A crash course on a crushed civilisation

Bitter Lake (2015)
Written and Directed: Adam Curtis

The latest offering by Adam Curtis puts in perspective the genesis of the present-day firebrand fundamentalistic Islam that seem to rock the world and give other law-abiding Muslims a bad name. The author sets the blame squarely on the Saudi rulers for their efforts to spread Wahhabism.

After World War 2, King Abdul Aziz of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) met FD Roosevelt aboard a ship on Bitter Lake in Suez Canal to strike a deal. The Americans were free to bring in money and technology to have their oil as long as the royal family was free to spread Wahhabism to the world. Splurge with oil money, KSA built many madrasahs in many countries, from Africa to the Indian subcontinent all the way to Indonesia. Hence started the nidus for the yearning for the practice of a primitive non-progressive 10th-century type of religion and total rejection imperialism, which is construed as corrupting Islam.

Meeting at Bitter Lake … 

President Franklin Roosevelt (right) meets King Abdulaziz. 

Photograph: Courtesy Everett / Rex

In 1953, Afghanistan was ruled by a forward-thinking King Zahir Shah, who was keen to develop a modern Afghanistan. First, he wanted to irrigate the near-desert lands by building a dam. He was impressed with FDR and his ways of turning America around after the depression. Hence, the same construction company that made megastructures in the USA, Morrison Knudsen, built their dam. As fate had it, as in the construction of dams worldwide, it proved to be a curse to the country. The structure was frauded with problems. Salination of water made agriculture problematic. Only poppy could grow well! It drew unwanted characters to the area. Power struggling warlords mushroomed. Over time, the region became a political interplay between the US, USSR and China.

By the 60s, KSA was flushed with oil money. The British, by then, had its empire carved away was in dire straits. The British businesses wanted to bring the oil money back to the UK. They started happily selling their arms to KSA, who by then had a new king, King Faizal, who was keen to modernise his country. To satisfy certain quarters which were not happy with modernisation, he financed the spread of Wahhabism to lands far away. The Western world was quite pleased with such an arrangement, as communism was spreading its influence.

The cosy relationship with the UK came to an end during the 1967 Arab-Israel war when the British weaponry proved useless against the Israelite might. The Americans were summoned to fill in the blanks.

At about this time, the banks became powerful again, away from the control of governments. They became corrupt, lending money to many whose creditworthiness was questionable. Wages were low to the masses, but they were happy because money was abundant. It all came crashing down when the banking system later crashed, exposing its weaknesses.

The stabilising power of the  Afghan King came to an end after a coup d'état by Mohd Daud, a Pashtun minister. Russians moved in, breaking the delicate balance of the country. Just like the British who discovered the hard way, some 150 years previously, Afghanistan was no easy country to tame. The Russian invasion had awoken the web of Wahhabi infused madrasah students the world over to pour into Afghanistan to fight an infidel army and plant an Islamic rule. The Americans were more than happy to finance these Mujahideen rebels.

The problem is that the rebels started dividing into many factions and infighting when the Russians were defeated by their common army. Each section wanted its share of power and poppy trade. The West soon discovered the mistake of oversimplifying the war in Afghanistan as a fight between 'good and evil'. There were many layers of resistance along the way. The lust for power, control, dangerous levels of corruption, profiteering and apocalyptical Islamism proved just too much for the policemen of the world to stomach as the bodies kept piling up. 

It is all a ploy to entrap you!

It Felt Like a Kiss (2009)

