Zeitgeist, the Movie
Encyclopedia
Zeitgeist: The Movie is a 2007
documentary film
by Peter Joseph. It asserts a number of conspiracy theory
-based ideas, including the Christ myth theory, alternative theories for the parties responsible for the September 11 attacks in 2001 and that bankers manipulate the international monetary system and the media in order to consolidate power.
The film was released online on June 18, 2007, on zeitgeistmovie.com. While the film has been praised by some for being "compellingly edited", it has also been criticized for factual inaccuracies, and the quality of its arguments, with critics describing it as "agitprop
" and "propaganda
". A sequel, Zeitgeist: Addendum
, focuses further on the monetary system and advocates a resource-based social system influenced by the ideas of Jacque Fresco
and the Venus Project
. Following Zeitgeist: Addendum
, Peter Joseph created an organization called the Zeitgeist Movement
to promote the ideas of Fresco's Venus Project. Joseph also produced an updated 2010 version of the original film in order to address dated material and improve its overall accuracy. A third film called Zeitgeist: Moving Forward
was released theatrically on 15 January 2011 and online on 25 January 2011. Peter Joseph has stated that its topics are focused on human behavior, technology, and rationality.
's monologue on religion accompanied by an animated cartoon. The rest of the film, divided into three parts, is narrated by Peter Joseph.
myths and traditions, which in turn were derived from or shared elements with others. In furtherance of the Jesus myth hypothesis, this part argues that the historical Jesus
is a literary and astrological hybrid, nurtured politically. The work of Acharya S, author of The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, was used extensively in part I of the movie. She also acted as consultant for part I of the movie.
films to claim that the September 11 attacks were either orchestrated or allowed to happen by elements within the United States government in order to generate mass fear, initiate and justify the War on Terror
, provide a pretext for the curtailment of civil liberties, and produce economic gain. These claims include that the US government had advance knowledge of the attacks, that the military deliberately allowed the planes to reach their targets, and that World Trade Center
buildings 1, 2, and 7 underwent a controlled demolition.
In a March 17, 2009, New York Times article, Alan Feuer reported that Peter Joseph had indicated that he had "moved away from" his opinion on whether the September 11 attacks were an inside job perpetrated by the U.S. government, but a later clarification on the Zeitgeist Movement website clarified that Joseph was shifting his focus, not retracting his views.
, and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident
.
According to the film, the US was forced by the Federal Reserve Bank
to become embroiled in these wars, not with a view to win but to sustain the conflict, as this forces the US government to borrow money from the bank, allegedly increasing the profits of the "international bankers". The film then goes on to claim that the Federal Income Tax is illegal
.
This section also claims the existence of a secret agreement to merge the United States, Canada and Mexico into a "North American Union
". The creation of this North American Union is then alleged to be a step towards the creation of "One World Government
." The film speculates that under such a government, every human could be implanted with an RFID chip
to monitor individuals and suppress dissent.
An updated version of Zeitgeist released in 2010 removes the North American Union section among other changes.
's Zeitgeist: The Spirit Of The Age album, released on November 30, 2010.
, was a rare voice in the mainstream press in praising the film, saying that it "utterly destroyed the official version" of the September 11 attacks. Acknowledging widespread criticism of part 2 as "internet nonsense", he defended the film for raising questions about the attacks, arguing that "there is no distortion in putting forward rational questions and trying to answer them. This is done persuasively, and no perception of underhand shuffling or manipulation arises."
entitled “Zeitgeist: the Nonsense” wrote that “these are surreal perversions of genuine issues and debates, and they tarnish all criticism of faith, the Bush administration and globalization—there are more than enough factual injustices in this world to be going around without having to invent fictional ones." Other reviews have characterized the film as "conspiracy crap", “based solely on anecdotal evidence” and “fiction couched in a few facts”, or disparaging reference is made to its part in the 9/11 truth movement
.
