Adam Curtis Quotes

Adam Curtis is an English documentary filmmaker known for his thought-provoking and critically acclaimed documentaries. His works, such as "The Century of the Self" and "HyperNormalisation," explore the intersections of politics, power, and society. Curtis' documentaries have challenged conventional narratives and have sparked discussions on the nature of contemporary society.

In the battle for Kobane on the Syrian border, everyone talks about the enemy - IS - and the frightening ideas that drive them. No one talks about the Kurdish defenders and what inspires them.

Adam Curtis , Director

I have a suspicion that the politicians' revival of the old behaviourist ideas and techniques will be helped and reinforced by a powerful ally - the machines we have built. The computers.

Adam Curtis , Director

I have always thought that pandas, in evolutionary terms, are the most sophisticated animals in the world. They cannot look after themselves; they are useless at reproducing. But to compensate, they have managed to persuade the most advanced creatures on the planet - human beings - to care for their every need.

Adam Curtis , Director
Tony Blair believed in a consumerist idea of democ... -Adam Curtis

Tony Blair believed in a consumerist idea of democracy.

Adam Curtis , Director

I have always wanted to make a series of films which would be like an 'emotional history' that conveys what it feels like to live through history as an experience rather than a grand story. It would be about the relationship between the tiny fragments and moments of personal experience, and the continual backdrop of big events.

Adam Curtis , Director

The Kurds had always had a bad time. They were oppressed by the Ottoman empire. Then, at the end of the First World War, they were promised a homeland, but the new Turkish state refused to give them any land, while the British went and created the new state of Iraq and sent aircraft to bomb the Kurds there into submission.

Adam Curtis , Director

When communism collapsed in 1989, the big story that had been hardwired into citizens of western countries - that of the global battle against a distant dark and evil force - came to an abrupt end.

Adam Curtis , Director

Of course there are many factors that led to the Iranian revolution, but back in 1951, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company - which would later become BP - and its principal owner, the British government, conspired to destroy democracy and install a western-controlled regime in Iran.

Adam Curtis , Director

Politicians used to have the confidence to tell us stories that made sense of the chaos of world events. But now there are no big stories, and politicians react randomly to every new crisis - leaving us bewildered and disorientated.

Adam Curtis , Director

Both individuals and societies tell themselves stories to simplify and make sense of the messy chaos of reality.

Adam Curtis , Director

Henrietta Lacks' cells are immortal. They are known as the HeLa cell line, and they have become deeply involved in all sorts of medical and genetic research - sometimes in the most unexpected ways.

Adam Curtis , Director

In our age of individualism, we see computers as ways through which we can express our individuality. But the truth is that the computers are really good at spotting the very opposite. The computers can see how similar we are, and they then have the ability to agglomerate us together into groups that have the same behaviours.

Adam Curtis , Director

Throughout the western world, new systems have risen up whose job is to constantly record and monitor the present - and then compare that to the recorded past. The aim is to discover patterns, coincidences and correlations, and from that, find ways of stopping change. Keeping things the same.

Adam Curtis , Director

In 'Mad Men,' we watch a group of people who live in a prosperous society that offers happiness and order like never before in history and yet are full of anxiety and unease. They feel there is something more, something beyond. And they feel stuck.

Adam Curtis , Director

Ever since the economic crisis in 2008, millions of people have accepted cuts in all sorts of things - from real wages and living standards to benefits and hospital care - without any real opposition. The cuts may be right, or they may be stupid - but the astonishing thing is how no-one really challenges them.

Adam Curtis , Director

Events keep happening that seem inexplicable and out of control. Donald Trump, Brexit, the War in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, random bomb attacks.

Adam Curtis , Director

I have always been fascinated by the way music can completely change the way you watch film - and how you feel as you watch the images.

Adam Curtis , Director

Tyler Kent was a horrible man. He was a rabid anti-communist who believed that the Jews had been behind the Russian Revolution.

Adam Curtis , Director
Everyone goes on holiday in Britain. Even Hell's A... -Adam Curtis

Everyone goes on holiday in Britain. Even Hell's Angels.

Adam Curtis , Director

Nobody trusts anyone in authority today. It is one of the main features of our age. Wherever you look, there are lying politicians, crooked bankers, corrupt police officers, cheating journalists and double-dealing media barons, sinister children's entertainers, rotten and greedy energy companies, and out-of-control security services.

Adam Curtis , Director

The latest rule is: you cannot have protectionism - otherwise you will get a world war. Other rules say you cannot have collective ideas that involve the surrender of the individual to the group - otherwise, you get totalitarianism or, even worse, religion.

Adam Curtis , Director

One of the guiding beliefs of our consuming age is that we are all free and independent individuals. That we can choose to do pretty much what we want, and if we can't, then it's bad. But at the same time, co-existing alongside this, there is a completely different, parallel universe where we all seem meekly to do what those in power tell us to do.

Adam Curtis , Director

A conveyor belt of Think Tank pundits and allied operatives poured into the TV studios, and together they built a fortress around Mrs. Thatcher's memory that was rooted in theories about economics. They did this because economics is the only language that wonks understand.

Adam Curtis , Director
Tyler Kent himself is weird and mesmerising - but ... -Adam Curtis

Tyler Kent himself is weird and mesmerising - but still unrepentantly anti-Semitic.

Adam Curtis , Director
One of the main functions of politicians - and jou... -Adam Curtis

One of the main functions of politicians - and journalists - is to simplify the world for us.

Adam Curtis , Director

We live in a time when all elites, whether on the left or the right, believe in rigid rules that say there is no alternative to the present political and economic system.

Adam Curtis , Director

Following the principle that you should know your enemy, the BBC has assiduously recorded the relentless rise of Rupert Murdoch and his assault on the old 'decadent' elites of Britain.

Adam Curtis , Director

Documentaries shouldn't just reflect the world: they should try and explain why reality is like it is.

Adam Curtis , Director

In many cruise ships, there are hundreds of workers from some of the poorest countries on earth who are paid minute amounts of actual wages - sometimes less than two dollars a day - to attend to the passengers' needs.

Adam Curtis , Director
Sometimes history repeats itself. And sometimes it... -Adam Curtis

Sometimes history repeats itself. And sometimes it doesn't.

Adam Curtis , Director
Discovering the context

This quote acknowledges the phenomenon of historical events repeating in certain instances but also highlights that history is not always characterized by repetition. It implies an understanding of the complexity and unpredictability of historical patterns and the potential for unique and novel occurrences.

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