Change Your Image
samuelrein
Reviews
The Wisdom of Trauma (2021)
Too centered on the character of Gabor Mate to the point where it almost felt like worshipping him and his message gets lost along the way
The good:
-the parts where prisoners are talking about their own traumas and doing some kind of group therapy
-the interviews with (ex)addicts and (ex)homeless people where they talk about their lives in a trauma informed way
-some of the talks of Gabor Mate about trauma and how we are living in a society that traumatizes people and fails to help those who are traumatized
The bad:
-overall the documentary felt like a big Gabor Mate worshipping session rather than being about trauma which is a shame in my opinion and was even unerving at times. I mean, seeing him surrounded with groups of photogenic women in awe in front of him....
-the parts where you see him doing some kind of express therapy to some people in front of an audience, it made me cringe. I looked like some typical personal development guru doing these big workshop events with a large audience and I can't imagine how this can provide any of the needed intimate and safe space needed to do trauma work. I can't imagine anyone being comfortable talking like that in front of an audience and making sure they talk in a microphone and keep the audience entertained with witty comments while doing trauma work. So if it's not trauma work being done bur a mock session, what is the point of it? Do people benefit by from those type of 'shows' about trauma?
-the part with someone doing some kind of psychedelic therapy session in with Gabor Mate. The substance used is not explained and while i did enjoy seeing how Gabor runs the session, i thought interviewing the patient after the session and how he feels good now also felt oversold. I have done a number of psychedelic therapy sessions and am well aware of how one can feel permanently healed during the afterglow phase but after a few weeks or months a lot of the feeling of being healed can vanish. Nothing wrong with psychdelic therapy, it is a worthy endeavour but i thought it would have been more honest to say how long after the session was the interview with the patient.
-finally and my biggest frustration with this documentary is the feeling someone has turned the whole thing about Gabor Mate into a personality worshipping business and is trying to get as much momentum as possible. Probably to make money ultimately. I might be wrong but it reminded me of how Wim Hof the 'Ice Man' has a son who is running a business to promote and maximize value out of his father's work and public image. Again it's not that bad but it just feels like there something inauthentic about it. I wish the documentary would have been less about Gabor Mate and more about trauma.
Code 8 (2019)
a refreshing more mature science fiction movie
This is not your typical hollywood blockbuster aimed at teenagers where fast pace confusing action and overblown special effects make up for a shallow story line.
Despite it doesn't look like a super high budget movie, it does a good job at analyzing some trends in our society, possible future outcomes and puts the emphasis on very down to earth human bonds and values.
The Witcher (2019)
Good heroic fantasy show that smells a bit too much like a video game
I really liked how the show brings to life mythology and this dark magical world. The voice of Henry Cavill is a bit to deep almost like the one from Christian Bale in the Batman movies.
Also many parts seem rushed, not enough is explained and if you haven't played the video game you are just left wondering what the hell just happened, what did the protagonist intend to do and why.
Actually it is hard to put my finger on why exactly but sometimes it just feels like it was designed as a video game rather than a serie. Sure i understand it comes from a video game but still; it has a strange after taste.
Action and magic is very cool, great choregaphies and graphic design.
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (2017)
Failed to connect all the dots.
10 years later this movie's theme is no longer an inconvenient truth but has become a politically correct celebration of the Al Gore political character and achievements. I find this documentary to be lacking ambition in terms of ecological activism. The new challenge is no longer carbon emissions as this has now been widely accepted but rather how can we make a difference on an individual basis and this is precisely where Al Gore fails to deliver. He only talks a few seconds about the elephant in the house, the real inconvenient truth most don't want to hear about which is the impact of animal agriculture and how our dietary habits impact the environment. If you look for something that will really teach you how to make a difference for the planet move on to cowspiracy and what the health.
Looking at this documentary and Al Gore's speeches I couldn't help wondering what kind of eating habits this slightly overweight man has and could it be that he doesn't want to be too inconvenient after all?
Nevertheless I recognize that when the first documentary came out it created a much needed shift in our understanding and willingness to move on the topic of climate change and carbon's emissions. It feels like Al Gore's generation has taken it as far as they could or were willing to go and the new pressing challenges are to be taken up by the next generations. I guess learning to live as a specie without destroying the planet is a journey and those who aren't ready to consider the full picture need to start somewhere and for then Al Gore's documentary is a good starting point.