1
00:00:19,300 --> 00:00:22,960
(soft orchestral music)

2
00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:24,800
- «Astronaut» It's beautiful
Mike, it really is.

3
00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:28,320
(explosion)

4
00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,920
(dramatic orchestral music)

5
00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,040
- Propaganda is
political brainwashing.

6
00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,160
- It's a calculated
attack on the complexity

7
00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:52,360
of other people's minds.

8
00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,000
- Behold his mighty hands.

9
00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:01,760
- It's the invisible hand.

10
00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,760
It's getting you to submit
without realizing consciously

11
00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:07,560
that you're submitting.

12
00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,320
- What if the media is
the enemy of the people.

13
00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,880
(dramatic orchestral music)

14
00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:23,680
- Wherever there is power,
there is propaganda.

15
00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,520
- If we grow up only
surrounded by propaganda,

16
00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:29,400
then how do we
know what is truth?

17
00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,760
- In my line of work you've
gotta keep repeating things

18
00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:38,160
over and over and over again,

19
00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:41,560
for the truth to sink in.

20
00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,280
- We can take back control
of 350 million pounds.

21
00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:46,840
350 million pounds.

22
00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,160
- Propaganda is not
going to die out.

23
00:01:56,160 --> 00:02:00,000
Propaganda is essential
for the modern state.

24
00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,600
- How can we protect democracy

25
00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,440
from people tampering
with the truth?

26
00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:06,600
- The truth about
Negroes and foreigners.

27
00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:17,920
- In the wrong hands,

28
00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:21,080
the power of art is
a dangerous thing.

29
00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,120
(upbeat jazz music)

30
00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,200
(muffled speaking)

31
00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:40,240
- «Narrator» We allow ourselves

32
00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:42,200
to be manipulated by fictions,

33
00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:46,160
as though they were
uncontestable truths,

34
00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,760
as if we cannot distinguish
between the two.

35
00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,920
- «Man» Okay, can you
go back and reshoot it.

36
00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:56,240
I think we have to get it again.

37
00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:57,880
- «Narrator» We have
always been captivated

38
00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,760
by fairy tales and fantasies,

39
00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:02,600
and the imagery that
accompanies them.

40
00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,840
But how is it possible
that our powers of reason

41
00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,080
have so often been
overtaken by the irrational?

42
00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,560
- If we look back at the
history of humankind,

43
00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:19,800
language is a medium

44
00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,760
that provided humans

45
00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,120
with a new kind of power.

46
00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:29,880
The power of grasping

47
00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,760
the symbolic layer of reality.

48
00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:39,280
If we look back at the history
of magic, art, religion,

49
00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,000
they all share the same roots.

50
00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,840
(eerie electronic music)

51
00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:00,520
- This is one of
the hand stencils

52
00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,720
that El Castillo
Cave is famous for,

53
00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:06,080
and the hand stencil
is probably the first

54
00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:07,960
symbolic piece of art we find,

55
00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:10,480
representing something
in the real world.

56
00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:12,400
This is done with a
great deal of care.

57
00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:14,480
The location is
deliberately chosen.

58
00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:16,640
This is not just
art for art's sake,

59
00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:18,000
this is meaningful art.

60
00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:22,880
To know that they are
the hands neanderthal,

61
00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:24,280
that 65,000 years ago,

62
00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:27,800
the neanderthal stood
there and made this symbol,

63
00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:28,720
it's mind-blowing.

64
00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,520
This is the origin
of symbolic culture,

65
00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:35,800
it's the origin of
art if you like,

66
00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,320
and that plays a really
important role in propaganda.

67
00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,680
symbolic communication lies
at the heart of propaganda.

68
00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,720
And there are maybe 40 of these
hand stencils in this area.

69
00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,640
So when we see large
concentrations of art like this,

70
00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:52,440
maybe it was
designed to be viewed

71
00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:53,760
by a large number of people,

72
00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:55,480
by gatherings of individuals,

73
00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:57,480
perhaps performing
some kind of ritual.

74
00:04:57,480 --> 00:04:59,240
This is public art if you like.

75
00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:07,680
- Great propaganda exploits
your need to believe something,

76
00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:10,400
your need for belief,

77
00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,320
and your craving
or your appetite

78
00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:14,360
for a magical form
of empowerment.

79
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,800
We will at this point
lose our relative

80
00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:22,400
insignificance in the universe,

81
00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:24,600
and we'll be master of
the universe together.

82
00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:30,840
- The shaman takes you
into the dark cave,

83
00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:33,080
where you can't see very well
and things are flickering,

84
00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:36,560
and pictures of the animal
spirits are on the walls.

85
00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,120
The caves might be seen
as a rather elaborate way

86
00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,320
of convincing people of
the power of the shaman.

87
00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:47,040
That's propaganda.

88
00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:55,320
- «Narrator» The
power of the image

89
00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:57,080
has been with us
from the beginning.

90
00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,040
Is that why we are so easily
seduced by propaganda?

91
00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,600
And coerced into adopting
opinions that are not our own?

92
00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:11,440
- You are fake news.

93
00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,000
- «Narrator» Today we are
bombarded with loaded images,

94
00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,000
and messages, like never before.

95
00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:20,200
They scream out to us

96
00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,320
from our own computers,
and cell phones,

97
00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:26,640
as if the dystopian
fiction of George Orwell

98
00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:28,560
has become our daily reality.

99
00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:32,520
So how can we defend ourselves

100
00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,560
against the inanities
of politics?

101
00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:37,240
Of religion?

102
00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:38,400
Of demagogues?

103
00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:43,040
Of rabble-rousing leaders
who feed us false hopes,

104
00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:44,960
deception, and hate?

105
00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,160
(in foreign language)

106
00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,560
When the very concept of
truth is being attacked,

107
00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,040
when knowledge is debased,
and ignorance lauded,

108
00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,320
when the rage within every one
of us is at a boiling point,

109
00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,640
we need to stop and ask
ourselves how we got here.

110
00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,240
This film is a cautionary tale,

111
00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:13,720
and a call to action,

112
00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,920
at a precarious
moment in our history.

113
00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:30,800
- We can be manipulated,
we can be influenced.

114
00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,640
Information is a
really powerful thing.

