Merchants of Doubt (film)

Merchants of Doubt

theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Kenner
Produced by Robert Kenner
Melissa Robledo
Written by Robert Kenner
Kim Roberts
Based on Merchants of Doubt 
by Naomi Oreskes
and Erik M. Conway
Music by Mark Adler
Cinematography Don Lenzer
Barry Berona
Jay Redmond
Edited by Kim Roberts
Production
company
Distributed by Mongrel Media, Sony Pictures Classics
Release dates
  • 2014 (2014)
Running time
 96 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $192,400 (USA)

Merchants of Doubt is a 2014 American documentary film directed by Robert Kenner and inspired by the 2010 book of the same name by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway.[1][2][3][4] The film traces the use of public relations tactics that were originally developed by the tobacco industry to protect their business from research indicating health risks from smoking. The most prominent of these tactics is the cultivation of scientists and others who successfully cast doubt on the scientific results. Using a professional magician, the film explores the analogy between these tactics and the methods used by magicians to distract their audiences from observing how illusions are performed. For the tobacco industry, the tactics successfully delayed government regulation until long after the establishment of scientific consensus about the health risks from smoking. As its second example, the film describes how manufacturers of flame retardants worked to protect their sales after toxic effects of the retardants were discovered. The central concern of the film is the ongoing use of these tactics to forestall governmental action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in response to the risk of global climate change.[5]

Production

Interview subjects

The filmmakers interviewed more than a dozen individuals who have been involved in a series of conflicts ranging from the regulation of tobacco products due to the health risks to global climate change. In the sequence in which they appear in the film, they are:

Naomi Oreskes (2015), co-author of the book Merchants of Doubt
Fred Singer (2011), a prominent opponent of greenhouse gas regulation

Professional magic

The film embeds commentary and performances by magician Jamy Ian Swiss. The premise of these interludes is that there is an analogy between the techniques of professional magicians and the tactics of public relation organizations. Magicians learn how to distract their audiences from noticing the deceptions that underlie their tricks and illusions. The organizations distract the public from the risks associated with products. These tactics were systematically developed by the tobacco industry in the 1950s in response to scientific research showing that smoking was a significant health risk; the research was a significant threat to tobacco sales. The principal distraction tactic has been the use of convincing personalities who claim that the uncertainties in the risks militate against taking action.

An unsigned review in The Boston Globe explains, "To make his point clear, Kenner follows up Swiss’s magic act and fancy patter with a snappy montage of various experts over the years denying that cigarettes cause cancer, or extolling the virtues of pesticide, or proclaiming that asbestos is “designed to last a lifetime — a trouble free lifetime.” And then the inevitable parade of climate change deniers bloviating in Congress or on cable news, all backed by Sinatra singing “That Old Black Magic.”"[7] A. O. Scott wrote in The New York Times that Swiss' "presence, and the animated playing cards that sometimes fly across the screen, feel like a glib and somewhat condescending gimmick, an attempt to wring some fun out of a grim and appalling story."[8]

Reception

Threatened lawsuit

One of the subjects of the film, Fred Singer, wrote the director indicating that he was considering a lawsuit.[9] Although no lawsuit was filed, Kenner noted in an interview that "when [Singer] implies litigation is very expensive, I think it's an attempt to be intimidating." In the 1990s, Singer had sued Justin Lancaster over his statements regarding the inclusion of Roger Revelle as a co-author of a climate change paper with Singer and Chauncey Starr; Revelle had died shortly after the paper was published. That lawsuit ended when Lancaster withdrew his statements as "unwarranted", although Lancaster later expressed regret over the settlement.[10]

Critics' views

The film has been widely reviewed in the mainstream U.S. media; the aggregation website Metacritic listed 24 reviews by late 2015.[11] The reviews vary substantially. Justin Chang wrote for Variety that it is "An intelligent, solidly argued and almost too-polished takedown of America’s spin factory — that network of professional fabricators, obfuscators and pseudo-scientists who have lately attempted to muddle the scientific debate around global warming — this is a movie so intrigued by its designated villains that it almost conveys a perverse form of admiration, and the fascination proves contagious."[12] William Goss wrote for The Austin Chronicle that "Merchants spends much of its running time exposing trends of political subterfuge before working in an earnest call to action regarding climate change. Using the same type of tinkling score and shots of children at play as campaign ads shown earlier in the film, this late-inning agenda comes off as noble as it is hypocritical. Regardless of one’s personal beliefs, it’s tough to respect a movie that ultimately invites viewers to question every case of propaganda except its own."[13]

Home media

Merchants of Doubt was released as a DVD on July 7, 2015.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Buder, Emily (March 8, 2015). "Robert Kenner Exposes America's Lucrative Lies in 'Merchants of Doubt'". Indiewire.
  2. ↑ "Merchants of Doubt". Sony Pictures. Retrieved March 13, 2015. Film's official website.
  3. ↑ Merchants of Doubt at the Internet Movie Database
  4. ↑ Turan, Kenneth (November 14, 2014). "'Merchants of Doubt' shows how public opinion is manipulated". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ↑ Goldstein, Jessica (September 10, 2014). "Professional Deceivers: People Who Can Convince You A Garbage Man Knows More Science Than A NASA PhD". ThinkProgress. Interview with Kenner.
  6. ↑ "2013 Pulitzer Prize Finalists". Columbia University. 2013.
  7. ↑ "'Merchants’ raises the doubt of climate change". The Boston Globe. March 19, 2015.
  8. ↑ Scott, A. O. (March 5, 2015). "Review: ‘Merchants of Doubt,’ Separating Science From Spin". The New York Times.
  9. ↑ Morano, Marc (March 6, 2015). "Merchants of ‘smear’ movie slanders eminent Physicist Dr. Fred Singer – Singer Fires Back!". Climate Depot.
  10. ↑ Lehrman, Evan (March 9, 2015). "Merchants of Doubt about Global Warming Hope to Strike Back". ClimateWire.
  11. ↑ Merchants of Doubt at Metacritic
  12. ↑ Chang, Justin (September 4, 2014). "Telluride Film Review: ‘Merchants of Doubt’". Variety.
  13. ↑ Goss, William (April 10, 2015). "Merchants of Doubt". The Austin Chronicle.
  14. ↑ Merchants of Doubt (Blu-Ray & DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2015. OCLC 913221745. This is a multi-format package (both Blu-Ray and DVD disks). The Blu-Ray has an optional audio commentary from the director, deleted scenes, and interview footage from the Toronto international Film Festival.

External links

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