Screenplay & Direction: Adam Curtis

At one look, it reminded you of Billy Idol's music video 'We didn't start the fire!' It is a collection of certain events from our past accompanied by songs from that era. Narration which is the lynch pin of any documentary is glaringly absent. It appears like a series of videos narrating a story and can be described as an experimental film.
The film starts in the autumn of 1958 with a scene of a man getting up in his motel to open the window shades to the crooning of a song of that era. The camera shows him lighting a cigarette, feel unwell, perhaps with a hangover or even suffering from melancholy! The snippets continues with inter-playing of various significant events to mankind. In essence, it shows changes in people life style, pop music, America's interference in other country's affairs and the spread of HIV. The theme of the flick is to show how America set about to remake the world 50 years ago.
1958 was an important year. In a joint press statement, Khrushchev tells Nixon off of how the Russians were going to overtake US in space exploration. Back at home, housewives are seen bored, withdrawn, smoking too much and drinking way too much coffee. Children play their toys alone. The ad man are hard at work trying to make an impact. A young Saddam Hussein flees to Egypt after a revolution in Iraq to become a CIA agent. Lee Harvey Oswald arrives in Moscow -? possibly working for KGB, CIA or nobody. Rock Hudson's wife files for divorce. She is a lesbian. He is a homosexual who married her to cover his sexual preference. Somewhere in the jungles of Congo, HIV virus is transmitted from chimpanzee to human. Fighting in Kinshasa begins. At the same time, some other chimp is being trained by NASA to beat the Russians at space expedition.
Homosexuality is considered as sickness of the mind and ECT is advocated as a form of therapy. Lou Reed, a bisexual, a reputable musician till today is one who is treated this way at the age of 17. He describes in his song later of how ECT made him numb and devoid of all feelings.
Life goes on...
People get killed, people get lonely, single parties are organized to make couples meet, TV occupies an important place in the living room, ads and game shows fill the slots. People express the inner hopeless feelings. Guns are becoming popular. Corporations are getting important with many board meetings.
In 1963, the CIA finally attacks Bay of Pigs to assassinate Castro after multiple earlier failed attempts - an exploding cigar that did not explode, an exploding shell that failed when Castro went snorkeling, poison in his shoes and spraying LSD in a studio. The Bay of Pigs invasion also failed!
The enraged Lee Oswald bought a rifle by mail order. Sexual liberty is slowly surfacing and people are comfortable discussing it on TV.
1962... Carole King discovers that her babysitter, Eva was regularly beaten by her boyfriend because he loves her! King and her hubby write the song 'He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)' - title of film - to be sung by The Crystals.
The fight in Vietnam escalates. In South Vietnam, a Buddhist monk immolates himself against the corrupt American backed regime of General Diem. Looks like child pornography is slowing making its entry to the limelight. And Eva the baby sitter becomes Little Eva with her hit number 'Locomotion'.
Enos, the chimp, orbits the Earth passing over the jungles of Congo where he is from, where down below, the CIA was busy organizing a coup d'état. The American backed rebels capture the elected leader Patrice Lamumba. He is taken deep into the jungle, shot and his body is dissolved in acid! The coup brings in CIA supported dictator Joseph Mobutu, the most corrupt and violent dictator known to Africa. It appears that human to human transmission of HIV continues with the war weary American intelligence officers and peace keepers being feted by voluptuous hip swaying Congolese performers!
Scenes from Rock Hudson and Doris Day's 1958 film 'Pillow Talk' are recurring theme in this flick. Now, you see the connection. In 1985, Hudson would die from AIDS related illness. Songs get more depressing like this one from Skeeter Davis 'The End of the World' as more depressing scenes of depressed people are seen.
In 1963, another coup is organized by CIA. This time in Iraq where the elected government is overthrown because it is too close with Moscow. The Ba'ath party is appointed instead with Saddam Hussein part of the regime. His job was to massacre the hundreds found in CIA's outdated list! Later, Terence Young, the director of 'Dr No' and 'From Russia with Love' glorifies the feat in a telenovela, 'The Long Days'. Can you see how Hollywood is trying to justify the changes in the world?
Back home, JFK is assassinated. The 26 second snippet of the assassination is the most examined shortage in man's history but no one agrees on what happened. At the heart of the mystery is the behaviour of the 'magic bullet' which behaved like 'a jumping jack' causing many entries and exits.The Warren report accepted the 'single bullet' theory and denied conspiracy.
People are increasingly becoming individualistic, indulging in self destructive behaviours...
The Twin Tower WTC's construction is discussed. About that time, a wealthy Saudi businessman, Mohammed bin Laden is constructing a new road to Mecca. 12 out the 19 hijackers in 9/11 would be born or have been brought along that road.
The ad-man continues with women liberating ads...
The golden era of pop began to splinter. People wanted to be free to be themselves. They found a new way to control the inside of their own head. The Black Power consciousness increases, so does violence, gun culture...

Osama is 10 and is obsessively fascinated with the favourite TV show 'Bonanza'.
1967 sees his father succumb to a plane crash when he is trying to land on a road he had built. The ranch of Bonanza, now disused, becomes the site where some suburban kids start a commune to escape the increasing violence in society. Guess how became their leader? Charles Manson!
People start indulging in various relaxation techniques - scream, rejuvenation clubs, psychotherapy, etcetera. Even Richard Nixon goes to a psychotherapist to talk about his feelings of dread. In the mornings, when he would look into the mirror, he saw no one there! The man who starts the clandestine section of the CIA goes mad. He is afraid to sleep fearing terrible dreams and cannot stop talking and finally shoots himself.

