-vaxxer movement, pizzagate, the deep-state theory, and many other things. It's all similar.

So this is a facinating study, not just on the flat-earth movement, but on fringe movements in general, and how they affect us all. And the more the anti-science fringe theories spread, the more they affect us, especially when people who believe them go into government, etc.

There are also a lot of other good points the documentary makes, especially from some of the psychologists they interviewed.

Definitely recommended.

Oh, and about some of the reviews here on IMDB, it's kind of funny that, while most people gave the documentary positive reviews, there were a lot of 1-star reviews. Some of the 1-star reviews were like, "They didn't provide any evidence for or against the flat-earth theory" -- missing the point that that's not what the documentary was about.

But the funniest ones were the ones who claimed that the filmmakers were "really stupid," because they set out to prove the flat earth theory, but only showed how wrong it was.

I guess there's a bit of irony there in the wrong-headed analysis about a documentary about wrong-headed analysis of science. :-)

No it's not... LMAO. I thought it was documentary but after half an hour I realised that this is actually comedy!

I have mixed feelings about his documentary. On the one hand, it is pretty clear that these folks are being presented as what they are - well meaning but maladjusted individuals who have bought into a down the rabbit hole idea with zero scientific support.

OTOH, it is also unfortunate to give exposure to such utterly bogus ideas. That is probably a disservice to the the rest of humanity.

As for me, I have been an amateur astronomer for over 30 years and can think of at least a half dozen simple tests that prove that the earth is indeed very round. Of course, presenting these to flat earthers would be a wast of time - if they cared about evidence, they would not be what they are.

In the end, the whole idea that such folks with such ideas even exist just made me sad.

Basically flat earthers are just bunch of people who want to feel important and feel like they are part of something, something that unites them with other people. It's unfortunate that such biased and unaware people have to question factual information and challenge science with their fanfiction just to find a hobby and feel unalone, but it also shows us how raw humans function in this society where anything might as well be a conspiracy due to us living in an illogical clown world where more things are wrong than right. It's very important to note that all of this exists due to the faults of our societies where nihilism is the new way because old ways have left so many people down.

Overall, important documentary to watch and I specifically recommend this to religious people and other herd-mentality supporters who have yet to discover any layers of nihilism and become self-aware of their own faults. Watch this and start questioning your own beliefs because they might as well be even more problematic than flat-earthers'. Don't judge them, many people are exactly like this whole bunch without even realizing it, without being criticized and getting spit on because your "beliefs" are mainstream and supported by consensus. That's one thing these flat earthers got right. Just because majority believe in something doesn't mean it's true.

Came into this hoping to hear rational perspectives on flat-earth theory. What we get instead is an inside view of how cultists think and behave.

They believe they have discovered some grand truth that nobody else can see. Then they prescribe to the idea with such reckless conviction that they either outright reject any evidence that disproves their theory, or they contort it until it fits into their distorted view of reality. They then point at the rest of society and say that the truth will be revealed to us as long as we adopt their view of reality. And anyone who refuses to believe them suddenly becomes the enemy. At one point, they even go so far as to claim "it is a battle between good and evil." This all shares stark similarities with other cults, like Scientology.

This film makes it easy to see why some people fall prey to cults, it's a mechanism by which they can cope with their crushing feelings of insignificance in the world. Suddenly they belong to something "exclusive," something that brings them closer to other human beings (which is a struggle that many people face.) This is especially effective with flat-earthers since, by adopting this view, we all become the center of the universe.

I applaud Netflix for not outright ignoring or censoring pieces centered around pseudoscience. But at the same time I'm disappointed because, as is evident in this film, these folks feed off publicity like vultures and use it as a weapon to trap others into their cultist views. Notice how satisfied their "leader" gets when he realizes the media is actually giving attention to one of their conventions; and the way his eyes light up when he sees that a couple brought their kid to said convention was just downright disturbing.

The only thing I gained by watching this film was a stronger distaste for cults.