115
00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:37,320
I'm Craig Silverman, I'm the
media editor for Buzzfeed News.

116
00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,920
Our office in Toronto
specializes in

117
00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:42,480
investigating
media manipulation,

118
00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:45,680
digital deception, fake
news, online misinformation.

119
00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:49,040
- «Interviewer» Let me ask you,

120
00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,160
how did you come up with
the term, fake news?

121
00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:54,400
- For me, my first encounter

122
00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,480
with what I came
to call, fake news,

123
00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,960
happened in the late
summer or the fall of 2014.

124
00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:03,880
I kept coming across stories

125
00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,120
that were just
completely 100% false,

126
00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:09,120
but they looked like
they were published

127
00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:10,080
on a news website.

128
00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,440
One of the things that we
exposed during the 2016 election

129
00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:21,640
was that there were a group
of young men and teenagers,

130
00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:23,760
in the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia,

131
00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:26,280
who were launching Trump sites.

132
00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,240
They had more than
150 that we found,

133
00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,040
and they were publishing
a lot of stories

134
00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:33,040
that were incredibly misleading,

135
00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,640
and many that were
also 100% false.

136
00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:37,640
And one of the
reasons for that is,

137
00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:39,600
you could make a lot
of money from them.

138
00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:43,880
Some of the fake
stories that we saw

139
00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:45,360
during the election
that did well,

140
00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,000
were a story claiming that
the Pope had endorsed Trump,

141
00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,360
a story claiming
that Hilary Clinton

142
00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:53,520
had approved a sale
of weapons to ISIS.

143
00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:56,280
They were everywhere.

144
00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:08,240
- Storytelling is
a powerful tool

145
00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:09,480
to move people,

146
00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,040
it's a powerful tool
to engage people.

147
00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,760
People want to
believe in stories.

148
00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:21,120
Storytelling is embedded in
the history of propaganda.

149
00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,720
Good propaganda is a good
story, it's a good narrative.

150
00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:25,600
There is an enemy,

151
00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:28,320
there is a hero.

152
00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,640
And this is how propaganda
worked through the centuries.

153
00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,280
Taking some specific symbols,

154
00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:41,120
and providing those symbols
with supernatural power.

155
00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:46,840
- The use of
propaganda to depict

156
00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:48,160
a cult of personality,

157
00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,160
we can go right back
to Alexander the Great.

158
00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,520
Alexander the Great was
one of the first leaders

159
00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,720
to recognize the importance
of the way in which

160
00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,960
his presence should
be symbolized.

161
00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:04,440
- There's a case to
be made for him being

162
00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:06,160
one of the greatest
propagandists ever.

163
00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:07,200
He became a god.

164
00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:10,640
That's the point,

165
00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:12,400
and I think he did
that consciously.

166
00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:18,320
He was the first person
to have to wrestle

167
00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,080
with the problem of
having a vast empire,

168
00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:22,520
and how do you keep
people believing in you?

169
00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:24,800
You can't be
everywhere at one time,

170
00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:28,280
so he and his people
came up with the idea,

171
00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:29,800
well if Alexander
can't be there,

172
00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:31,560
statues of Alexander
can be there.

173
00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:34,920
Coins with Alexander's
head on them

174
00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,200
can go to the ends of the world,

175
00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:40,160
and they will carry
the Alexander message.

176
00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:42,360
Believe in me and
everything's gonna be fine.

177
00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:48,960
- Propaganda wants
to be everywhere.

178
00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,080
It is only propaganda
when it is part

179
00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:53,360
of a larger endeavor,

180
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:55,880
of constructing, of
engineering reality.

181
00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:57,520
When we don't think
it's propaganda,

182
00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:59,160
it works the best as propaganda.

183
00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:02,840
- «Narrator» Arguably
the most effective

184
00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,840
propagandist in history,
has been the church.

185
00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,360
Could I ask you about the
origin of the word, propaganda?

186
00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:15,080
- The word, propaganda,
as we use it in English,

187
00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,360
does derive from a Latin term,

188
00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:23,600
and the sense of the original
Latin term, is to plant.

189
00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,440
The planting of ideas,

190
00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,560
it's used in the Catholic church

191
00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:35,960
as a way of describing the
process of Evangelization.

192
00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:39,120
You plant, or you
seed, the faith.

193
00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:44,320
- At the beginning
of the 16th century,

194
00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,000
there were maybe 200
printing presses in Europe,

195
00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:53,320
and these would turn out
to be the heavy artillery

196
00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:55,960
of the propaganda war that
was about to break out.

197
00:11:57,360 --> 00:11:59,360
Martin Luther, and the
people who worked with him,

198
00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:00,920
in the reformation,

199
00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,720
had a very clear idea of the
power of the printing press.

200
00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,400
They produced enormous
amounts of stuff.

201
00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:12,680
The first bestseller was one
of Martin Luther's tracts

202
00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:15,080
about iniquitous
seller indulgences.

203
00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,160
And he had the idea to use

204
00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,560
the services of
really good artists,

205
00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:25,280
who did woodcuts, that would
go along with his sermons,

206
00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,440
railing against the
Catholic establishment.

207
00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:38,360
- But then we have first
of all, various popes,

208
00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:43,080
trying to counter the
propaganda of Protestantism.

209
00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:46,920
- They decided to
go right through

210
00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:49,800
the whole means of communication
of the Catholic church,

211
00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:54,520
and make it more accessible
to the ordinary person.

212
00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:01,960
And that went from
painting, sculpture,

213
00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,240
architecture, music,

214
00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:08,400
right across the whole
spectrum of the arts,

215
00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:11,640
and gave rise to

216
00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:14,640
the glory that is the baroque.

217
00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,560
(dramatic orchestral music)

218
00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,560
At the heart of any
propaganda campaign,

219
00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:28,440
is an emotional
appeal of some kind,

220
00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:29,960
some kind of emotional appeal.

221
00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:37,440
The central baroque idea
of manipulating the senses,

222
00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,880
is playing to the heart,
rather than to the mind.

223
00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:49,160
and I'm probably best
known as the creator

224
00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:52,960
of the famous, or infamous 1968

225
00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:55,640
red and black Che Guevara
poster titled, "Viva Che."

226
00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,600
I was working as a barman
in a pub in Kilkee,

227
00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:13,400
and in walks Che Guevara.