Beach Boys

Doris Day is shown many times in the film. She must be representing the last of the old school of actresses who would be easy on dropping those garments. With sexual and women liberty, she must be an icon of a bygone era. She was turned down as the role of Mrs Robinson in the 'The Graduate' for her reputation as 'The oldest virgin in the world'! Day's son meets Charles Manson to offer to produce his songs. One of his song is called 'Pretty girls cease to exist'!
The Vietnam veterans return home to tell their harrowing experiences in war zones. They tell of killings and rapes of the innocent.
Bill Spector, the reputable producer of rock and roll, plans to produce the best song ever to revitalize Tina Turner's career and release her from the wife bashing Ike. Unfortunately, it only hit No.88 in the top 100, pushing Tina to brink of suicide and making Spector a recluse!
Violence escalates...
Senator Robert Kennedy is assassinated and Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestian sympathetic to the Arab cause is the accused. No one, however, believes the official version. It was either the Mafia, J.E. Hoover, CIA, KGB, Ku Klax Klan, Fidel Castro, Anti Castro Cubans, a secret government within the Government or even Nixon!

.

The imaginary world seem so real and the world outside becomes like a dream.
Members of the Mason family are arrested.
It is 1969 and HIV arrives in Miami and spreads throughout America.
Then starts another phase in the life of Americans. The computers that controlled the Cold War and guided the rockets to the moon were put to a new use. They started to analyse credit data of all Americans so that they could be lent money and buy whatever they wanted and be happy.
The film ends with the sound of a speeding jet....whilst Doris Day lies down to sleep wondering what the sound is... Get it?

An honest politician: An oxymoron

Mayfair Set (Documentary, 1999)

Produced, Written, Directed by Adam Curtis

#4 Twilight of Dogs

1987 was a good year for Britain and Mrs Thatcher. Her idea of a free market stimulating the economy seem to be working. So they thought, until Black Monday showed up, wiping out 20 percent of its capital.
This final episode tells us how the unhealthy mix of businessmen and politicians produced a ruling system that was corrupt and powerless to the power of the market forces. The bankers became the play makers and could dictate terms.
In 1971, the Heath's Labour Government started pumping money into the economy, trying to recreate the Renaissance of British businesses. In 1973, however, they were embroiled into a crash which was worse than the 1929 crash. The leaders then realized that they cannot control the economy.
In 1979, during Thatcher's administration, the economy was not controlled and the markets had a free rein. Exchange control was deregulated making money move easily across borders. Foreigners move in with their oil money. Bankers started changing the landscape of UK. Factories were bought over, downsized, with the intent of fueling the economy.

Tiny Rowland, after his nefarious undermining reputation of acquiring gold mines in Africa, brings in his money. He made his bid to acquire Harrods. His seedy, shady, corrupt past hanging over his head, the banks tried their utmost to stop Rowland to control their crown jewel and succeeded.

Mohamad Al Fayed

The high interest rates at that time drew many investors to ship their money to the US. One of such figures was the richest man in the world then, the Sultan of Brunei who wanted to ship £10 billion out. The desperate British managed to coax him to stay put through his agent Mohamad Al Fayed. As a token of appreciation, Al Fayed was given the easy pave to acquire Harrods for £ 570 million. The sore Rowland and the many British nationalists voiced their discontent. They questioned Al Fayed's source of acquiring cash.
The 1987 stock market crash drew James Goldsmith back to London from his self imposed exile in Mexico. He, however, found it hard to break into the system which were too familiar with his way of doing business. Even the pension managers used his ways to enrich their members.
Fayed's close relationship with the royal family and some MPs created animosity. It started a culture of MPs patronizing businessmen and lobbyists in the British Parliament. Soon the MPs started asking, "What is it for me?". Scandals of money for questions in parliament cropped up. Retired MPs were made directors of companies of their proxies.
James Goldsmith also started The Referendum party to challenge the ruling party. The Party was disbanded after his death in 1997. Tiny Rowland also died the following year.
The new Labour Goverment in 1997 gave away the control of interest rates to the Bank of England and much of its power to the market forces. And the economy was booming then...

When lions and hyenas were friends!

