Auteur documentary maker Adam Curtis has returned to our screens with a six-part series described on the BBC iPlayer site as: “An emotional history of the modern world.”
Can’t Get You Out of My Head‘s collage of archive footage is so trippy with vivid imagery that at times it appears incoherent. But stick with it and what you get is a gripping analysis of a polarised world in which great waves of revolution crash against the structures of power.
Part 1 – Bloodshed on Wolf Mountain – kicks off with the following quote by American anthropologist and anarchist activist David Graeber (1961-2020): “The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something we make, and could just as easily make differently”. And what follows takes us on a journey as strange as the “strange days” that Curtis (who writes and narrates the piece) says we are living through.
Episode one introduces us to three extraordinary stories. The first is that of Jiang Qing, the wife of Mao Zedong, who is used by Curtis to embody individualism in the heart of the communist revolution. The second is of Michael de Freitas (also known as Michael X), a gangster turned influential civil rights activist in 1960s London who is seen fighting against the system. In the third tale Curtis takes us to a bowling alley in California and to two individuals whose theory of ‘discordianism’ was part of what Curtis describes as the ‘radical individualism’ behind the counter-culture that spread across the USA in the 60s.
Watching this is like watching a kind of absurd drama. As one thread of the story ends, the focus shifts back to something else. You are left wanting more of the first story, but before long both stories become linked in some esoteric roundabout way that not only baffles but intrigues. The accompanying visuals mean that this intrigue then turns into a trippy sensation that invites you to stay along for the ride; and while some of the subject matter is complex or niche, you can’t help but want to try and make sense of it all.
A central message of the series appears to be – as that Graeber quote suggests – that the weird world of constant power struggles that we live in is of our own making. But we also have the power to make things “differently.” Power is portrayed like a central character of the piece, as it globe-trots over the modern world causing havoc. The description of a free mind as “the last free outpost” of humanity was one of many chilling ideas that sent my mind racing.
Both dense and refreshing, whether you agree with Curtis’ thesis or not, Can’t Get You Out of My Head is a thrilling experience. The fact that you are challenged so much and so often over the 74 minutes, and have to work so hard to keep up, makes watching it feel like we sometimes feel when trying to keep up with our ever changing world.
Can’t Get You Out of My Head is a crazy tapestry of recent history that throws up loads of ideas to help us move forwards as we search for those hidden truths, some of which we may have hidden ourselves.
This mind-screwing experience is available on iPlayer now.