Adam Curtis-Century of Self

Century of the Self (2002 Documentary Series by Adam Curtis)



Xvid, 544x400, 58 mins x 4 episodes, 637MB each



Ripped from a DVD which was poorly ripped from a VHS, so quality isn't 100%, but

it's good enough. One minor dropout a couple of minutes into the first episode. Tracking problem on the VHS!!



Adam Curtis' acclaimed series examines the rise of the all-consuming self against the backdrop of the Freud dynasty



To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?



http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/century_of_the_self.shtml
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Adam Curtis is a British television documentary producer. He currently works for

BBC Current Affairs. The Guardian wrote: [Curtis] is perhaps the most acclaimed maker of serious television

programmes in Britain. His trademarks are long research, the revelatory use

of archive footage, telling interviews, and smooth, insistent voiceovers

concerned with the unnoticed deeper currents of recent history, narrated by

Curtis himself in tones that combine traditional BBC authority with

something more modern and sceptical: "I want to try to make people look at

things they think they know about in a new way.", 1

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1327904,00.html)



Curtis's intensive use of archive footage is a distinctive touch of his. An

Observer profile notes:



Curtis has a remarkable feel for the serendipity of such moments, and an

obsessive skill in locating them. 'That kind of footage shows just how dull

I can be,' he admits, a little glumly. 'The BBC has an archive of all these

tapes where they have just dumped all the news items they have ever shown

One tape for every three months. So what you get is this odd collage, an

accidental treasure trove. You sit in a darkened room, watch all these

little news moments, and look for connections.'



The Observer adds "if there has been a theme in Curtis's work since, it has been

to look at how different elites have tried to impose an ideology on their times

and the tragi-comic consequences of those attempts."



History



Curtis previously taught politics at Oxford University but left for a career in

television. He got a job on the show That's Life where he learned to find humor

in serious subjects. He went on to make documentaries on more serious subjects

but retained his playful tone



Works



1992: Pandora's Box examined the apocalyptic political fallout of nuclear

science. It received the BAFTA Award for Best Factual Series., 2

(http://print.google.com/print/doc?articleid=93LUFMjZ7HC)

1995: The Living Dead argued that fighting World War II was a mistake and

questioned how history is written



1999: The Mayfair Set looked at how buccaneer capitalists were allowed to shape

the climate of the Thatcher years, focusing on the rise of Colonel David

Stirling, Jim Slater, James Goldsmith, and Tiny Rowland, all members of The

Claremont club in the 1960s. It received the BAFTA Award for Best Factual Series

or Strand in 2000., 3 (http://www.bafta.org/television/archive_2000.htm)

2002: The Century Of The Self (BBC Four) documented the rise of Freud's

individualism led to Edward Bernays's consumerism. It received the Broadcast

Award for Best Documentary Series and the Longman-History Today Award for

Historical Film of the Year



2004: The Power of Nightmares (BBC Two) drew parallels between the rise of

Islamic terrorists and the US neoconservatives who exploited the terror they

created