228
00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,320
And of course, being a barman,

229
00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:16,480
you learn to talk to people.

230
00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:18,280
It was one of my gifts.

231
00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:19,760
So he came over near the bar,

232
00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:21,960
and I said, what
brings you here?

233
00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:23,480
And he looked at me
kind of startled,

234
00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,520
and I said, "you're Che,"
and he said, "yeah."

235
00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:30,160
He said he was in a
stopover fog bound,

236
00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:32,200
for two days I think
in Shannon Airport.

237
00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:34,640
It left an enormous impression,

238
00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:36,960
because here was somebody
I admired hugely.

239
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:39,040
It was like meeting
Martin Luther King.

240
00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:40,960
This was a man I looked
at and thought, my God,

241
00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,480
the is the real hero
of the revolution.

242
00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,320
I did many, many
versions of the Che,

243
00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:50,440
before I came to
the final version,

244
00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:51,800
and here's a couple of them.

245
00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,440
As you can see they're
over-complicated.

246
00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,680
I needed to simplify so
I started simplifying.

247
00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:00,480
These are not in sequence.

248
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:02,000
You can see what I'm up to.

249
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,600
This was one I was going to
do as a poster, and didn't,

250
00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:07,840
because that's what he looked
like when I actually met him.

251
00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:15,560
Che had been murdered,

252
00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:17,240
executed as a prisoner of war.

253
00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,960
Then they committed
the most obscene act.

254
00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:23,680
They put him on this thing

255
00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:25,440
for draining the
blood from cattle.

256
00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:29,960
And he looked like
the dead Christ.

257
00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:35,720
I was so outraged at the
manner of his murder,

258
00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,040
and the fact that they
tried to disappear him,

259
00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,400
which has resonance in Ireland,
for we had many disappeared,

260
00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:43,240
and we know during the
Argentina dirty war

261
00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:44,800
what disappearance meant.

262
00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,240
And I thought, **** them,
that's not gonna happen.

263
00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:55,440
When I did the
Che Guevara image,

264
00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,560
I did that deliberately
as a piece of propaganda.

265
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,400
I wanted that as
simple as possible,

266
00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:02,160
so anybody could copy it.

267
00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:05,920
I made leaflets, I made
prints, I gave it to everybody.

268
00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:07,560
I made it free use.

269
00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:11,080
I rather grandly stated that
it was to be copyright-free

270
00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:13,400
for all revolutionary
and leftist use.

271
00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:17,680
The Che image began to
proliferate of its own accord.

272
00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:21,320
I've seen it in the
most incongruous places.

273
00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:23,560
I've seen it in
toilets in Tokyo.

274
00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:26,960
I've seen it
endlessly on T-shirts.

275
00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,480
It took off and
became so world-famous

276
00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:33,400
it kind of intimidated me.

277
00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:34,600
It got to the point where

278
00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:36,680
I wouldn't even say I did it,

279
00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:38,680
because nobody'd believe you.

280
00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:44,960
I'm very lucky, kind
of accidentally,

281
00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,520
I created one of the most
iconic images of all time,

282
00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:49,680
and I try not to laugh,

283
00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:51,560
because it's a serious image,

284
00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:52,800
but it feels kind of good.

285
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:54,280
You know, it's nice at my age

286
00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:55,600
to be looking back and thinking,

287
00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,440
well I did something
decent with my life.

288
00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:01,640
I commemorated a great man,
and made him live again.

289
00:17:13,120 --> 00:17:15,760
(grungy music)

290
00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:29,040
- In the first world war,

291
00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:31,280
you have nations
fighting in total war.

292
00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:33,720
You don't just have armies,

293
00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,320
but you have whole populations

294
00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:38,840
pitted against
whole populations.

295
00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:44,040
And as a result of that,

296
00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,640
governments have to justify,
really for the first time,

297
00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:49,120
on a major scale,

298
00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:51,960
why they are fighting total war,

299
00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,000
and that's where
propaganda comes in.

300
00:17:57,360 --> 00:18:00,760
(eerie electronic music)

301
00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,920
Propaganda is used by
all the belligerents.

302
00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:18,240
They used the old media,

303
00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:21,440
the print, posters, et cetera,

304
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:23,680
but they also used
the new technologies,

305
00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,080
of in particular the cinema.

306
00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,960
(majestic orchestral music)

307
00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:47,720
In stark terms,

308
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,200
many of these stories
were perceived

309
00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,720
in the immediate aftermath
of World War I to be untrue.

310
00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:59,080
And so propaganda in
Britain and America,

311
00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:03,600
became firmly associated
with lies and falsehood.

312
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:06,120
Now what's interesting,

313
00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:10,920
is that other countries,
like Germany, Italy,

314
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,200
Russia, eventually
the Soviet Union,

315
00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:19,160
would actually take a
different lesson from

316
00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:21,360
the experiences of
the first world war.

317
00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:24,240
They wouldn't see
propaganda necessarily

318
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:25,720
in these negative terms.

319
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:34,520
(dramatic orchestral music)

320
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:49,040
(orchestral music continues)

321
00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,960
If you look at films, such
as, "The Fall of Berlin,"

322
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:02,760
here you see Stalin
depicted in cinematic form.

323
00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,240
We have an actor who
becomes a national treasure,

324
00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:09,560
who plays Stalin in
a number of films.

325
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:22,360
And plays Stalin as this wise,
kind of benevolent figure,

326
00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,760
that really sacrifices
everything for his country,

327
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:28,360
and in "The Fall of
Berlin," of course,

328
00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:31,200
it's the celebration,
it's the apotheosis,

329
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,200
of this wise and
benevolent leader.

330
00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,000
(in foreign language)

331
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:39,480
- Long live Stalin!

332
00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,840
- Propaganda is something
that we cannot bring

333
00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,480
our full intelligence
to bear on.

334
00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:07,280
So there's something
about propaganda,

335
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:09,280
that actually disables
our intelligence.

336
00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:12,560
So we might look back and think,

337
00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:14,240
how could I have believed that?

338
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,280
It's a bit like the end of a
love affair, where you think,

339
00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,640
how could I have possibly
fallen for that person?