Some journalists have focused on it as an example of how conspiracy theories are promulgated in the internet age. For example, Ivor Tossell in the Globe and Mail argued that contradictions in the film are overwhelmed by passion and effective use of video editing:
Filipe Feio, reflecting upon the film's internet popularity in Diário de Notícias
, stated that "Fiction or not, Zeitgeist, The Movie threatens to become the champion of conspiracy theories of today."
Michael Shermer
, founder of the Skeptics Society, mentioned Zeitgeist in an article in Scientific American
on skepticism in the age of mass media, and the postmodern belief in the relativism of truth. He argues that this belief, coupled with a "clicker culture of mass media," results in a multitude of various truth claims packaged in "infotainment units", such as Zeitgeist, Loose Change, Poltergeist, or The Twilight Zone
.
Jane Chapman, a film producer and reader in media studies at the University of Lincoln
, called Zeitgeist "a fast-paced assemblage of agitprop
", an example of unethical film-making. She accuses Joseph of "implicit deception" through the use of unreferenced and undated assertions, and standard film-making propaganda techniques. While parts of the film are, she says, "comically" self-defeating, the nature of “twisted evidence” and use of Madrid bomb footage to imply it is of the London bombings (she approvingly cites a student journalist who calls it an "out and out lie") amount to ethical abuse in sourcing (in later versions of the movie, a subtitle is added to this footage identifying it as from the Madrid bombings). She finishes her analysis with the comment:
Tim Callahan criticizing the first part of the film (on the origins of Christianity) wrote that "some of what it asserts is true. Unfortunately, this material is liberally — and sloppily — mixed with material that is only partially true and much that is plainly and simply bogus. […] Zeitgeist is The Da Vinci Code
on steroids."
Chris Forbes, Senior lecturer in Ancient History
of Macquarie University
and member of the Synod
of the Diocese of Sydney, severely criticized Part I of the movie, asserting that it has no basis in serious scholarship or ancient sources, and that it relies on amateur sources that recycle frivolous ideas from one another, rather than serious academic sources, commenting, "It is extraordinary how many claims it makes which are simply not true." Similar conclusions were reached by Dr. Mark Foreman of Liberty University
.
Acharya S (aka D.M. Murdock), a source and consultant on the the film, responded to Callahan's critique (to which Callahan responded), and also rebutted Forbes' statements insisting that the primary sources used in her research support the ideas in her writings.
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by Peter Joseph. It asserts a number of conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
-based ideas, including the Christ myth theory, alternative theories for the parties responsible for the September 11 attacks in 2001 and that bankers manipulate the international monetary system and the media in order to consolidate power.
The film was released online on June 18, 2007, on zeitgeistmovie.com. While the film has been praised by some for being "compellingly edited", it has also been criticized for factual inaccuracies, and the quality of its arguments, with critics describing it as "agitprop
Agitprop
Agitprop is derived from agitation and propaganda, and describes stage plays, pamphlets, motion pictures and other art forms with an explicitly political message....
" and "propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
". A sequel, Zeitgeist: Addendum
Zeitgeist: Addendum
Zeitgeist: Addendum, is a 2008 documentary film produced and directed by Peter Joseph, and a sequel to the 2007 film Zeitgeist: The Movie. Zeitgeist: Addendum is itself followed by the 2011 film Zeitgeist: Moving Forward.-Synopsis:...
, focuses further on the monetary system and advocates a resource-based social system influenced by the ideas of Jacque Fresco
Jacque Fresco
Jacque Fresco , is a self-educated structural designer, philosopher of science, concept artist, educator, and futurist. His interests span a wide range of disciplines including several in philosophy, science, and engineering...
and the Venus Project
The Venus Project
The Venus Project is an organization that advocates the futurist visions of the American Jacque Fresco, with the aim of improving society with a global sustainable social design that it calls a "resource-based economy"...
