Culture of Fear

Culture of Fear

2009, Society  -   41 Comments
7.61
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Ratings: 7.61/10 from 41 users.

Culture of FearThe documentary details the epidemic of fear in our society, ranging from child predators to immigrants and from flu pandemic to terrorism. It features interviews with Dr. Noam Chomsky, a renowned linguist, human behaviorist, and political activist; US House Representative Dennis Kucinich, once US presidential candidate; and many other experts offering an in-depth exploration of the culture of fear. Culture of Fear is a term used by certain scholars, writers, journalists and politicians who believe that some in society incite fear in the general public to achieve political goals.

The term is used to describe fears about Islamic terrorism which, it is argued, are fears that are usually exaggerated or irrational in nature. The term has also been used to describe irrational fear in other contexts, such as citizens fearing persons of different ethnic backgrounds, or neighborhood residents fearing retribution if they assist police in identifying criminals.

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Bunion1
Bunion1
11 years ago

The premise of this documentary was great and much appreciated.

However, I honestly got the point pretty quickly.

The documentary could easily be compacted and edited to 20 minutes.

I say this because I am afraid to spend more than 25 minutes, at a time,
looking at my computer screen, which is constantly putting out radiation
that could be damaging to my pre-frontal cortext.

disqus_XBdYZeBGHf
disqus_XBdYZeBGHf
11 years ago

The premise of this documentary was great and much appreciated.

However, I honestly got the point pretty quickly.

The documentary could easily be compacted and edited to 20 minutes.

I say this because I am afraid to spend more than 25 minutes, at a time, looking at my computer screen, which is constantly putting out radiation that could be damaging to my pre-frontal cortext.

juancristobalflores
juancristobalflores
11 years ago

what a coincidence election year and they remove this documentary,...

Matije Udovicic
Matije Udovicic
11 years ago

looks like youtube censored it...

francisco sa
francisco sa
11 years ago

Fear (not love) conquers all...

saint_elmo
saint_elmo
11 years ago

This country and our society is so ****** politically, religiously, and philosophically. The main cause is corporate profitability. Corporations control every aspect of our lives and they have lost any sense of ethical behavior. They buy and sell politicians,courts and the media. They're agenda is to keep us dumb and afraid of everything in order to control our behavior. How we vote,shop and worship. Why we put up with it is the best question. There are plenty of us that see the truth.

Myra McQueen
Myra McQueen
11 years ago

This is true, and it is costing us money to be afraid of our imaginative enemies. Churches of this world teach us fear of the apocalyptic prophecies regarding the Catholics and Europe, and then we sent money to them to teach us more. The scientists teach us that we cannot trust such products as plastics, medicines, food additives, foreign cars, etc. Flushing commodes can lead to contaminating your toothbrush, and swimming in the ocean can lead to shark attacks. We are running out of food and WWIII is just around the corner. God is our enemy and the Devil is our friend according to Richard Dawkins. Hmmmm!

jankel
jankel
11 years ago

god film

mysteryman7
mysteryman7
11 years ago

Why should open boarders and illegal immigrants be a concern? Unlike legal immigrants, illegals do not take any kind of oath to uphold the laws of the country. They come here without the understanding and as a matter of ignorance, they bring the ways that they are accustomed to from the country of their origin. People, at least in my neck of the woods are not afraid of immigrants. That is bogus. However, it is human nature to be suspicious of anyone new in your neighborhood. Some neighborhoods, at least in the places I have been, you do not want to walk through if you are a stranger to it. It does not matter what color you are or where you are from.

mysteryman7
mysteryman7
11 years ago

The fearless person is truly one to be afraid of! I see the point of the doco, in that there are many policies and regulations that get put in place that limit freedoms that are guaranteed us. Fear is a powerful tool to implement policies ...which stems from the root word, Police, in which limits personal freedom. On the political aspect, all a person has to do in America is know and understand the Constitution. It has protection written right into it with solid reasoning for it, such as the Second Amendment and the threat of other ideologies that prevent Marxist from being elected. Unfortunately, many people that even take the oath to defend it with their life does not take the time to read and understand the content of it.

Itolduso
Itolduso
11 years ago

It's all about probability. The rest is just a distraction which one must see through.

