Editorial Review:Amazon.com:Peter Wintonick and Mark Achbar made this penetrating documentary about the career and views of linguist and media critic Noam Chomsky. While the man is the subject of the movie, the filmmakers wisely and carefully choose not to make Chomsky more important than his insights into the way print and electronic journalism tacitly and often willingly further the agendas of the powerful. We learn a lot about Chomsky's formative experiences as a child, student, academic, activist, and politician (he has campaigned for office), but we learn just as much about the media institutions that deny him access today, from ABC to PBS. The centerpiece of the film, arguably, is a long examination into the history of the
New York Times' coverage of Indonesia's atrocity-ridden occupation of East Timor, reportage that (as Chomsky shows us) was absolutely in lock step with the government's unwillingness to criticize an ally.
--Tom Keogh
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The movie that has become a movement.
This is more than a film, "Manufacturing Consent" has long been a tool of peace workers who wanted to inform others of the shameful U.S. policies toward countries like East Timor. This film's segment regarding the U.S. support of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor was used to raise awareness and galvanize support for the independence struggle that took place on that island nation, culminating in its becoming a member of the United Nations and a pair of East Timorese winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Beyond that, "Manufacturing Consent" has exposed the institutional flaws of a media that is owned and sponsored by corporate powers. This theme is further explored by the director, Mark Achbar, in his equally enlightening documentary The Corporation. In the several years since it was released, countless people have turned their media criticism into media participation, and have developed the sorts of alternatives that have been so desperately needed. Countless magazines, blogs, small publishing houses, documentaries and other media tools have created options that were not available in the past. Conferences on media reform attract thousands of people, such as the gathering hosted by "Free Press" each year. And books by radical democrats like Chomsky have become best-sellers 9-11, and are promoted by populist reformers like Hugo Chavez Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (American Empire Project).
Another reviewer expressed his wish that every American would see this film; and slowly but surely, a tipping point size of the population is either coming to know of Chomsky's work, or is coming upon the work of people who have been influenced by Noam's penetrating analysis - people like Robert McChesney The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the Twenty-First Century, Phyllis Bennis Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power, Robert Jensen Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity, Michael Moore Sicko (Special Edition), Paul Hawken Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World and so many others.
For other Chomsky material, I'd recommend the books of his long-time collaborator, David Barsamian of "Alternative Radio" which has a large catalogue of Chomsky lectures, interviews, and debates with figures like Richard Pearl. What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World is the most recent collection of their dialogues. See also Z Magazine which has been publishing Chomsky articles and interviews for over two decades.
"At this stage of history, either one of two things is possible. Either the general population will take control of its own destiny and will concern itself with community interests, guided by values of solidarity and sympathy and concern for others, or, alternatively, there will be no destiny for anyone to control." - Noam Chomsky
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talk about "must see"
Look, whoever you are, this film is simply one of the most important ever made and you should see it.
It is NOT about Noam Chomsky. Chomsky, quite frankly, isn't really *that* interesting as a personality to study and watch movies about. Needless to say, his accomplishments as an intellectual in the field of linguistics - modern linguistics being almost invented by him, and, of coarse, as the arch-critic of US power par-excellence, make him fascinating. He is a genius, obviously. But, it's what use he put it to that is incredible. So look at the results. Aside from that, his life is his own and he views it really as none your business and nothing any of us should care about. What matters is his work. This and this alone is what is of interest and, while the film does delve into the personal to an extent, this documentary is focused on *the media*.
If you have an interest in understanding the world you live in, watch the documentary and read the book. Buy the DVD, watch it with friends, talk about it, share it with others.
Years ago a friend made a remark to me, something along the lines of, "Chomsky looks more and more right". This was years before the build up to the Iraq War. Sadly, Chomsky's analysis (along with Edward Herman) of the corporate media is still as accurate as ever, if not more so. This film wont make you feel good, but it'll help make you a bit smarter.
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If Only Everyone in America Would See This Film
This film is beautifully done. The filmmakers brilliantly crafted a mix of archival footage with Chomsky's talks to illustrate his points. Despite the sometimes grim topics, they manage to make it entertaining, even humorous at times. Dubbed by the New York Times as "the most important intellectual alive," Chomsky is a brilliant man who is dedicated to bringing his important message to the world. He cares about the common person, and wants to help liberate all of us from an oppressive government that he shows does not serve our best interests. His detailed and life long research has convinced him that our government has become a marketing arm for corporations instead of its people. As a former investigative journalist, my own findings concur. Chomsky's analysis is honest, factual, and is based on thorough research that only a person of great scholarship can achieve. We are fortunate to have him in the world. His findings about the use of media to control public views is not a pretty picture, but one that every American should know about. He is definitely on the side of the underdog, which at this point in our nation's history, includes most of the U.S. population, save a small elite class of billionaires. If anyone doubts his brilliance and his accuracy, consider this -- he has no commercial affiliations and nothing to gain by sacrificing his life to helping people to understand the truth of our government's efforts to make us subservient to corporate interests. He is a full tenured professor at M.I.T. and could have just as easily taught linguistics his whole life, spent his days reading and researching, as most intellectuals love to do, and stayed at home with his family. But he has spent most of his life traveling around the country and the world patiently explaining to people (with facts to back up every point he makes) how the mainstream media programs us to support corporate interests.
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Manufacturing Noam Chomsky fans.
I watched this documentary because I genuinely wanted to understand what all the fuss is about over Noam Chomsky.
When I ended up doing is sitting through a very long series of film bytes where several interviews, spanning several decades, were cut up into pieces and splattered over nearly three hours of almost stream-of-consciousness of audio and video input to my brain. Mixed in there were Chomsky's many accusations against the media and the US government but almost nothing concrete to back up those accusations. I guess I just have to take Noam Chomsky's word for it. And why wouldn't I? Noam Chomsky is the greatest intellectual alive, or something like that, according to a quote somewhere toward the beginning.
Somewhere back in all those film bytes, Chomsky makes the point the media is used to get two classes of people (the 20% political class and the 80% everyone else, if I remember correctly) to "go along" with the government and the faceless elite who run those huge corporations. We see footage of TV network news people looking for sound bytes. And the irony is that it seemed to me that this entire documentary is a series of images and sound bytes that try to get me to "go along" with Chomsky without really asking him to prove his accusations and conspiracy theories. The ambiance of this documentary makes me feel like I'm on the end of manipulation, and also ironically some of Chomskys critics that are shown arguing with Chomsky make at least as much sense to me as Chomsky does.
Anyway, if the viewer has a very long attention span and already is a Noam Chomsky fan, then this will likely be very enjoyable. However, I personally would not recommend this documentary as an introduction to Noam Chomsky. All I'm sure of after watching this is that Chomsky makes a lot of people mad and that he's really into conspiracies.
Finally, it also all seems very outdated because it was done before the advent of the Internet. Anyone with something to say can reach everyone now, and that wasn't possible when this documentary was made.
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Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky and the Media
My copy of this DVD shows a blank screen, with 'Region Error' in a small box in the centre of the screen. Please tell me hoe I can have this replaced. The other DVD's ordered at the same time were all fine.