Movies That Make Us Mad: “Merchants of Doubt”

One of the recent movies that has made me angrier than I have been in a long time is Merchants of Doubt, a 2014 documentary directed by Robert Kenner. The film delves into how for decades people have been peddling doubt to citizens to protect corporate interests on topics ranging from tobacco to climate change.

The movie is based on a 2010 book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway with the full title Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. In some ways, many of the revelations may not be surprising. By now, we know that tobacco corporations lied to us, but the movie gives us fresh perspective on how much they lied and how many of the same people are still lying to us today about other things.

For example, I was surprised to learn of the connection between tobacco interests and the use of dangerous chemicals added to furniture to allegedly make the furniture resistant to fire. But the chemicals did very little besides put our lives at risk.

A theme running through the film is the way hired experts use “doubt” as a method of undermining science. When legitimate scientists make conclusions contrary to corporate interests, these “merchants of doubt” appear to convince the public that there is still some doubt about the scientific findings. While doubt and questions are generally good things, these experts are raising questions not for the purpose of finding truth but for the purpose of undermining truth and promoting corporate interests.

Merchants of Doubt illustrates how these techniques have been used for decades, used in the past by those who wanted to attack scientific findings about tobacco and used today by those who wish to undermine the science of global warming. The movie may not change your mind about what you believe, but it will make you question the “experts” you often see on TV. And maybe, like me, it will make you mad.

Conclusion: If you are looking for a fascinating documentary that may change the way you look at the information you receive, check out Merchants of Doubt. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 85% critics rating and a 75% audience rating.

“Mad Movies” (or “Movies that Make Us Mad”) is a Chimesfreedom series about movies that expose information that we might not otherwise know about, revealing misinformation, lies, and hidden stories that make us angry.

What movies make you mad? Leave your two cents in the comments.

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Author: chimesfreedom

Editor-in-chief, New York. View all posts by chimesfreedom