The “Perfect Call” exists on a Flat Earth
I took some time this weekend to catch up on some films from my “To Watch” list which included watching the lovely documentary Behind the Curve, a gently critical portrait of the burgeoning Flat-Earth movement. While the content was actually a bit frightening - particularly as someone who works in science education - the documentary itself was well crafted and delightful. It reminded me of other documentaries whose subjects seem of fringe relevance, but which are treated so considerately by the filmmakers that they become compelling commentary on the modern human condition. I think of King of Kong and The Smashing Machine.
The notion that a belief in a flat earth could actually be gaining traction is at least mildly terrifying to me. A deeply ingrained fear of mine is that the American education system has churned out a generation of pseudo-intellectuals, people who believe that they know how to think critically and objectively, when in fact they perpetually fall victim to confirmation bias. Behind the Curve tapped into that fear as a squirmed helplessly on my couch, gesturing weakly at the screen - how is it possible that thinking people actually believe this, have actually convinced themselves of this?
But like all good documentaries (or works of art), Behind the Curve understands its viewers, understands these fears, and manages to capture little moments in time that challenge them, and so enlighten us. I think particularly of a moment where a recurring figure, a woman who runs a Flat Earth vlog, is driving in her car. She is wondering out loud about another member of the Flat Earth community who has charged her with being a CIA operative. He believes something that she knows to be untrue, which makes him seem crazy. And then she considers, for just the briefest of moments - is that me? Is it possible that I’m that person, that my beliefs are just as false as his?
No, she finishes the thought, not me - him, for sure, but not me. The earth is definitely flat.
It is a beautiful and heartbreaking moment, because the doubled edged reality of asking questions leads this woman to a moment of true critical enlightenment… which is then dismissed, only a moment later, in favor of confirming the thing she really needs to be true.
And it made me think of 45 and his followers.
In the same way that people can convince themselves - truly and completely, and in the face of a mountain of evidence - that the Earth is flat, so Trump and those who support him have convinced themselves of Trump’s innocence. For both groups, not a single fact could change the reality - for Flat Earthers as for Trumpians, you start from what you believe, and you find or invent the facts that you need to go along with that story.
And you say, “Once upon a time on the flat earth, a man made the most perfect call…”
Harold
November 26th, 2019