340
00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:33,960
The disillusionment over Stalin,

341
00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,040
it seems to me is
very telling here,

342
00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,880
because what it shows
us in retrospect,

343
00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,200
is how much selective attention

344
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,200
was required to go on believing.

345
00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,840
In other words, people had quite
actively, if unconsciously,

346
00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:55,040
attacked their capacity for
perception and for thought.

347
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,320
It's as though it had never
really occurred to them.

348
00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,240
And this seemed to me to be
an active part of oneself,

349
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,320
that can determinedly
not know what one knows.

350
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:14,440
Propaganda is based on how you
stop yourself knowing things.

351
00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,120
- Propaganda is something
other people consume.

352
00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:30,680
I mean I think that that's

353
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:33,240
sort of our default
definition, right?

354
00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,400
We don't go, nobody
goes around and says,

355
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,400
my name is Astra, and
I love propaganda,

356
00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,560
because we all like to
flatter ourselves and think,

357
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:43,240
we don't consume propaganda,

358
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:45,520
other people do.

359
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,440
If you look at standard
histories of propaganda,

360
00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:51,440
what do you see?

361
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:53,200
You see the Catholic church,

362
00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:59,080
you see the Soviet Union,
and Nazi propaganda.

363
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:03,120
And what's striking to me

364
00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:05,360
about these conventional
narratives of what
propaganda is,

365
00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:07,680
is how much is left out.

366
00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:09,720
- «Announcer» Adrian
knows that for some reason

367
00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:11,760
she doesn't fit
into the picture,

368
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:13,320
but she doesn't know why.

369
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:15,960
- As a woman in this
world I know there are

370
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,600
patriarchal messages,
there are sexist messages.

371
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:19,880
(whistling)

372
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:22,720
There's no bureau
of male affairs,

373
00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:23,960
pushing those from on high,

374
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:25,480
they're just sort
of in the ether,

375
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:26,960
and being transmitted
through the culture,

376
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:28,840
and we call them stereotypes.

377
00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:33,040
We talk about bias, but we
don't use the term, propaganda.

378
00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,360
Take a show like "The Bachelor."

379
00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:37,800
- Lauren D.

380
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,440
- «Astra» All these stereotypes
are endlessly reinforced.

381
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,320
- Lauren, will you
accept this rose?

382
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:46,960
- For me, when I look around,

383
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,840
and I look at American culture,
North American culture,

384
00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:53,280
the stuff that strikes me
as the most propagandistic,

385
00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:55,400
is actually the most
mainstream culture,

386
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:57,280
it's the films coming
out of Hollywood.

387
00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,000
You know like, "She's All That."

388
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,480
Home improvement shows,
or real estate shows,

389
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:04,400
like "House Hunters,"

390
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:05,800
these things that present

391
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,440
a sort of idealized,
consumeristic mode of life.

392
00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:11,360
- Your grand staircase.

393
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:12,920
How's that make you feel?

394
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:14,320
- Kind of happy inside.

395
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,200
- The most successful
propaganda ever in the world,

396
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:19,240
has been the
propaganda that says,

397
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,240
what you really
want is to be rich.

398
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:25,960
Capitalism creates
tremendous envy,

399
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,280
because a lot of people
feel extremely deprived,

400
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,560
and resentful, because
they're living in a culture

401
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:34,000
in which it appears as though

402
00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,600
1% of the population is enjoying
life as it should be lived,

403
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,960
and everybody else
is just suffering.

404
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:44,520
The trouble is, we've been sold

405
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:46,160
the wrong picture
of a good life.

406
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:06,680
- «Interviewer» What do
you see your role to be?

407
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,960
- I see myself as a
political guerrilla artist.

408
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:10,840
What do you call it?

409
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,080
A **** disturber.

410
00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:16,480
I think it's your
duty to disturb ****

411
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:18,080
when you think things are wrong.

412
00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:30,800
I believe something's wrong,
and it needs to be changed,

413
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:34,400
and for some strange reason,
the smartest among us,

414
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,000
don't seem to get it.

415
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:37,840
It's one thing to have an idea,

416
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,720
but what good is the idea if
you can't get it out there?

417
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:45,120
Now, I can have something
go from my mind,

418
00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:49,880
to like the Drudge Report,
or Glenn Beck, or wherever,

419
00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,520
Breitbart, and within 24 hours.

420
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,720
(dark electronic music)

421
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,120
I think the Obama Drone
series that I did,

422
00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:09,800
it's basically a celebrity
that drones on and on and on

423
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:11,200
with the public
about their politics.

424
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:15,360
And I kind of figured Hollywood
is like the drone base,

425
00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:17,840
for these celebrities that
fly out into the country,

426
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,040
and they spread their message.

427
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,280
And of course at the time,
Obama had a drone policy,

428
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,280
to where it's like he
actually joked about it.

429
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:28,440
- I have two words for you,

430
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:30,240
predator drones.

431
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:31,160
(audience laughing)

432
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:32,600
- He won a Nobel Peace Prize.

433
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:34,480
It's like, for God's sakes.

434
00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:39,080
He dropped a bomb every 20
minutes for eight years.

435
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:43,760
All these political artists,

436
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:45,000
what were they doing?

437
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:46,320
They were falling
all over themselves

438
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,000
to get in the galleries,

439
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,760
with their ******* wallpaper.

440
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:52,600
So it's like, you know what?

441
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,440
You had an opportunity to show

442
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,880
that you really
spoke against power.

443
00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,440
If there's power out there
that was being abused,

444
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,160
it was your job as an
artist to speak against it.

445
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,080
I'm a Republican, I've
always been a Republican.

446
00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,000
I'll probably die one.

447
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:08,640
Here in LA, here in Hollywood,

448
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:10,920
you're in the closet,
you have to wear a mask.

449
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,840
We're the Zorros,
we're the heroes,

450
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:17,320
we're the black sheep,
we're punk rock.

451
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,360
It's like the left isn't,
the left is establishment.

452
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:23,320
Over there, over
there, over there.

453
00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,360
And the left, they control
the school systems,

454
00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:29,800
they control Hollywood, they
control the music industry.

455
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:32,800
You name it, they control it.

456
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:34,560
To which they'll
say well, well yeah,

457
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,200
but we have a president
that's a Republican,

458
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:37,520
isn't that the establishment?

