Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media

Plain and simple, this was a good movie. At first blush, one may want to say, "Oh, it's kind of like Farenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore". Well, sure - you could say that. But you'll quickly see that this isn't an attack on a president or an administration or a wealthy family. Rather, it's a film that outlines the propaganda machine among all of our media channels (radio, TV, print, etc.)

It's long at 2 hours and 45 minutes, but it's worth it. It will make you think about why you think something, and make you realize that propaganda isn't something that happens in other countries. We do a great job of it here in the U.S.

The film makers, Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick, achieve the seemingly impossible by turning Noam Chomsky's dry political theories and persona into a fascinating, entertaining movie, and all on a presumably tight budget. If you want to gain insight into the workings of the US media system then this movie will give you some food for thought. Hardly surprising then that Hollywood did not award them an Oscar for this, even thought they sure would have deserved one.

Well, not the blinders of those who like to cast aspersions like "paranoid" and "delusional" in his direction...but they'll never escape their tunnel vision, so why should Noam labor against futility?

Let's start by getting something out of the way. Though he'd laugh at me for saying this, Noam Chomsky is one of the most intelligent and (an important distinction here) knowledgable human beings on the planet. Not only is he gifted with incredible intellect...he has used that intellect to absorb volumes upon volumes of information that most people have never been privy to...let alone memorized and analyzed, as Chomsky has. That said, let's move on.

Chomsky is an anarchist. And the fact is that while everybody in the world thinks that they know exactly what an anarchist is, in reality, it seems that, for the most part, the only people who understand anarchism are anarchists. Everything the media has ever said about anarchists is a lie. Their use of the word "anarchy" to describe chaotic situations and chaos in general is an utter corruption of the word anarchy, which, from its very roots, means quite simply "absence of a governing body"...nothing in there about chaos that I can see.

Chomsky subscribes to many of the ideals put forth by Michael Bakunin, a contemporary (and fierce opponent) of Karl Marx, and the recognized father of international anarchism. So, because Chomsky is an anarchist, he will obviously be viewed by many as a delusional paranoid. Then again, those who classify him as such wouldn't recognize Big Brother if he was bulldozing their homes to build a new shopping center.

What you will find in this film (and in Chomsky's book, which is far superior) is compelling evidence (based not on delusions, but on facts) that American media is controlled by a corporate elite who use it essentially for propaganda purposes in order to, if I may lift a phrase from Chomsky, "control the public mind." Once you realize how consolidated the corporate media really is, and how they twist the facts in order to pump disinformation into the homes of unsuspecting citizens, you'll never be able to look at CNN the same way again.

As for the critics, who feel much safer and infinitely more free than they have any reason to...their dismissals of Chomsky as a left-wing crackpot who doesn't know what he's talking about (despite the fact that he's studied extensively and most of his critics have gotten the bulk of their information from the same media sources he proves unreliable) only further strengthen his case. Not only does the corporate media distort the facts in order to lull the masses into a false sense of security...quite obviously, they're doing a tremendous job.

Manufacturing Consent attempts to teach deep social, political and philosophical studies with mainstream and sometimes simplistic filmmaking that edges on a PowerPoint visual aids strategy. But... it works! The movie is not necessarily targeting MIT intelligentsia, but the people-in-the-street that the same media depicted in the film are aiming at. If you liked the movie, or if it just left you wondering, read the book! The film and/or the book will probably be worth your time... more, anyway, than any Hollywood littering the screens nowadays. In this day and age of political and social polarization, of media playing the role of king-makers (or king-slayers), of discussions of the very existence or relevancy of democracy in a highly mediated and influenced political climate, Chomsky's suggestions are as timely as ever.

Having seen Chomsky in other documentaries stoked my desire to pick this one up. Unfortunately, it focuses a bit too much on the cult of personality rather than quickly summing up who this guy is and what he's about. I got trigger-finger after the first 20 minutes of this, but I was glad I didn't surf through the scenes, as I was paid off when it cites the examples the DVD card promised.

Of particular import are the scenes where Chomsky's views are challenged by heads of state and news commentators and clearly shows us why we haven't heard or seen more from this controversial man.

Eventually the viewer gets the full range of Chomsky's purpose, and for that I am glad, I feel the richer for it, I will continue to seek films that he's part of, but I hope those filmmakers, such as those responsible for "The Corporation", will spare me the longwindedness of this film and get to the meat in due time.

Cheers: Questions the integrity of state and corporate sponsored news; we discover how he gets his news.

Caveats: Longwinded ... needs to be edited down by some 20 minutes; bounces around a lot.