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. :-)

I was thoroughly entertained, this doc allowed the Flat Earth folks to completely explain away their theories and let you decide just how MISLED they are. Getting Scott Kelly to add his two cents was icing on the cake. Seeing flat earthers prove themselves wrong then still deny the truth was an amazing thing to watch, which was also expertly explained by actual psychiatrists of why it happens. Anything without sufficient proof (FE, religion, ghosts, etc) there has to be some true mental gymnastics performed for these things to stay true to believers, and that is also expertly explained in a "loving" way. Highly recommend

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.

Flat Earthers are probably wetting themselves at having gained mainstream exposure from such a massive source as Netflix. Sadly (for them) they are exposed as "nice, real people, who are too stupid to understand basic science. But not bad at making wooden electric motorbikes". (Yes, you read that correctly)

I feel like a lot of the reviews here are coming from the viewpoint that this is a documentary about why the earth is flat. The reality is that this is a documentary about the people who hold and share this belief.

It doesn't explicitly, in-your-face tell you that these people are misguided. Through its editing of following the flat earth believers and cutting to real knowledge from both scientists & psychologists it helps to build a better understanding of why these people are the way that they are.

I would say this is half a documentary about the flat earthers themselves, and the other half is about building an understanding of why people in general can manage to hold any such belief about conspiracies. It explains how their minds work and why it works that way, while following a real group who operates within those parameters to illustrate it.