459
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:39,840
No, the establishment
is the people

460
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:41,200
that control the narrative.

461
00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:47,400
And that is a cop.

462
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:49,840
****, we're ******.

463
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:58,320
It's really bad when you
reach a point in time,

464
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:02,390
when just telling the
truth, is revolutionary.

465
00:28:02,390 --> 00:28:05,430
(uptempo jazz music)

466
00:28:09,070 --> 00:28:10,550
- There are a lot of dangers

467
00:28:10,550 --> 00:28:12,270
to putting work up in
public without permission.

468
00:28:12,270 --> 00:28:14,590
I've been arrested 18 times.

469
00:28:14,590 --> 00:28:18,470
(police siren blaring)

470
00:28:18,470 --> 00:28:20,030
Being arrested is never fun,

471
00:28:20,030 --> 00:28:24,710
it's especially dangerous for
me as a type one diabetic,

472
00:28:24,710 --> 00:28:29,190
because often I'm not
given my insulin in jail,

473
00:28:29,190 --> 00:28:31,430
so it becomes life-threatening.

474
00:28:31,430 --> 00:28:34,990
But, street art is
important enough,

475
00:28:34,990 --> 00:28:36,550
for me to take that risk.

476
00:28:38,030 --> 00:28:41,710
It interacts with people where
they live their daily lives.

477
00:28:46,150 --> 00:28:47,670
You know what I'm
trying to do is,

478
00:28:47,670 --> 00:28:51,430
I'm trying to use the
tools that propaganda uses,

479
00:28:51,430 --> 00:28:53,670
and I even call my
work, propaganda.

480
00:28:53,670 --> 00:28:55,230
Propaganda has a
negative connotation,

481
00:28:55,230 --> 00:28:56,590
but I don't think it
has to be negative,

482
00:28:56,590 --> 00:28:58,430
so I'm using the
tools of propaganda

483
00:28:58,430 --> 00:29:01,550
in a way that I think
is socially responsible.

484
00:29:08,710 --> 00:29:12,230
The Obama Hope poster was like,

485
00:29:12,230 --> 00:29:14,190
lightning in a
bottle, perfect storm.

486
00:29:15,670 --> 00:29:20,270
I created the Hope poster as
just a grassroots initiative.

487
00:29:22,270 --> 00:29:25,870
But after I made the image,

488
00:29:25,870 --> 00:29:28,150
which originally said, progress,

489
00:29:28,150 --> 00:29:31,750
they found that it caught
on very quickly, virally.

490
00:29:32,950 --> 00:29:34,550
- We need (muffled)
and we need (muffled).

491
00:29:37,790 --> 00:29:39,630
- The campaign,
the Obama campaign,

492
00:29:39,630 --> 00:29:41,590
reached out to me and
said, we really like that,

493
00:29:41,590 --> 00:29:45,870
but would you mind using
the word hope, or change,

494
00:29:45,870 --> 00:29:49,270
and I liked the word,
hope, because I think

495
00:29:49,270 --> 00:29:52,270
during Bush a lot of
people felt hopeless,

496
00:29:52,270 --> 00:29:54,870
and without hope
people don't act.

497
00:29:58,350 --> 00:30:01,070
The Obama branding was
excellent, his logo,

498
00:30:01,070 --> 00:30:02,870
the type choices they made,

499
00:30:02,870 --> 00:30:05,910
but there hadn't been anything
with that human connection.

500
00:30:05,910 --> 00:30:09,710
And I'd like to think
that beyond just the
human connection,

501
00:30:09,710 --> 00:30:12,510
that they way in which
I illustrated Obama,

502
00:30:12,510 --> 00:30:16,670
felt patriotic, it
portrayed him in a way

503
00:30:16,670 --> 00:30:20,510
that he seemed to have
vision, and legitimacy.

504
00:30:20,510 --> 00:30:23,550
His biggest challenge
I think was that he was

505
00:30:23,550 --> 00:30:27,830
fairly unknown and unproven
in American political life,

506
00:30:27,830 --> 00:30:31,590
so having a
two-dimensional sculpture

507
00:30:31,590 --> 00:30:34,830
made of this figure,
is a way to legitimize,

508
00:30:34,830 --> 00:30:37,150
and also de-racialize.

509
00:30:37,150 --> 00:30:39,950
That's a big obstacle in
the United States, racism.

510
00:30:39,950 --> 00:30:43,310
So illustrating Obama
in red, white, and blue,

511
00:30:43,310 --> 00:30:46,830
even though it's not the usual,
exact red, white, and blue,

512
00:30:49,790 --> 00:30:53,510
it's American, rather
than, African-American.

513
00:30:56,710 --> 00:31:01,110
People are looking back
very fondly at that poster,

514
00:31:01,110 --> 00:31:04,110
and it's because they
don't want to lose hope.

515
00:31:08,430 --> 00:31:11,230
(dark jazz music)

516
00:31:58,070 --> 00:32:01,030
(children chanting)

517
00:32:10,510 --> 00:32:11,990
- «Narrator» Ai Weiwei
has been called,

518
00:32:11,990 --> 00:32:14,710
the most powerful political
artist in the world.

519
00:32:17,430 --> 00:32:19,150
A brave and unrelenting critic

520
00:32:19,150 --> 00:32:21,830
of the Chinese
authoritarian regime,

521
00:32:21,830 --> 00:32:23,630
he is now in exile,

522
00:32:23,630 --> 00:32:26,350
and a symbol of the
struggle for human rights.

523
00:32:43,150 --> 00:32:45,070
- In totalitarian regimes,

524
00:32:45,070 --> 00:32:46,950
what gets erased
often is the idea

525
00:32:46,950 --> 00:32:48,390
about who created the art.

526
00:32:49,870 --> 00:32:52,110
Even propagandistic posters
for instance that you have

527
00:32:52,110 --> 00:32:54,190
during the cultural revolution.

528
00:32:54,190 --> 00:32:57,150
These are created by people,
by individual people,

529
00:32:57,150 --> 00:32:59,390
but what gets erased
is their authorship.

530
00:32:59,390 --> 00:33:01,750
The author becomes the state.

531
00:33:03,950 --> 00:33:06,430
And so, the recognition,

532
00:33:06,430 --> 00:33:09,110
the coming to the fore
of the individual itself,

533
00:33:09,110 --> 00:33:11,310
is itself a political act.

