Tag: Movies that Make Us Mad

Movies That Make Us Mad: “Merchants of Doubt”

Merchants of Doubt Review 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.

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    Willie Nelson, Coldplay, and . . . Chipotle?

    Willie Nelson The Scientist As far as fast food commercials go, you probably cannot do better than Willie Nelson singing a Coldplay song with an important message about the source for much of our food. That is the combination put together, along with cool animation by Johnny Kelly, for a short promotional film by Chipolte.

    The short film raises questions about how the nation’s meat is raised and treated, but in a soft-sell sort of way without images of real suffering animals that people try to avoid seeing, lest it spoil our dinners. Chipotle is not trying to turn us all into vegetarians. But the short film, which Chipotle plans to show in theaters around the country, is part of Chipotle’s “Food With Integrity” program where it supports using naturally raised meat and local produce. If you buy the recording of “The Scientist” off of iTunes, 60 cents from each sale goes to Chipotle Cultivate Foundation.

    Taking a cynical view, one may see Chipotle’s incentive in putting together the short film because it allows them to distinguish their practices from other restaurants, thereby getting more customers. But still, it is a commendable way for a restaurant to distinguish itself. And it is a cool song and a great cover by Nelson, combined with interesting animation. Three chords and the truth. What more can you ask for from a song commissioned by a fast food company?

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    3 Movies That Make Us Mad

    { Ignorance – Lori McKenna (Kasey Chambers cover)}

    lorimckenna_ignorance

    The Cove In the Kasey Chambers song “Ignorance,” covered above by folk-singer Lori McKenna, she sings, “If you’re not pissed off at the world / Then you’re just not paying attention.” There have have been several excellent documentaries in recent years that reveal disturbing information about our world that should make us mad. Chimesfreedom recently wrote about Gasland. Here, we discuss three other movies that make us mad: The Corporation, Food, Inc., and The Cove. All three movies are now available on DVD and Blu Ray.

    (1) The Corporation (2003) is a documentary about the role of corporations in our society. The movie paints a disturbing picture of the power that corporations have and the damage they have caused with almost complete immunity. The movie is very disturbing, and almost overwhelming at times. In watching it, I kept wanting to take a break from the movie but could not stop watching. Just when you think the stories could not get any more disturbing, they do, such as information about how American corporations profited through supporting Nazi Germany.

    Certainly, The Corporation has an agenda, so one should maintain a little skepticism. For example, the movie unnecessarily went a little overboard with a segment about corporations meeting the definition of a psychopath. But many of the techniques, like using movie clips, are designed to make the information entertaining. And if the movie makes you seek more information, then it is a success. Many of those interviewed provide intelligent commentary. In addition to insight from some who you would expect, like Noam Chomsky, there is interesting commentary from people like Ray Anderson, the CEO of Interface, the world’s largest commercial carpet manufacturer, who had an epiphany after many years.

    (2) Food, Inc. (2008) reveals information about the sources of our food. Yes, the movie includes some information about where our meat comes from, and I know a lot of people try to avoid being reminded of that knowledge. But animal flesh is not the focus of the majority of the movie. Among the interesting information is the extent to which corporations own and patent some of our basic food sources, a topic also briefly addressed in The Corporation.

    (3) The third movie, The Cove (2009), is not as broad as the other two movies. Instead, it explores a narrower issue. The Cove delves into secrets behind the dolphin meat industry, focusing on a hidden cove in Japan. While you are learning that dolphins are more intelligent than you thought they were, you also may realize that humans are more devious than you expected. The Cove won the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary of 2009.

    Unfortunately, these three movies are not uplifting. The good news, though, is that there are intelligent people making these movies and that people are watching these movies to learn about the world around them.

    It is easy to look away from unpleasant Truths. And there is a cost to having your eyes opened. These movies may affect how you view your food, the corporations around you, and your decision whether or not to visit Sea World. Do you want to know the information or not? It is like the movie, The Matrix (1999). Your decision whether or not to watch these movies is similar to the offer of whether to take the red pill or the blue pill. Welcome to the desert of the real.

    “And you can turn off the TV
    And go about your day.
    But just ’cause you don’t see it,
    It don’t mean its gone away.”
    — Kasey Chambers, “Ignorance”

    What is your favorite movie that makes you mad? Leave a comment.

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