Mayfair Set (Documentary, 1999)
Produced, Written, Directed by Adam Curtis

#3 Destroy the Technostructure

This episode showcases how vulture like businessmen squandered money and power from the Government and established big corporations and transferred them to the stock market. In the process, in the name of enriching the stockholders, they also fattened their profits quite handsomely. After acquiring companies through hostile takeovers, they would sell off their assets, downsize their staff and just destroy the business altogether. That was their modus operandi.
1976 was not just the hottest summer in the UK, it also saw the fall from grace of the original Clairmont club members. James Goldsmith almost became bankrupt trying to sue a newspaper and subsequently left to the US.

James Goldsmith

He moved in to US at a time when the economy, under the leadership of Ronald
Reagan, was opening the markets. Power was transferred to the markets. This was a move away from FDR's philosophy of developing state controlled and big corporation controlled businesses after the 1928 collapse of the economy. Professional managers were appointed to man these corporations. Decisions were made by one man or board with very passive involvement from the stockholders.
An obscure banker from Drexyl, Michael Milken, initiated a new way of generating fast money by selling high yielding bonds (junk bonds). he initially got his money by investing the high risk business of casino in Vegas.

Michael Milken

Goldsmith, in America, haughtily bought over lands belonging to Crown Zellerbach on borrowed money and destroyed the fiber of its assets and fired workers in the name of downsizing.
These raiders went on a rampage destroying every takeover with the sole intent of enriching the shareholders (sic). Soon these raiders were eyeing the monies in the pension fund. Since the junk bonds gave high yields, its managers felt morally obliged to be drawn into it.
Traders in UK also mimicked this trend. The old school method of doing business was brought down. Bankers were more powerful than leaders (politicians). All good things must end. Goldsmith with his grandiose plans tried to alter Kremlin, providing escape routes to defectors. Milken was convicted of insider trading and was imprisoned. Pressure mounted on Goldsmith by the bankers. In 1987, he sold everything and emigrated to Mexico, vowing to return.
Even though, the 1980s raiders' activities were curbed, their blueprint of activities is still around the world in various other names.
The irony is that the pension funds ended up being the beneficiary. Their managers used the same technique to invest in high yielding bonds for the benefit of its members. The same people who were cast aside by the raiders during downsizing were the winners in the end.

They only want your money

Mayfair Set (Documentary, 1999)
Produced, Written, Directed by Adam Curtis

#2 Entrepreneur Spelt S.P.I.V.

(spiv - A flashy, slick operator who makes a living more from speculation or profiteering than from actual work. The kind of guy who wears a shiny medallion, goes bankrupt from a dodgy swampland development scheme, but still has a big house in his wife's name.)

Jim Slater

Is yet another angle of looking at how businessmen and gamblers gambled away the British economy. The 1950s saw the rise of Captain's of Industry who were owners of big family businesses that spearheaded the industrialization of the nation. These captains worked with politician to prosper the nations. Jim Slater, a newspaper columnist who wrote under the nom de plume of The Capitalist thought he had found the perfect system to analyse the market. The boom of the economy in full scale in the late 50s and he was making loads of money. He realised that the family businesses were not really owned by the family but by the shareholders as they were listed. He used this knowledge to make a hostile takeover of the Coote's family cork business. From the profit that he made this transaction, he went on to buy other businesses and abandon the previous one. His eye was on the profit, not on the idea to improve the business.

James Goldsmith

Other 'entrepreneurs' followed his technique. Many of them were risk taking high stake gamblers from the Clairmont club in Mayfair, e.g. James Goldsmith and Tiny Rowland.

Tiny Rowland

 1964 saw crisis arising from the previous boom years going out control. To boost productivity among the workers, the entrepreneurs were roped in to stimulate the industry. What these people end up doing was just destroying the industries forever with no effect on productivity. The money from the industries were infused into the stock market for the gamblers from Clairmont club to make profits.
Tiny Rowland made his money through his sneaky manoeuvres of undermining other companies.
In Nigeria, he bribed their officials not to renew Spears' Ashanti gold mines licence. When the news reached the British stock market, Spear's shares plummeted. Rowland bought over the shares and the company for a song in Nigeria.This squandering of money from the government to be pumped into the market continued. Many companies including Rolls Royce went bust. Even though these entrepreneurs walked hand in hand with politicians, they were only concerned with increasing the profits for the share holders, not in helping to restructure the economy. In midst of this facade, war in the middle East prompted the Arabs to increase the petrol price by 400%! The entrepreneurs realised that nobody actually controlled the stock market - Slater went bankrupt, Rowland and Goldsmith disappeared to Africa and US respectively.