Documentaries

[Nope]

This morning I watched The Act of Killing which is the most bizarre, horrifying documentary that I think I have ever seen. The director wanted to make a film about the 1965 massacre of communist in Indonesia but the army there wouldn't let him. He decided to interview the killers instead and let them make a film about the atrocities. It is a film within a film and not only deeply disturbing but also weirdly funny at some points. I have always been interested in why people hurt each other. It doesn't make any sense, to me, to hurt someone who isn't a threat to you. How do you turn off your empathy and humanity? The Act of Killing doesn't answer that question but it does shine a weird, surreal light on people who have done things that most of us would consider evil.

Have any of you seen it? What are some of the best documentaries that you have seen lately?

[Norman Humann]

Haven't seen the one you're talking about, but lately I caught up on three documentaries from Dawkins I've been wanting to see: the God Delusion, Enemies of Reason and Faith School Menace.

[abaris]

I have always been interested in why people hurt each other. It doesn't make any sense, to me, to hurt someone who isn't a threat to you. How do you turn off your empathy and humanity?

The Milgram experiment, conducted in 1961, gives a pretty good answer to that question. For most of the killers it's about authority asking them to do it. So their personal sense of responsibility is lifted.

http://psychology.about.com/od/historyof...ilgram.htm

Also there's a book by an army psychologist called "On killing". In there he examined soldiers and how they react to the acts of violence and their feelings when they have to kill. The goal of that study of course was to create more efficient killers, but what the author found out is actually pretty interesting. About 3 percent of probands actually enjoyed the act of killing.

[SteelCurtain]

Haven't seen that one.

I do love a documentary, here are the last three that have gotten me riled up/excited.

God Loves Uganda

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Kidnapped for Christ

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Lost Songs: The New Basement Tapes

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[Nope]

I know about the Milgram Experiment but I had never heard about the book, On Killing. That is one more to go on my list of books to read. Thanks.

[Minimalist]

Losing Iraq on PBS Frontline


http://video.pbs.org/video/2365297690/


An hour and a half of Bush administration stupidity and arrogance on display.

[Nope]

Haven't seen that one.

I do love a documentary, here are the last three that have gotten me riled up/excited.

God Loves Uganda

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Kidnapped for Christ

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Lost Songs: The New Basement Tapes

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I have seen the first two but not the last one. Netflix has a lot of good documentaries, including Min's suggestion, Losing Iraq.

[SteelCurtain]

I'm excited to see HBO's doc on Scientology called Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. March 26.