534
00:34:02,470 --> 00:34:05,150
- «Woman» You have
to wait here, please.

535
00:34:05,150 --> 00:34:08,030
(muffled speaking)

536
00:35:42,470 --> 00:35:45,110
- They were aware of the
potential of propaganda,

537
00:35:46,510 --> 00:35:49,630
because they were sensitive
to the power of art.

538
00:35:49,630 --> 00:35:50,430
Art moved them,

539
00:35:51,670 --> 00:35:54,350
and they knew it could
move other people too.

540
00:35:55,830 --> 00:36:00,430
- Art is a powerful means of
tapping into the emotions.

541
00:36:01,590 --> 00:36:03,990
There is something
very unifying about it,

542
00:36:03,990 --> 00:36:07,430
and transcendent, the
feeling of transcendence

543
00:36:07,430 --> 00:36:10,310
is one of the most powerful
emotions we can have,

544
00:36:10,310 --> 00:36:12,670
and it can be very dangerous.

545
00:37:34,710 --> 00:37:38,350
(dramatic orchestral music)

546
00:37:55,070 --> 00:37:57,950
- Trump, every picture of him
is a revelation, you know.

547
00:37:59,190 --> 00:38:00,950
The sides of his
face are interesting,

548
00:38:00,950 --> 00:38:03,150
and the back of his
head is fantastic,

549
00:38:03,150 --> 00:38:05,830
and the colors and textures.

550
00:38:05,830 --> 00:38:07,990
There's so much to
draw there, you know.

551
00:38:07,990 --> 00:38:09,750
Too bad he is who he is.

552
00:38:14,350 --> 00:38:15,750
I got a lot of these,

553
00:38:15,750 --> 00:38:18,630
but this was when no
lawyer would represent him,

554
00:38:18,630 --> 00:38:20,350
so he's in court
here getting advice

555
00:38:20,350 --> 00:38:24,390
from his lawyer who is
wearing a bag over his head.

556
00:38:24,390 --> 00:38:27,270
Here he is, standing
Marilyn-like over
a subway grate.

557
00:38:27,270 --> 00:38:29,110
I have no idea what this means.

558
00:38:30,070 --> 00:38:31,310
I've looked at so many pictures.

559
00:38:31,310 --> 00:38:33,310
I slide pictures
out of news stories,

560
00:38:33,310 --> 00:38:36,030
and keep a folder, and the
folder is very expansive.

561
00:38:36,030 --> 00:38:37,750
I've got a lot of
pictures of Trump,

562
00:38:37,750 --> 00:38:40,590
probably 600 pictures
of Trump on my desktop.

563
00:38:40,590 --> 00:38:43,390
I mean it's like he's made
of rubber, or pudding.

564
00:38:43,390 --> 00:38:46,510
It seems like he's in
the process of melting.

565
00:38:46,510 --> 00:38:49,750
Here's a fat joke, here's
Trump getting stuck in an MRI,

566
00:38:49,750 --> 00:38:52,030
around the time
of his healthcare.

567
00:38:52,030 --> 00:38:55,230
Another healthcare,
Trump in traction.

568
00:38:55,230 --> 00:38:59,630
This was just an excuse to
draw him, sieg heil, basically.

569
00:39:06,710 --> 00:39:08,070
I'm racked with self-doubt

570
00:39:08,070 --> 00:39:09,710
about what I'm
doing half the time,

571
00:39:09,710 --> 00:39:13,510
I am pushing a worldview whether
I like it or not, you know.

572
00:39:13,510 --> 00:39:17,270
And cartoonists, there's
nothing particularly pure

573
00:39:17,270 --> 00:39:20,030
about what we're doing, I think.

574
00:39:20,030 --> 00:39:21,630
I'm trying for a
laugh, basically,

575
00:39:21,630 --> 00:39:26,190
and I will go to
depths to get a laugh.

576
00:39:26,190 --> 00:39:26,990
Believe me.

577
00:39:32,790 --> 00:39:35,390
I think Trump would be delighted
with some of my drawings,

578
00:39:35,390 --> 00:39:37,830
but I know he didn't
like the cover I did,

579
00:39:37,830 --> 00:39:41,230
which was a palm chart of
his hand, of his little hand.

580
00:39:42,710 --> 00:39:45,750
And I know Graydon Carter,
who is one of the architects

581
00:39:45,750 --> 00:39:47,910
of pointing out
Trump's small hands.

582
00:39:49,350 --> 00:39:51,510
That seems like propaganda
to me, in a way.

583
00:39:51,510 --> 00:39:54,190
That's part of the
propaganda of satire,

584
00:39:54,190 --> 00:39:57,070
because Trump, he
doesn't really have

585
00:39:57,070 --> 00:39:58,390
incredibly small hands,

586
00:39:58,390 --> 00:40:01,310
maybe they're a tiny
bit out of proportion

587
00:40:01,310 --> 00:40:02,630
for the rest of him,

588
00:40:02,630 --> 00:40:03,470
but it's not anything
I would have noticed,

589
00:40:03,470 --> 00:40:04,950
it's a great joke.

590
00:40:06,150 --> 00:40:07,790
That's when I feel
like a cartoon

591
00:40:07,790 --> 00:40:10,910
is sort of propaganda itself,
or it's pushing a certain,

592
00:40:10,910 --> 00:40:14,270
I mean like Napoleon
apparently, didn't do this.

593
00:40:16,230 --> 00:40:19,430
Or Gerald Ford apparently
was an athletic guy.

594
00:40:19,430 --> 00:40:21,630
He wasn't a bungling fool,

595
00:40:21,630 --> 00:40:25,910
but satirists fix
on one tiny thing,

596
00:40:25,910 --> 00:40:27,430
and if enough of
them are doing that,

597
00:40:27,430 --> 00:40:29,310
that becomes the way
someone is viewed.

598
00:40:30,470 --> 00:40:32,350
That's taking an untruth,

599
00:40:34,430 --> 00:40:37,710
and making it into
an iconic image.

600
00:40:37,710 --> 00:40:40,270
Seems like there's an element
of propaganda in that.

601
00:40:43,390 --> 00:40:44,590
I'm trying to get a laugh.