Ah Wai
Ah Wai
11 years ago

i fear Obama

pusspussbangbang0555
pusspussbangbang0555
11 years ago

lost the doc halfway through what is happenning? As soon as the Bin Laden section came up the doc stopped transmitting

fdemunter
fdemunter
11 years ago

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
- Edmund BURKE

fdemunter
fdemunter
11 years ago

I love America and the americans (i really do - i lived there for a while and i worked with them) , and this film proves the point everybody in Europe makes about them: they're innocent, harmless and blind stupidos.

tariqxl
tariqxl
11 years ago

only 15 mins through and it just seems like they are actually trying to deny bad things happen and fear is just an illusion.

ludelina
ludelina
11 years ago

That was exactly my point Waldo. People tend to tag certain groups, cultures, religions etc.I don't think all Americans are dumb, but it is how they are portrait outside the US. In this documentary, they showed a manifestation against illegal immigrants, and one of the camera man's was utterly insulted by just being Mexican.
I lived in the USA for 6 months, and from all the people I met, didn't know where my country was located.
Anyway, I very much enjoyed my stay there and met very interesting people.
In the end, media does deceive reality and influences our "perspectives" of the world.
I'm really sorry if you were offended, I was only giving my opinion of what I saw in this documentary.

Imightberiding
Imightberiding
11 years ago

Well at least I know that I am safe from all these worries so prevalent in the U.S. & on the news every day. I live in a relatively safe country (Canada) with strict gun control & very few violent criminal types, separated from the majority of the mainland population as I am on a fairly laid back island off the west coast... oh hang on a second, someone's at my door. Back in a minute...

ludelina
ludelina
11 years ago

I find very interesting to see that Americans keep forgetting that their country was formed by immigrants, and if immigration laws existed at that time, I bet that 90% of them would be illegal because most of them fled their original country to escape politics, religion, poverty and even criminal charges. More interesting is that they forget that the Americans practically exterminated the natives.
Maybe they should have more history lessons at school and stop being a bunch of hypocrites!!!
If the Americans generalize what type of person a Latin, a Muslim, an Asian is, then I can say that Americans are the most dumbest people I have ever met!!! 0 knowledge of world history, geography, languages, philosophy, etc.
If any american is offended by my comment, then think about what the non-americans feel about your perspective of them...
I don't want to offend anybody, just want to make my point that we cannot judge others by generalizing and believe on the stereotypes given by the media.

KsDevil
KsDevil
11 years ago

Are there people who spend their entire TV time glued to cable news channels? I wonder if perhaps the threat of the threat is exagerated. But I do agree people can be easily frightened by the threat of the suspecion of danger. But those people can also be relived of their fear by being offered the opportunity to question it.
I enjoy a good paranoia from time to time, but realy don't have the energy or time to maintain that distraction...and I suspect neither do others.

bohista1
bohista1
11 years ago

This documentary is well worth the watch. Everybody should watch it. It made me laugh out loud I don't know how many times when it showed just how ridiculous most of the "terrorism" fear is not warranted compared to what can really kill a person, i.e. smoking, junk food, car crashes, etc. I've never been one to be pulled in by the media with all their warnings, etc. but for those who are, they really should watch this doc. It's fantastic and really gets the point across but in a light, fun way. Watch it, you won't be sorry you did.

Lorenzo Greene
Lorenzo Greene
11 years ago

This doc is a lot of fun. I certainly do believe that fear is peddled by the media. I remember growing up with many of the irrational fears explained here. Fear makes a population easy to control. I'm definitely not a conspiracy theorist, but I do believe fear is a tool used to strip Americans of their sense of freedom.

john Palermo
john Palermo
11 years ago

Good points and 100% agree just wish they would have been as statistically accurate and dismissive when referring to gun issues rather than leaving counter facts out for just this one topic as the other mentions were well covered with actual figures . The majority are in some false paradigm reality based on the flood of pointless concerns fed them 25/7. I can hardly engage anyone these days as the blank stare and confused discussion they return indicates just how off in some trance they are. Most adults today cant form original thoughts nor can they comprehend that they are anything but critical thinkers.
What a mess..