. Following Zeitgeist: Addendum
Zeitgeist: Addendum
Zeitgeist: Addendum, is a 2008 documentary film produced and directed by Peter Joseph, and a sequel to the 2007 film Zeitgeist: The Movie. Zeitgeist: Addendum is itself followed by the 2011 film Zeitgeist: Moving Forward.-Synopsis:...
, Peter Joseph created an organization called the Zeitgeist Movement
The Zeitgeist Movement
The Zeitgeist Movement was founded in 2008 by Peter Joseph. The movement advocates the replacement of current civilization with a money-free and cybernated "resource-based economy". The Zeitgeist Movement and the Venus Project promote replacing human labour with automation, government will be...
to promote the ideas of Fresco's Venus Project. Joseph also produced an updated 2010 version of the original film in order to address dated material and improve its overall accuracy. A third film called Zeitgeist: Moving Forward
Zeitgeist: Moving Forward
Zeitgeist: Moving Forward is the third installment in Peter Joseph's Zeitgeist film series. The movie was independently released in over 60 countries and in over 30 languages starting on January 15, 2011 with over 340 screenings worldwide...
was released theatrically on 15 January 2011 and online on 25 January 2011. Peter Joseph has stated that its topics are focused on human behavior, technology, and rationality.
Synopsis
The film opens with animated abstract visualizations, film and stock footage, a cartoon and audio quotes about spirituality, followed by clips of war, explosions, and the September 11 attacks. This is followed by the film's title screen. The film's introduction ends with a portion of the late comedian George CarlinGeorge Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
's monologue on religion accompanied by an animated cartoon. The rest of the film, divided into three parts, is narrated by Peter Joseph.
Part I: The Greatest Story Ever Told
Part I questions religions as being god-given stories, arguing that the Christian religion specifically is mainly derived from other religions, astronomical assertions, astrologicalAstrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
myths and traditions, which in turn were derived from or shared elements with others. In furtherance of the Jesus myth hypothesis, this part argues that the historical Jesus
Historical Jesus
The term historical Jesus refers to scholarly reconstructions of the 1st-century figure Jesus of Nazareth. These reconstructions are based upon historical methods including critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, along with consideration of the historical and...
is a literary and astrological hybrid, nurtured politically. The work of Acharya S, author of The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, was used extensively in part I of the movie. She also acted as consultant for part I of the movie.
Part II: All the World's a Stage
Part II uses integral footage of several 9/11 conspiracy theory9/11 conspiracy theories
9/11 conspiracy theories are theories that disagree with the widely accepted account that the September 11 attacks were perpetrated solely by al-Qaeda. These theories arose because of what proponents of the conspiracy theories believe to be inconsistencies in the official conclusions or some...
films to claim that the September 11 attacks were either orchestrated or allowed to happen by elements within the United States government in order to generate mass fear, initiate and justify the War on Terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
, provide a pretext for the curtailment of civil liberties, and produce economic gain. These claims include that the US government had advance knowledge of the attacks, that the military deliberately allowed the planes to reach their targets, and that World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
buildings 1, 2, and 7 underwent a controlled demolition.
In a March 17, 2009, New York Times article, Alan Feuer reported that Peter Joseph had indicated that he had "moved away from" his opinion on whether the September 11 attacks were an inside job perpetrated by the U.S. government, but a later clarification on the Zeitgeist Movement website clarified that Joseph was shifting his focus, not retracting his views.
Part III: Don't Mind the Men Behind the Curtain
Part III argues that three wars of the United States during the twentieth century were waged purely for economic gain by what the film refers to as "international bankers". The film alleges that certain events were engineered as excuses to enter into war including the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, the attack on Pearl HarborAttack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, or the USS Maddox Incident, are the names given to two incidents, one fabricated, involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin...
.
