[PREVIEW] On Adam Curtis’s HyperNormalisation: A Hard Rain

This Thursday, February 11th, English filmmaker Adam Curtis will release a new 6-part film series, Can't Get You Out Of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World. In anticipation, Amogh, Malek, and Matt discuss the work and project of Adam Curtis, particularly his most recent film, HyperNormalisation (2016).In our conversation we touch on Adam Curtis’ stated topic area, his methodology, and its benefits and costs. We discuss Curtis’s vision of politics as ideology vs. politics as system management, and try to sketch a potential history of this division. We look at the reification of the constructed and/or consumerist individual as a political class in the age of social media, as well as both the useful and unuseful ways of framing Curtis’s theories of history and power. What does Curtis mean when he accuses contemporary radicals of ‘not having a coherent vision of the future’? Is his deep pessimism about contemporary political movements warranted? Four years later, how do we reflect on Curtis’s portrayals of Donald Trump, politics in the Middle East, and social life on cyberspace?--Can't Get You Out Of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World (2021, trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thd5bBUNEw8--HyperNormalisation (2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh2cDKyFdyU--”And then the Strangest Thing Happened” - Owen Hatherley, 2017: https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/and-then-the-strangest-thing-happened/Malek Rasamny is a documentary filmmaker and writer. He is the co-founder of the LERFE space and co-producer of “The Native and the Refugee '' project. He is currently a Master’s student in the Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales in Paris where he is specializing in religion and society.Amogh Sahu is a PhD student in Philosophy at Columbia University. He works on social and political philosophy, with a special emphasis on the significance of capitalism in the work of the early Frankfurt School.This is the last week of Woodbine's fundraiser! With our community's support and generosity we have raised more than $24,000, but we still hope to reach our goal of $30k! We want to continue renovations on our new space, including rewiring our electrical system and redoing the bathrooms, as we keep up with rent and utilities during this extended pandemic. We can't wait to be able to resume our regular calendar of free events, workshops, and community dinners soon! Please contribute what you can, and help spread the word! https://www.gofundme.com/f/woodbine-moving-fundraiser