602
00:40:44,590 --> 00:40:46,710
If I can do something funny.

603
00:40:46,710 --> 00:40:49,110
Going for pure outrage
is another thing,

604
00:40:49,110 --> 00:40:52,110
and it's got its place,
but it's dangerous.

605
00:40:53,190 --> 00:40:56,510
(guns firing)

606
00:40:56,510 --> 00:40:59,790
(murmured conversation)

607
00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:24,960
- A photograph by
definition is a lie.

608
00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:27,920
It's a frozen moment in time.

609
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:29,560
Come stand in here.

610
00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:31,480
We don't know what
happened before,

611
00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:33,120
we don't know what
happened after.

612
00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:39,560
And also you are
getting that story

613
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:41,240
through my perception.

614
00:44:45,480 --> 00:44:46,880
But this is the thing,

615
00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:49,760
that's what its job is.

616
00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:52,800
The job of art is
to be propaganda,

617
00:44:52,800 --> 00:44:55,120
it's to sell something.

618
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:08,560
My name's Tyler Shields,

619
00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:10,760
I'm a photographer, a
director, a writer, and

620
00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:13,840
a lot of people call me
provocateur, I guess.

621
00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:22,840
I think a lot of people thought

622
00:45:22,840 --> 00:45:26,920
that we planned it out for
months, and done a whole thing.

623
00:45:26,920 --> 00:45:30,200
She wanted to do something
with Trump involved,

624
00:45:30,200 --> 00:45:32,280
and her hair stylist was like,

625
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:34,960
oh I have a wig, I
can fashion a wig

626
00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:36,120
that looks like Trump's hair.

627
00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:40,280
And they had a Trump mask.

628
00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:41,680
And so they showed me the mask

629
00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:43,720
and I was like,
this looks terrible.

630
00:45:43,720 --> 00:45:47,320
Did you see how it was a
fake, like Halloween style,

631
00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:49,320
it was just a fake mask.

632
00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:51,200
And so I was like, okay
what can we do with this?

633
00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:54,000
And I said, well if we cover
it in blood, it'll hide it.

634
00:45:55,240 --> 00:45:56,800
If I put some blood on
it, and then I was like,

635
00:45:56,800 --> 00:45:57,920
oh yeah this works.

636
00:46:03,120 --> 00:46:05,560
It went live on my
site, I was asleep.

637
00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:08,360
I wake up,

638
00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:12,560
and it's on TMZ, and it's,

639
00:46:13,760 --> 00:46:14,520
everywhere.

640
00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:21,080
I had the FBI, and the Secret
Service, all these people,

641
00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:26,120
and then, Kathy
started to get this,

642
00:46:26,120 --> 00:46:29,440
ISIS thing, and she had
called me and was like,

643
00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:31,000
people are really mad at me.

644
00:46:32,160 --> 00:46:33,400
I don't know what to do.

645
00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:35,600
- I sincerely apologize,

646
00:46:35,600 --> 00:46:38,360
I am just now seeing the
reaction of these images.

647
00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:42,000
- When the whole world
is saying, you did this,

648
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:44,440
and you're career's over,

649
00:46:44,440 --> 00:46:46,040
that's scary to anybody.

650
00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:48,120
- I made a mistake,
and I was wrong.

651
00:46:48,120 --> 00:46:51,400
- And then the President
tweets about it.

652
00:46:54,920 --> 00:46:56,680
And when he tweeted about it,

653
00:46:56,680 --> 00:46:59,920
that took it to a level that
I had never seen before,

654
00:46:59,920 --> 00:47:01,680
and that was all orchestrated.

655
00:47:04,720 --> 00:47:07,360
Apparently there
was a whole thing

656
00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:09,440
between Fox News and Trump,

657
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,040
to push all the attention
to the Kathy thing,

658
00:47:12,040 --> 00:47:15,080
and take all the attention
away from the Paris Accord,

659
00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:18,680
and take all the attention away
from all these other things.

660
00:47:18,680 --> 00:47:20,040
It did work.

661
00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:22,400
All the attention to
everything was on this photo.

662
00:47:23,520 --> 00:47:25,000
It's genius though.

663
00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:26,680
It's misdirection.

664
00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:28,400
It is all propaganda,

665
00:47:28,400 --> 00:47:32,840
it's all to just keep
the hamster wheel going.

666
00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:36,920
The more chaos that you
can create in the press,

667
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:39,240
the less anyone's gonna
look at what you're doing.

668
00:47:39,240 --> 00:47:41,000
It's the greatest
magic trick ever.

669
00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:43,840
Look at this crazy tweet,

670
00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:46,400
while I **** everything
up over here.

671
00:47:46,400 --> 00:47:47,600
It's genius.

672
00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:49,320
And never before in
history have you really

673
00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:50,920
had the ability to do that.

674
00:47:50,920 --> 00:47:54,360
Obama was the first president
that had social media,

675
00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:55,560
of any type, right?

676
00:47:57,040 --> 00:47:58,960
But he never used it the way
that it's being used, now.

677
00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:00,560
Now it's weaponized.

678
00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:02,640
Social media has
been weaponized.

679
00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:07,200
(slow rock music)

680
00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:18,280
- Facebook is an idealistic
and optimistic company,

681
00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:19,720
and has Facebook has grown,

682
00:48:19,720 --> 00:48:22,560
people everywhere have
gotten a powerful new tool,

683
00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:24,840
for staying connected
to the people they love,

684
00:48:24,840 --> 00:48:26,160
for making their voices heard,

685
00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:28,360
and for building
communities and businesses.

686
00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:32,720
- Facebook, Twitter, Google,

687
00:48:32,720 --> 00:48:35,240
these massive platforms have
always pitched themselves

688
00:48:35,240 --> 00:48:36,600
as a level playing
field, saying,

689
00:48:36,600 --> 00:48:38,880
everybody come on,
share your stuff,

690
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:40,920
and whatever is the
most interesting

691
00:48:40,920 --> 00:48:42,440
and valuable to people will win.

692
00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:45,000
There was always this kind
of Utopian element to it.

693
00:48:46,680 --> 00:48:48,680
- It's clear now that
we didn't do enough

694
00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:51,720
to prevent these tools from
being used for harm as well.