According to the film, the US was forced by the Federal Reserve Bank
Federal Reserve Bank
The twelve Federal Reserve Banks form a major part of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The twelve federal reserve banks together divide the nation into twelve Federal Reserve Districts, the twelve banking districts created by the Federal Reserve Act of...
to become embroiled in these wars, not with a view to win but to sustain the conflict, as this forces the US government to borrow money from the bank, allegedly increasing the profits of the "international bankers". The film then goes on to claim that the Federal Income Tax is illegal
Tax protester statutory arguments
Tax protesters in the United States make a number of statutory arguments that the assessment of the federal income tax in the United States violates the statutes enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law by the President...
.
This section also claims the existence of a secret agreement to merge the United States, Canada and Mexico into a "North American Union
North American Union
The North American Union is a theoretical economic union, in some instances also a political union, of Canada, Mexico, and the United States...
". The creation of this North American Union is then alleged to be a step towards the creation of "One World Government
World government
World government is the notion of a single common political authority for all of humanity. Its modern conception is rooted in European history, particularly in the philosophy of ancient Greece, in the political formation of the Roman Empire, and in the subsequent struggle between secular authority,...
." The film speculates that under such a government, every human could be implanted with an RFID chip
Microchip implant (human)
A human microchip implant is an integrated circuit device or RFID transponder encased in silicate glass and implanted in the body of a human being...
to monitor individuals and suppress dissent.
An updated version of Zeitgeist released in 2010 removes the North American Union section among other changes.
Awards
The film was screened on November 10, 2007 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood as part of the 4th Annual Artivist Film Festival, where it won the Best Feature Award in the Artivist Spirit category for feature-length documentaries. In September 2008, Zeitgeist, The Movie also received a Special Acknowledgment Award at Rutger Hauer's ICFILMS Film Festival in Milan, Italy. The movie is available on DVD, along with Addendum, which was later packaged as a bonus DVD with The Lost Children of BabylonThe Lost Children of Babylon
The Lost Children of Babylon are a Philadelphia based underground hip-hop group founded by Rasul Allah in the mid-90s. They first appeared in 1996 on Jedi Mind Tricks "Amber Probe EP". The group is known for their conscious and spiritual style with lyrics influenced by Nuwaubian philosophy, Islam...
's Zeitgeist: The Spirit Of The Age album, released on November 30, 2010.
Positive reaction
Filmmaker Dmitri Bushny, writing in the Russian weekly Literaturnaya GazetaLiteraturnaya Gazeta
Literaturnaya Gazeta is a weekly cultural and political newspaper published in Russia and Soviet Union.- Overview :...
, was a rare voice in the mainstream press in praising the film, saying that it "utterly destroyed the official version" of the September 11 attacks. Acknowledging widespread criticism of part 2 as "internet nonsense", he defended the film for raising questions about the attacks, arguing that "there is no distortion in putting forward rational questions and trying to answer them. This is done persuasively, and no perception of underhand shuffling or manipulation arises."
Conspiracy theory and propaganda
A review in The Irish TimesThe Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
entitled “Zeitgeist: the Nonsense” wrote that “these are surreal perversions of genuine issues and debates, and they tarnish all criticism of faith, the Bush administration and globalization—there are more than enough factual injustices in this world to be going around without having to invent fictional ones." Other reviews have characterized the film as "conspiracy crap", “based solely on anecdotal evidence” and “fiction couched in a few facts”, or disparaging reference is made to its part in the 9/11 truth movement
9/11 Truth Movement
9/11 Truth movement is a collective name for loosely affiliated organizations and individuals who question the accepted account of the September 11, 2001, attacks....
.
Some journalists have focused on it as an example of how conspiracy theories are promulgated in the internet age. For example, Ivor Tossell in the Globe and Mail argued that contradictions in the film are overwhelmed by passion and effective use of video editing:
The film is an interesting object lesson on how conspiracy theories get to be so popular.... It's a driven, if uneven, piece of propaganda, a marvel of tight editing and fuzzy thinking. Its on-camera sources are mostly conspiracy theorists, co-mingled with selective eyewitness accounts, drawn from archival footage and often taken out of context. It derides the media as a pawn of the International Bankers, but produces media reports for credibility when convenient. The film ignores expert opinion, except the handful of experts who agree with it. And yet, it's compelling. It shamelessly ploughs forward, connecting dots with an earnest certainty that makes you want to give it an A for effort.
