Occupy Unmasked

This film is an one sided attempt to discredit the occupy movement. I do not have strong feelings one way or another about the movement, however I found the whole thing interesting and thought this film might shed some light on what we did not see in the media coverage. Unfortunately it is nothing more than a combination of recycled media footage and biased documentary style video narrated by a very opinionated fella who clearly has a political agenda. It's like being taken strait back to November and being stuck in a campaign commercial for over an hour. The host is introduced in an alley way in his cool guy sunglasses like something out of a 1980's after school special... It is so cheesy that it makes it nearly impossible to like him right off the bat. The beginning of the film does have have some descent editing, other than that I have nothing good to say about it.

Of course partisans for one side or the other will judge this video on ideological grounds, I think I can say objectively it's a pretty good, though slanted, documentary on the ephemeral Occupy movement which appeared and disappeared in a relatively short period of time, full of sound and fury, signifying...what? The movie explores that question. "Occupy Unmasked" is better than just a polemic, it is very effective in showing just how inarticulate, destructive, and frankly, just plain fatuous the Occupy movement was. How the encampments were a breeding ground for filth, crime and disease and how it ended leaving piles of fetid trash and millions of dollars of damage to local businesses, and to public parks and buildings. There is a lot of detailed information here and the graphics are electrifying. It's a fun video to watch.

What it shows is the American left in the 2st century, adrift in a sea of slogans and political and historical ignorance. Gone are the clearly defined goals of the old communists and socialists. Participants in the demonstrations can hardly articulate what it's all about, they appear tongue-tied when trying to answer the simplest question about what they want or what the aims of the movement are. Their main aim seems to be to cause as much violence and disruption as possible and then see themselves on the evening news. They never get beyond, "Hate the rich!" and "Capitalism sucks!" Mostly the demonstrators were privileged white kids who were taking some time off and thought the government should forgive their student loans. Perhaps they believe that if they can cause the collapse of the current system something new and wonderful will emerge from the ashes. Because they're so poorly educated they don't realize how often that's been tried before with disastrous results.

I think this is a very good film on a subject that could have been ruined with too much heavy-handed polemic and paucity of information. It could have been pretty awful and I would have said so despite my personal antipathy toward the infantile and destructive tactics of the demonstrators. I think most people who aren't committed leftists will enjoy it because of the skill and drama with which it's realized.

A biased documentary aimed at discrediting this phenomenon (and the left in general) via misrepresentation and interviewing young protesters who struggle to express themselves.

Statements are made by the presenter such as: "This is how the left goes... These people hate this country... They hate freedom... Hellbent on nihilistic destruction...". Apparently there is a 'secret society' organizing all this. Apparently these people are going to take over our homes and burn down our society. I think they are just confused and disillusioned - and rightly so.

There are many good documentaries describing the issues with the economic system, certain billionaire personality profiles, and the current form of capitalism (Inside Job; Park Avenue etc.). This film does not intelligently debate these issues.

It's obvious there are real problems and capitalism in this form needs to change. Of course HOW this might happen is very difficult to imagine, so I don't blame the Left for this.

It would be good to hear something from the Right, but this is just blatant propaganda. At least this is obvious, but I worry it is not to less educated people.

Heavily edited material + outright lies with one purpose, and one purpose only - to create misleading ideological propaganda. Subject of this video, which they call "documentary", is irrelevant when you realize who made it. People behind it are dangerous extremists, one fortunately departed ever since, but some others are in White House as of January 2017 ! It's a nightmarish scenario, one which unfolded in front of our eyes, and which now puts life on Earth in extreme peril. Good luck to us all, we'll gonna need it, as we are entering new medieval Dark Ages: for its proponents, in mold of Trumper's, LePener's, Wilderser's, and Bannoner's, this is an ideal world. It's a world of religious prosecution, neo-fascism, corporate hegemony, "alternative facts" and Newspeak.

You just cannot argue with actual video footage of "occupy" members who declare themselves to be socialists as they block streets and leave piles of their trash almost everywhere they have been.

When a video documents the facts (700 arrests for blocking traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge) then that video is serving a valuable purpose for those of us who don't pay much attention to the East coast news.

Likewise, when a female interviewer asks a group of protesters why they are there--and the answer is "...for $60 dollars a day." at about the 31:24 mark. Just prior to that another protester at the event doesn't know what her sign says or how it applies.

This documentary could have been done better by just a few interviews with the people in Portland that had to tear down the filthy tents and wash off the human urine and feces from the street- -or even those who had to treat the increased rat problem (at about 41:35).

It's not a perfect video, but a little investigation into this 'movement' and you will have a good overview of their philosophy and purpose.