695
00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:53,760
- They are not able
to manage a platform

696
00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:55,920
that has more than two
billion people on it.

697
00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:01,400
- «Narrator» In Myanmar,
hate speech on Facebook

698
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:04,560
has led violent crimes
against the Rohingya people.

699
00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:09,360
650,000 of them have
had to flee their homes

700
00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:10,760
with their lives.

701
00:49:22,880 --> 00:49:25,520
- You only have to look
to countries like Myanmar,

702
00:49:25,520 --> 00:49:27,600
where Facebook, for all
intents and purposes,

703
00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:30,400
is actually what people
are using as the internet.

704
00:49:32,520 --> 00:49:35,680
And it is an engine for
spreading hate speech,

705
00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:37,880
for planning harassment,

706
00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:40,360
and for in some ways
enabling genocide.

707
00:49:44,200 --> 00:49:48,160
- The capacity to
persuade people,

708
00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:50,840
of blatant untruths,

709
00:49:52,240 --> 00:49:53,960
that capacity seems
to have gone up.

710
00:49:58,520 --> 00:50:01,680
People have always tried to
manipulate opinion, that's true,

711
00:50:01,680 --> 00:50:04,240
but the capacity to do that,

712
00:50:04,240 --> 00:50:07,440
in manufactured huge numbers,

713
00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:09,440
through algorithms
and things, is new.

714
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:17,360
Although propaganda's always
sought to hide itself,

715
00:50:18,880 --> 00:50:22,680
its capacity to do that in
social media is enhanced.

716
00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:26,920
A lot of confusion
has been sown really,

717
00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:29,520
by a lot of the ways
in which intellectuals

718
00:50:29,520 --> 00:50:30,720
have talked about truth.

719
00:50:30,720 --> 00:50:32,400
There is no such
thing as the truth.

720
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:34,640
That's what undergraduates
write essays,

721
00:50:34,640 --> 00:50:36,120
they start, undergraduate,

722
00:50:36,120 --> 00:50:39,360
who've never tried to find
out what the truth is,

723
00:50:39,360 --> 00:50:41,720
say, in this Olympian way,

724
00:50:41,720 --> 00:50:43,040
there are many truths.

725
00:50:43,040 --> 00:50:46,040
There's been a philosophical
and sociological

726
00:50:46,040 --> 00:50:51,000
undermining of the fact that
trying to establish reality,

727
00:50:54,360 --> 00:50:56,400
is a very fierce discipline.

728
00:51:07,960 --> 00:51:09,800
- «Narrator» Perhaps we
should regard the lessons

729
00:51:09,800 --> 00:51:12,120
of human history as
a cautionary tale,

730
00:51:13,640 --> 00:51:16,680
and try to veer away from
the horrors of our past.

731
00:51:24,640 --> 00:51:29,040
But is it actually possible
to take the icons of history,

732
00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:31,000
and infuse them
with new meaning?

733
00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:38,600
(engines roaring)

734
00:52:58,280 --> 00:53:00,600
- «Narrator» We are a
highly social species.

735
00:53:01,800 --> 00:53:03,880
We have retained our
tribal instincts,

736
00:53:03,880 --> 00:53:06,360
and have a deep
need for belonging,

737
00:53:06,360 --> 00:53:09,040
that is firmly rooted
in our evolution.

738
00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:13,720
Since our earliest existence,

739
00:53:13,720 --> 00:53:16,880
our inclination to imagine
collective fictions

740
00:53:16,880 --> 00:53:19,600
has allowed great
civilizations to rise,

741
00:53:20,720 --> 00:53:22,680
and for humanity to flourish.

742
00:53:24,920 --> 00:53:28,200
But we must also constantly
examine these narratives,

743
00:53:28,200 --> 00:53:30,720
with disciplined
reason, and skepticism.

744
00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:36,200
We must strive to
reclaim history where
it has been erased,

745
00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:39,880
to stand firm against
authoritarianism,

746
00:53:41,400 --> 00:53:45,360
to combat demagogues with
an arsenal of humor and wit.

747
00:53:47,400 --> 00:53:50,440
We must all be aware
of our own emotions,

748
00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:52,160
and how they can be maliciously,

749
00:53:52,160 --> 00:53:54,000
and manipulatively exploited.

750
00:53:55,320 --> 00:53:57,680
There are no easy answers,

751
00:53:57,680 --> 00:54:00,160
there is only personal
responsibility.

752
00:54:02,480 --> 00:54:04,720
- In a democracy, it
matters what people think.

753
00:54:04,720 --> 00:54:08,280
Therefore, you're always
gonna have wars of persuasion.

754
00:54:10,280 --> 00:54:11,520
You're always gonna have battles

755
00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:13,920
over the hearts and
minds of the citizenry.

756
00:54:15,080 --> 00:54:16,960
That's what it
means to engage in

757
00:54:16,960 --> 00:54:18,840
self-government as a society.

758
00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:20,720
- Decisions have
to be rationalized,

759
00:54:20,720 --> 00:54:22,240
decisions have to be explained.

760
00:54:24,040 --> 00:54:26,520
Propaganda could be good or bad.

761
00:54:26,520 --> 00:54:28,880
It could be a warning
on the cigarette packet,

762
00:54:28,880 --> 00:54:30,880
or it could be,
"Triumph of the Will."

763
00:54:32,680 --> 00:54:35,200
Maybe we should just
understand it more.

764
00:54:35,200 --> 00:54:37,760
- I think everybody has to
take real responsibility

765
00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:42,200
to live a much more
uncomfortable, awkward life,

766
00:54:42,200 --> 00:54:45,880
testing themselves, because
that it really matters.

767
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:51,720
- Anything that
satisfies or reassures,

768
00:54:51,720 --> 00:54:53,840
is gonna be very compelling,

769
00:54:53,840 --> 00:54:55,000
and I think in a way,

770
00:54:55,000 --> 00:54:57,800
it's as though the
commodity here is hope.

771
00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:00,560
And you can either poison
people with false hopes,

772
00:55:00,560 --> 00:55:01,720
or you can inspire them.

773
00:55:03,400 --> 00:55:05,960
What's being sold though,
is a better future.

774
00:55:15,120 --> 00:55:18,680
(dramatic orchestral music)

775
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:41,240
Subtitles by Broadcast Intelligence Ltd