FOUR ANTI-B.S. MOVIES

With movies as major myth makers, you wouldn’t expect our cinema to be battling the B.S.  And you’d be right, except for a handful.  Here are four movies that bravely face the truth about lies, disinformation, and conspiracy theories.

1.  Sword of Trust — This 2019 sleeper centers around a “genuine” Civil War sword which “proves” a little-known truth.  That the South WON the Civil War.  The rumor leads from a pawn shop into the hands of conspiracy theorists deep in denial.  “Sword of Trust” is a rare and honest film about the B.S. among us.

2.  Merchants of Doubt — Where do Deniers get their data?  From the Merchants of Doubt.  These professional bullshitters, in the employ of corporations, earn big bucks by mounting massive disinformation campaigns.  From Big Tobacco to Big Pharma, from Big Oil to Big BS, this stark documentary introduces you to corporate mendacity at its most undeniable.

3.   The Social Dilemma — So why is social media, laced with falsehoods and non-facts, so addicting?  Because its designers carefully studied teenagers and their motivations to make clicking the new addiction.  If you don’t feel like cancelling your social media accounts after this, you’re not paying attention.

4.  Don’t Look Up — If a comet were hurtling toward earth, would anyone put down their phones long enough to believe it?  Would the same old media circus dance on?  This 2021 satire, with obvious references to global warming and its denial, asked difficult questions about our ability to face the future.