Surplus: Terrorized into Being Consumers

Surplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers is an award winning 2003 Swedish documentary film on consumerism and globalization, created by director Erik Gandini and editor Johan Söderberg. It looks at the arguments for capitalism and technology, such as greater efficiency, more time and less work, and argues that these are not being fulfilled, and they never will be. The film leans towards anarcho-primitivist ideology and argues for 'a simple and fulfilling life'.

Plot

Opening

• Footage of the protests at the 27th G8 summit in Genoa.
• Fidel Castro gives a speech.

John Zerzan

• John Zerzan is interviewed.

RealDoll

• RealDoll manufacturer gives a tour of his warehouse, showing the variety and cost of the sex-dolls.

Cuba

• Mirta Muñes shows the Cuban ration card, Cuban toothpaste.
• Pre Fidel Speech Parade, Fidel going up to the pulpit.
• Tania speaks about having gone out of Cuba, amazed by supermarkets, McDonald's, and gaining a lot of weight.

Internet

• Internet-wealthy Svante says he hates money, feels empty.
• John Zerzan on emptiness in consumer society.
• Balmer's monkeyboy dance and then "I love this company" statement intermixed with workers stretching, then Fidel Castro lip-synched to "I love this company".
• footage from Alang, India where it says 40,000 workers scrap ships to recycle steel.
• John Zerzan speech saying violent protesting is better than peaceful protesting, intermixed with a car show, and protesting.

New Ethic

• John Zerzan says corporate property of Starbucks or similar is the main target of his criticism due to being understood as destructive and wiping out freedom and diversity.
• footage of primitive man.
• landfills, with conclusion: there is a paradigm shift coming where people will not want corporate products and will desire a simple, fulfilling life. This can be understood ironically.

Credits

Views

It prominently features the views of anarcho-primitivist John Zerzan.

Talking Heads

• John Zerzan, anarcho-primitivist writer, editor of Against Civilization: A Reader (1998)
• Fidel Castro, President of Cuba
• Kalle Lasn, from Adbusters
• Svante Tidholm, from Stockholm, Sweden, a wealthy web-designer of Spray and author of the autobiographical novel Loser (Wahlström & Widstrand, 1998, Swedish)
• Carlo Giuliani, Activist and anarchist killed during Anti-G8 demonstrations in Genoa, 2001

Criticizes

• George W. Bush, President of the United States
• Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft since 2000
• Bill Gates, Chairman of the Board and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft

Style

Surplus uses many montages.

Lip-synching

Surplus overtly uses lip-synching to put words in the mouth of people who hold similar world powering positions.

Examples of this are George W. Bush speaking for Adbusters, Fidel Castro mouthing the words of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: "I love this company! Yeah!"

Soundtrack listing

• Gotan Project - Triptico
• Tosca - Orozco
• Aphrodelics - Aphrodelics – Rollin' on Chrome (Wild Motherfucker dub)
• Marc O´Sullivan (The Mighty Quark) - Smokescreen
• Marc O´Sullivan (The Mighty Quark) - Theme from Good People
• Johan Söderberg and David Österberg - No-tech-no
• Johan Söderberg and David Österberg - Rice&Beans
• Johan Söderberg and David Österberg - 18 Miljener

Locations

• Genoa, Italy - 27th G8 summit (2001)
• Shanghai, China - Stock Exchange
• Alang, India - Metal reclaiming
• United States / Cuba / Hungary / Sweden / Canada

Awards

• IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary, 2003 ^[1]

External links

• (Swedish) Official website
• Surplus: Terrorized into Being Consumers at the Internet Movie Database
• Surplus: Terrorized into Being Consumers Direct download (free)
• The film in its entirety on Youtube.

References