September 09, 2007
Torture, Structural Adjustment and the Limits of "Shock" as Metaphor
Amitava Kumar raises some questions on the new Alfonso Cuarón and Naomi Klein movie:
This brief video was put on YouTube two days ago and was sent my way by Liz Blum. We start with electroshock therapy and a connection is revealed between that form of treatment and CIA experiments on torture; and then, the shock doctrine in torture is related to the shock doctrine of free market economy preached by Milton Friedman. Does one argument lead seamlessly to the other? The metaphor of shock is a powerful one, and the film-makers exploit it to provoke a connection that is—well, shocking. I hope it sparks debates everywhere.
Posted by Robin Varghese at 03:01 PM | Permalink
Comments
Even though the intentions of the Cuarón/Klein ad/clip are praiseworthy, I find disingenuous and sketchy their extension of the concept of shock across laughable early 20th century propaganda for psychiatric treatment, CIA torture technique, and then "crisis" more broadly. It reminds me of a film a few years back (also otherwise praiseworthy) called "The Corporation" that relied on psychologizing corporations as "psychotic" (or schizophrenic, I can't remember which.) The key strategy of the two being not just to portray capitalism as pathological to the "humanity" that we all presumably share, but to embody it in sickly psyches - either their own or their victims. Mneh. Dominion of the vampiric and frankensteiny. The left MUST be able to both critical and populizing in a more effective way.
Much more problematic though, is the moment when we have a "shocking" montage of text listing situations of crisis around the globe, and the policies instituted shortly thereafter. If information is a shock absorber/protector, I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO READ THE INFORMATION. Not allowed. Makes the filmmakers' otherwise laudable intentions look hysterical and dependent on scaring and confusing their audience. For that, I'd rather the Radiohead.
n.b. Why is this a FILM BY Alfonso Cuarón/Naomi Klein when Jonás Cuarón is the editor and director. What is Alfonso Cuarón's role in this? What is this ridiculous Mexican anxiety over full filmic authorship? Film by = write and direct (and usually produce as well.) No exceptions.
Posted by: Tradditore | Sep 10, 2007 10:17:41 PM
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