"Thrive" concludes with a compelling vision of an egalitarian and compassionate future, where humans live truly free lives in cooperation with each other and the natural world. As a liberal environmentalist type, I'm very sympathetic to that message.
Unfortunately, the film's path to that uplifting conclusion is rocky at best, often relying on long-debunked conspiracy theories and unnecessary pseudoscience. This mixture of a profound vision for the future (although a tad too libertarian for my tastes) and unproven –- and unprovable -- speculation seriously compromises the potential impact of the film's positive message.
A few examples, among many:
* David Icke describes some interesting observations about our corrupt financial system, but the film doesn't mention his other belief: that the Earth is controlled by reptilian aliens called Anunnaki from the Draco constellation. Apparently, all US presidents throughout history as well as Queen Elizabeth are really reptilian humanoids living underground. (Yes, he's serious.) Why choose such a person to communicate important insights into the out-of-control power of international banking elites? Why not interview a sympathetic expert who has deep knowledge of this exact issue, such as the Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman?
* "Free" energy devices – aka "perpetual motion" machines -- have been promised for hundreds of years. Although they violate the well-established first and second laws of thermodynamics, and despite dozens of documented frauds and hoaxes, the filmmaker is convinced that such a device is right around the corner, where it not for a vast government conspiracy. I too wish free energy was possible but I'm not holding my breath, especially when perfectly viable renewable alternatives already exist: solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, energy efficiency, etc. Why speculate that the laws of the universe will be overturned when the answers are staring us right in the face?
* Which is more likely: crop circles were created by extraterrestrials or by local pranksters having a laugh? Some facts to consider: In 1991, the British team of Doug Bower and Dave Chorley announced that they had made hundreds of crop circles since 1978, and then were filmed actually making one. There is also a UK crop circle-making artist collective (www.circlemakers.org) that makes beautiful and complex designs. If you're still not skeptical, ask yourself this: if these aliens are so advanced that they've mastered inter-galactic travel, why do they have to communicate with us by making obscure patterns in wheat?
* Speaking of aliens, as a life-long science fiction buff, I'd love to believe that aliens have visited earth. Unfortunately, despite thousands of "sightings" since the 1940s, no convincing evidence has ever been produced. There have, however, been plenty of hoaxes, honest mistakes, and examples of pareidolia (the human tendency to see patterns in randomness) produced. The filmmaker believes that a 70-year conspiracy among thousands of people to suppress the reality of alien visitation continues to this day. As much as I enjoyed the X-Files, I doubt that such an elaborate and long-term cover-up is possible given human incompetence and the emergence of new technologies such as the Internet, cell phone cameras, etc. The larger point is that while the military and government certainly do keep secrets, why does the filmmaker think it's necessary to dress up that kernel of truth with outlandish speculation? Why not use well-documented examples such as Bush's WMD lies, Reagan's Iran-Contra affair, Nixon's Watergate, etc?
* Was the World Trade Center deliberately blown up on 9/11 by Bush, Cheney and a secret cabal of banks and oil companies or by a few deluded zealots who were clearly captured on tape and witnessed by thousands of people? I hate Exxon and Haliburton as much as the next guy, but the evidence doesn't support this wishful thinking among the left. Further, the filmmaker's insightful conclusions about the control of the global economy by financial elites doesn't really require that 9/11 -- of all events! -- be the result of an elaborate conspiracy.
Thrive's heart is the right place: it tries to unite the Utopian dreams of the left and right in an attempt to find a way to stop our planet's accelerating downward spiral. But the dream does not require evidence-challenged conspiracy theories, speculation, half-truths, anecdotes, and paranoia. Even if the causes of our crises are more banal than the melodrama depicted in the film, we can hopefully all agree about the importance of working together toward a more sustainable, inclusive, and free future.
Unfortunately, the film's path to that uplifting conclusion is rocky at best, often relying on long-debunked conspiracy theories and unnecessary pseudoscience. This mixture of a profound vision for the future (although a tad too libertarian for my tastes) and unproven –- and unprovable -- speculation seriously compromises the potential impact of the film's positive message.
A few examples, among many:
* David Icke describes some interesting observations about our corrupt financial system, but the film doesn't mention his other belief: that the Earth is controlled by reptilian aliens called Anunnaki from the Draco constellation. Apparently, all US presidents throughout history as well as Queen Elizabeth are really reptilian humanoids living underground. (Yes, he's serious.) Why choose such a person to communicate important insights into the out-of-control power of international banking elites? Why not interview a sympathetic expert who has deep knowledge of this exact issue, such as the Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman?
* "Free" energy devices – aka "perpetual motion" machines -- have been promised for hundreds of years. Although they violate the well-established first and second laws of thermodynamics, and despite dozens of documented frauds and hoaxes, the filmmaker is convinced that such a device is right around the corner, where it not for a vast government conspiracy. I too wish free energy was possible but I'm not holding my breath, especially when perfectly viable renewable alternatives already exist: solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, energy efficiency, etc. Why speculate that the laws of the universe will be overturned when the answers are staring us right in the face?
* Which is more likely: crop circles were created by extraterrestrials or by local pranksters having a laugh? Some facts to consider: In 1991, the British team of Doug Bower and Dave Chorley announced that they had made hundreds of crop circles since 1978, and then were filmed actually making one. There is also a UK crop circle-making artist collective (www.circlemakers.org) that makes beautiful and complex designs. If you're still not skeptical, ask yourself this: if these aliens are so advanced that they've mastered inter-galactic travel, why do they have to communicate with us by making obscure patterns in wheat?
* Speaking of aliens, as a life-long science fiction buff, I'd love to believe that aliens have visited earth. Unfortunately, despite thousands of "sightings" since the 1940s, no convincing evidence has ever been produced. There have, however, been plenty of hoaxes, honest mistakes, and examples of pareidolia (the human tendency to see patterns in randomness) produced. The filmmaker believes that a 70-year conspiracy among thousands of people to suppress the reality of alien visitation continues to this day. As much as I enjoyed the X-Files, I doubt that such an elaborate and long-term cover-up is possible given human incompetence and the emergence of new technologies such as the Internet, cell phone cameras, etc. The larger point is that while the military and government certainly do keep secrets, why does the filmmaker think it's necessary to dress up that kernel of truth with outlandish speculation? Why not use well-documented examples such as Bush's WMD lies, Reagan's Iran-Contra affair, Nixon's Watergate, etc?
* Was the World Trade Center deliberately blown up on 9/11 by Bush, Cheney and a secret cabal of banks and oil companies or by a few deluded zealots who were clearly captured on tape and witnessed by thousands of people? I hate Exxon and Haliburton as much as the next guy, but the evidence doesn't support this wishful thinking among the left. Further, the filmmaker's insightful conclusions about the control of the global economy by financial elites doesn't really require that 9/11 -- of all events! -- be the result of an elaborate conspiracy.
Thrive's heart is the right place: it tries to unite the Utopian dreams of the left and right in an attempt to find a way to stop our planet's accelerating downward spiral. But the dream does not require evidence-challenged conspiracy theories, speculation, half-truths, anecdotes, and paranoia. Even if the causes of our crises are more banal than the melodrama depicted in the film, we can hopefully all agree about the importance of working together toward a more sustainable, inclusive, and free future.