{"id":748,"date":"2015-04-01T23:04:03","date_gmt":"2015-04-02T04:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/culturated.com\/?p=748"},"modified":"2015-04-03T08:56:27","modified_gmt":"2015-04-03T13:56:27","slug":"merchants-of-doubt-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/merchants-of-doubt-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Merchants of Doubt Review (2015&#8217;s Most Important Movie)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><i>Merchants of Doubt<\/i><\/strong> is arguably the most important documentary of the past decade, since <a href=\"http:\/\/greenglobaltravel.com\/2011\/08\/24\/interview-al-gore\/\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Al Gore&#8217;s\u00a0<i>An Inconvenient Truth<\/i><\/span><\/a> sounded the global alarm over climate change.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not necessarily the BEST, mind you. But if you\u2019re the type who\u2019d let that fact get in the way of seeing a film that exposes a massive conspiracy to mislead humanity on issues regarding the health of our planet and its inhabitants, you\u2019re precisely the sort of person who NEEDS to see <a href=\"http:\/\/merchantsofdoubt.org\"><i>Merchants of Doubt<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/j8ii9zGFDtc\" width=\"650\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Based on the critically acclaimed book by historical scientists <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Naomi_Oreskes\"><strong>Naomi Oreskes<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Erik_M._Conway\"><strong>Erik Conway<\/strong><\/a>, the film challenges you immediately with a satirical muckraking style designed to push your emotional buttons. Its central concept is that there is a cleverly coordinated plot, orchestrated by major corporations, to hoodwink the American public.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This massive global con game dates back decades, to when Big Tobacco companies used PR lies to convince people that smoking was not hazardous to their health. Internal documents later proved the companies knew that smoking caused cancer, lung disease and death, and intentionally misled consumers to believe otherwise simply by casting doubt on the scientific research.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1425390587185.cached.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-753\" src=\"http:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1425390587185.cached.jpg\" alt=\"merchants_of_doubt_movie_Review\" width=\"650\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1425390587185.cached.jpg 1350w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1425390587185.cached-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1425390587185.cached-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1425390587185.cached-330x220.jpg 330w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1425390587185.cached-296x197.jpg 296w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1425390587185.cached-690x459.jpg 690w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1425390587185.cached-1050x700.jpg 1050w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1425390587185.cached-720x480.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Conway and Orestes, who is interviewed throughout the film, discovered that scientists <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fred_Singer\">Fred Singer<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Frederick_Seitz\"><strong>Fred Seitz<\/strong><\/a> (who worked on rocket science and the atom bomb, respectively) and conservative think tanks such as the Marshall Institute have &#8220;played a disproportionate role in debates about controversial questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Privately funded by major corporations and conservative foundations led by billionaires such as the Koch brothers, these \u201cmerchants of doubt\u201d have challenged and diluted the scientific consensus on the dangers inherent in smoking and pesticides, and the existence of the ozone hole and man-made climate change.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_754\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants_of_doubt.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-754\" class=\"wp-image-754\" src=\"http:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants_of_doubt.jpg\" alt=\"Climate Change Denier Fred Singer in Merchants of Doubt\" width=\"650\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants_of_doubt.jpg 1350w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants_of_doubt-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants_of_doubt-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants_of_doubt-330x220.jpg 330w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants_of_doubt-296x197.jpg 296w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants_of_doubt-690x460.jpg 690w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants_of_doubt-1050x700.jpg 1050w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants_of_doubt-719x480.jpg 719w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-754\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scientist and Climate Change Denier Fred Singer<\/p><\/div>\n<p>By discrediting the science, disseminating false information and spreading confusion, they\u2019ve sown seeds of doubt that lobbyists used to convince Congress to oppose corporate regulations time and time again.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile these unregulated industries bring rampant disease and death, raise medical costs and poison our planet\u2019s natural resources. Singer (who is interviewed extensively) and his ilk don\u2019t give a damn, as long as the corporations who pay them keep rolling in the profits.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_755\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants-of-doubt-1-credit_sony_pictures_classics_1200px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-755\" class=\"wp-image-755\" src=\"http:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants-of-doubt-1-credit_sony_pictures_classics_1200px.jpg\" alt=\"Tim Phillips, President of Americans for Prosperity, in Merchants of Doubt\" width=\"650\" height=\"364\" srcset=\"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants-of-doubt-1-credit_sony_pictures_classics_1200px.jpg 1350w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants-of-doubt-1-credit_sony_pictures_classics_1200px-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants-of-doubt-1-credit_sony_pictures_classics_1200px-1024x574.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants-of-doubt-1-credit_sony_pictures_classics_1200px-330x185.jpg 330w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants-of-doubt-1-credit_sony_pictures_classics_1200px-690x386.jpg 690w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants-of-doubt-1-credit_sony_pictures_classics_1200px-1050x588.jpg 1050w, https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants-of-doubt-1-credit_sony_pictures_classics_1200px-856x480.jpg 856w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-755\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tim Phillips, President of Americans for Prosperity (and Koch Brothers Puppet)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you know nothing about this historical hoodwinking,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rottentomatoes.com\/m\/merchants_of_doubt\/\"><strong> <i>Merchants of Doubt<\/i><\/strong><\/a> will leave you shocked and feeling impotent and sad at our society\u2019s inability to stop the world\u2019s wealthiest 1% from raping and pillaging our planet with no negative consequences. If you do know all about it, you\u2019ll simply be pissed off that more people don\u2019t seem to care.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And unfortunately, director <a href=\"http:\/\/robertkennerfilms.com\"><strong>Robert Kenner<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s (<em>Food, Inc<\/em>) damning evisceration of the people perpetuating this global con game is unlikely to be seen by the masses who need to be woken from their slumber and convinced to take action before it\u2019s too late.\u00a0<b><i>\u2013Bret Love<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>RATING:<\/strong> PG-13 (for brief strong language)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>GENRE:<\/strong> Documentary<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>DIRECTOR:<\/strong> Robert Kenner<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>STUDIO:<\/strong> Sony Pictures Classics<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"movie_info clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"castSection borderTop\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Merchants of Doubt is arguably the most important documentary of the past decade, since Al Gore&#8217;s\u00a0An Inconvenient Truth sounded the global alarm over climate&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3,11],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/merchants_of_doubt_1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5slei-c4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturated.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}