The Power of Nightmares, subtitled The Rise of the Politics of Fear, is a BBC documentary film series, written and produced by Adam Curtis. It has a 9.2 rating on IMDB.
There are three one-hour films (embedded below), consisting mostly of archive footage with Curtis’s narration, which were first broadcast in the United Kingdom in late 2004 and have been aired in multiple countries and shown in several film festivals, including the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
This series is as controversial as Michael Moore’s Farenheit 9/11 or Sicko. And it will evoke strong opinions on both sides of the debate about the reality (or lack thereof) of a brewing conflict between Christianity and Islam.
My take on these videos is that the author seems to advocate the position that there really is no rift between the two sides – but that radical elements at the fringe of each are trying to convince the majority that they are under attack.
Although I don’t believe that religious people generally want to kill others, there is a definite historical pattern of exactly this. So, is Curtis right? Are “those with the darkest nightmares now the most powerful”? Or is it just human nature that drives us to slaughter one another?
The films compare the rise of the American Neo-Conservative movement and the radical Islamic movement, making comparisons on their origins and noting strong similarities between the two.
More controversially, it argues that the threat of radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organized force of destruction, specifically in the form of al-Qaeda, is in fact a myth perpetrated by politicians in many countriesâ€â€and particularly American Neo-Conservativesâ€â€in an attempt to unite and inspire their people following the failure of earlier, more Utopian ideologies.
Personally, I have no opinion on any of these concepts. I don’t know what the truth is, and frankly I don’t think it matters because there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. But it is interesting to hear all sides of this debate, and Curtis’ view is definitely on the opposite end of the spectrum from what the mainstream media seems to be saying.