Filipe Feio, reflecting upon the film's internet popularity in Diário de Notícias
Diário de Notícias
Diário de Notícias is a Portuguese daily newspaper, founded in Lisbon, on December 29, 1864 by Tomás Quintino Antunes and Eduardo Coelho. It gradually became one of the best known Portuguese newspapers...
, stated that "Fiction or not, Zeitgeist, The Movie threatens to become the champion of conspiracy theories of today."
Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer
Michael Brant Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members...
, founder of the Skeptics Society, mentioned Zeitgeist in an article in Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
on skepticism in the age of mass media, and the postmodern belief in the relativism of truth. He argues that this belief, coupled with a "clicker culture of mass media," results in a multitude of various truth claims packaged in "infotainment units", such as Zeitgeist, Loose Change, Poltergeist, or The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
.
Jane Chapman, a film producer and reader in media studies at the University of Lincoln
University of Lincoln
The University of Lincoln is an English university founded in 1992, with origins tracing back to the foundation and association with the Hull School of Art 1861....
, called Zeitgeist "a fast-paced assemblage of agitprop
Agitprop
Agitprop is derived from agitation and propaganda, and describes stage plays, pamphlets, motion pictures and other art forms with an explicitly political message....
", an example of unethical film-making. She accuses Joseph of "implicit deception" through the use of unreferenced and undated assertions, and standard film-making propaganda techniques. While parts of the film are, she says, "comically" self-defeating, the nature of “twisted evidence” and use of Madrid bomb footage to imply it is of the London bombings (she approvingly cites a student journalist who calls it an "out and out lie") amount to ethical abuse in sourcing (in later versions of the movie, a subtitle is added to this footage identifying it as from the Madrid bombings). She finishes her analysis with the comment:
Regarding the origins of Christianity
Skeptic magazine'sSkeptic (U.S. magazine)
Skeptic is a quarterly science education and science advocacy magazine published internationally by The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting scientific skepticism and resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs...
Tim Callahan criticizing the first part of the film (on the origins of Christianity) wrote that "some of what it asserts is true. Unfortunately, this material is liberally — and sloppily — mixed with material that is only partially true and much that is plainly and simply bogus. […] Zeitgeist is The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...
on steroids."
Chris Forbes, Senior lecturer in Ancient History
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
of Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
and member of the Synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
of the Diocese of Sydney, severely criticized Part I of the movie, asserting that it has no basis in serious scholarship or ancient sources, and that it relies on amateur sources that recycle frivolous ideas from one another, rather than serious academic sources, commenting, "It is extraordinary how many claims it makes which are simply not true." Similar conclusions were reached by Dr. Mark Foreman of Liberty University
Liberty University
Liberty University is a private Christian university located in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty's annual enrollment is around 72,000 students, 12,000 of whom are residential students and 60,000+ studying through Liberty University Online...
.
Acharya S (aka D.M. Murdock), a source and consultant on the the film, responded to Callahan's critique (to which Callahan responded), and also rebutted Forbes' statements insisting that the primary sources used in her research support the ideas in her writings.
See also
- Zeitgeist: AddendumZeitgeist: AddendumZeitgeist: Addendum, is a 2008 documentary film produced and directed by Peter Joseph, and a sequel to the 2007 film Zeitgeist: The Movie. Zeitgeist: Addendum is itself followed by the 2011 film Zeitgeist: Moving Forward.-Synopsis:...
- Zeitgeist: Moving ForwardZeitgeist: Moving ForwardZeitgeist: Moving Forward is the third installment in Peter Joseph's Zeitgeist film series. The movie was independently released in over 60 countries and in over 30 languages starting on January 15, 2011 with over 340 screenings worldwide...
- E. A. Wallis BudgeE. A. Wallis BudgeSir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East.-Earlier life:...