Zeitgeist III: Review and Feedback

Let's start with the not so good stuff. The Zeitgeist film series have been an awesome part of my journey. In fact, the first one was the first breakpoint in my life that I was conscious and fully aware of. However, with the first two films, I always finished with some sort of sadness and a feeling of guilt. I knew humanity has issues with money and the whole systemic errors it has are upsetting, but, am I then a bad person because I have money in my bank account?? Should I aim at not having money at all??  what can I do to get to where the film is talking to me about?? With Zeitgeist 3 I still didn't find the answer to that question...what can I do to get there?? what is in the middle?? what is the process?? The movie goes from the problem to the solution in an almost quantum  leap (they go from a world addict to money to a world of no money at all, no transitional process is proposed or talked about). And the solution they propose is such that people really seem to be lost...they struggle to connect the points.

Another set of interrelated issues has to do with the way they present their criticism and solutions. It seems to me that they may have some sort of obsession against religious practices but mostly, against Christianity. If I don't think that religions institutions provide the best path to sane society, that is fine. But that I express that with sarcastic humor, and choose a particular practice as a target, is somehow counterproductive to what I am trying to project with my film, which is a world of love and positive environment. I would think that most people in this world have a religious believe, what is the Zeitgeist project going to do with them?? Convince them that they're wrong by making fun of them?? I think this approach mostly generates a defensive reaction. It is a similar situation with the way they referred to politicians and governments in general. Yes, the institutions  do not serve the purpose I agree, but many of those who work there, do not know what they are working for. Are we going to leave them behind?? 

And at the same time, I feel that the film ignores that the shift in consciousness is happening in human beings regardless of their profession, likes and dislikes. I think that there is an amazing display of personal change within governments and few politicians, but also within religious institutions. As a civilization, I don't think we can just dismiss them and say that their role is obsolete in the building of the future world. By attacking the religious practices, the film ignores the role of Spirituality in our societies. Osho, a spiritual teacher, led me to think that in the real sense of the word, religion and spirituality are exactly the same thing. The Bible was written for the Spirit, but we read it with the body and thus, we haven't understood much of what it says (personal view, of course). At the same time, yes, it was written by men, who are filters and interpret what they understand. I don't think humans are just bodies that you study in a lab, therefore, human creations are not just things that you can manipulate with scientific approach and technology. The film advocates that all our problems can be solved by creating positive environments through technology and science. I believe that is part of the solution, but not the whole picture. Technology was also believed to be the solution to our problems at the time of the industrial revolution, and here we are....struggling with it. In the end, who invents all this technologies and scientific methods?? humans!!

Having said all that, the movie is a must see and has a lot of positive things. I loved the first half where it talks about leading neuroscience and genetics, more specifically, epigenetics! It brought me tears of joy when I heard one of their interviewees from Harvard Medicine School (or something like that), saying that prison and punishment have not reduced crime rates or social disruptive behaviors. The film really explores this, and my words cannot  match the amount of wisdom and knowledge gathered in there!!

Also, the fact that the movie has a big gap between the problems and the solution is a good thing to me, because people are asking, 'what can we do', they want someone to tell them the direction, but the gap is an opportunity for you and me to create that direction, to take responsibility for it, to make the decision and be co-creators of the world we want to see. Whether the word will be as the one Zeitgeist pictures, I don't know, but we have been left with the opportunity to create it. You can go asking others what you can do, but if you do not find the answer, keep looking for it, maybe you will find that you know what to do, and you'll do it!!

The movie is a must see, regardless of my few comments, the amount of information can be overwhelming but it is self-instructive, it somehow encourages you to go and find out by yourself should you not believe what it says. As I said, it was a break point for me, and my journey would not have been what it is, if not partly because of what Zeitgeist has encouraged me to do.

So there you go...I really recommend it and give it 4 out of 5 stars.