The Shock Doctrine (2009)

Directed by: Mat Whitecross, Michael Winterbottom | 80 minutes | documentary

The documentary ‘The Shock Doctrine’ is an adaptation of the book of the same name by anti-globalist Naomi Klein. The shock doctrine holds that governments use natural disasters, war, or terrorism to push through the free-market principle we know from Nobel laureate and free-market fundamentalist Milton Friedman. A disaster would make the affected population more likely to agree to far-reaching economic reforms.

The result is a documentary that raises quite a few questions. The filmmakers (Michael Winterbottom and Matt Whitecross) make it appear that the shock tactic is used exclusively for economic purposes and that the tactic is not older than sixty years. The history books prove them wrong. The shock tactic was already used by Hitler at the time of the Reichstag fire (1933). The tactic is also used for purposes other than economics, such as an ever-increasing invasion of the privacy of citizens. Furthermore, it was not really clear to this reviewer what the connection is between a national catastrophe, national reforms and individual torture.

‘The Shock Doctrine’ is therefore less about this doctrine than about Naomi Klein’s hobbyhorse: the horror of unrestricted market liberalism. The film more often resembles a personal reckoning with Friedman than a quiet argument about poverty and injustice. The fact that the film itself uses a kind of shock tactic (a lot of violent images of bombings, psychiatric torture methods and other misery) doesn’t help either. Not to mention the manipulative score and the call to action with which the film ends.

What ‘The Shock Doctrine’ does do well is it implicitly raises questions. According to Friedman, the free market economy only works in a democratic environment. That seems an impossible task. In a free market economy there are by definition major differences between the happy few and the poor. It is the same masses that determine who comes to power in a democracy. How do you deal with that once the fear tactic has worked out? And how do you deal with a population that has become completely neurotic with fear?

It’s a shame that the makers don’t go into this. It is also a pity that the new tactics of governments (blowing up banal affairs to keep bigger matters out of the picture) is not mentioned anywhere. Thus ‘The Shock Doctrine’ becomes a laborious affair, which falls short of coherence, objectivity and depth. As a pamphlet just passed, as a history lesson questionable, as a contribution to a current discussion too nagging. An unconvincing truth, to say the least.