In an age when we see more and more deception and lies becoming the norm, it is refreshing to see a documentary that not only attempts to take a long, serious look at deception, but also manages to do it in a way that is not judgmental, depressing, or angry. Instead, it is done in the purest of innocence: I felt like a scientist, reviewing the results of an experiment.
Dan Ariely is a charming, interesting person who manages to use a clever sense of humor which helps to move the documentary along, especially when he delivers his jokes right after confessional segments involving some very sad and understandable mistakes made by honest and seemingly decent people. By splitting up the documentary into parts involving his lecture, and then confessions by those who contribute to the discussion, we are allowed us the ability to make our own decisions about what we see, instead of having the opinions of the creators of the documentary force-feeding us what they want us to see.
We're left with a scientist's viewpoint, in every sense of the word, including the part where the final test results are less than optimistic. Even Dan Ariely himself seems saddened by the results of the final segment of this work, in which we are told that the future may have problems waiting for us that are surprising, to say the least.
One of the things that makes me wary when approaching documentaries is the overall feeling of depression that seems to accompany them. Here, they say, is a slice of reality, and reality, well Sucks. Documentaries done like this are able to give you the information they want to, and not leave you feeling terrible for the world afterward, and that's especially true considering the very unfortunate results of that final test they spoke of, involving chips instead of real money.
Complaints I have read regarding this film are that no solutions are given for these problems, but this, to me, is not a flaw. Instead, I like the idea that the solutions are left to us, that the presentation of the problems open up discussion and awareness for ways for us to curb our dishonesty. It is harder to lie, once you see what it does to people.
I recommend this documentary to everyone.
Dan Ariely is a charming, interesting person who manages to use a clever sense of humor which helps to move the documentary along, especially when he delivers his jokes right after confessional segments involving some very sad and understandable mistakes made by honest and seemingly decent people. By splitting up the documentary into parts involving his lecture, and then confessions by those who contribute to the discussion, we are allowed us the ability to make our own decisions about what we see, instead of having the opinions of the creators of the documentary force-feeding us what they want us to see.
We're left with a scientist's viewpoint, in every sense of the word, including the part where the final test results are less than optimistic. Even Dan Ariely himself seems saddened by the results of the final segment of this work, in which we are told that the future may have problems waiting for us that are surprising, to say the least.
One of the things that makes me wary when approaching documentaries is the overall feeling of depression that seems to accompany them. Here, they say, is a slice of reality, and reality, well Sucks. Documentaries done like this are able to give you the information they want to, and not leave you feeling terrible for the world afterward, and that's especially true considering the very unfortunate results of that final test they spoke of, involving chips instead of real money.
Complaints I have read regarding this film are that no solutions are given for these problems, but this, to me, is not a flaw. Instead, I like the idea that the solutions are left to us, that the presentation of the problems open up discussion and awareness for ways for us to curb our dishonesty. It is harder to lie, once you see what it does to people.
I recommend this documentary to everyone.
