Starsuckers
Director: Chris Atkins
Cert: 12a
Time: 1 hr 43 mins
Quite how disturbed we should be by this documentary from Director Chris Atkins is a moot point.
The central premise that we are brain washed by a media machine which both fuels and feeds off an increasingly celebrity obsessed culture is hard to dispute. From pushy parents seeking recognition for their children (and financial gain) to morally corrupt public relations executives and established public figures who use their positions to gain political influence; all are given a poor press. Far from bringing us news the main purpose of the media is to make it up the ultimate purpose being to sell more newspapers or TV advertising. Perhaps the most illuminating expose was of the G8 Summit in the July of 2005 which coincided with Live8. Bob Geldoff made us believe that a turning point in the West’s relationship with Africa had been reached, but in the aftermath there is little concrete evidence to support that. The only certainty is that all the artists who appeared in Live8, saw a dramatic increase in their CD sales. Well well.
Of course Atkins is a skilled documentary maker which raises the question – how are we to know that the argument he is propounding does not employ the same methods as those used by the very media machine he is looking to skewer. Has he brainwashed us? That said this is a compelling film which certainly makes you think.
Rating: 4/5
Patrons: 2