Favorite documentaries?

[winktank]

9. I like the unsettling ones.

I like documentaries that leave me unsettled--not disturbed, but unsettled. I feel that way when a documentary highlights conflicting points of view and has me agreeing with all of them.

In this vein, I love Plug and Pray, a documentary about transhumanism. I found myself getting excited with the scientists and inventors who explained why they conspire to create consciousness, but then I appreciated the caution of Joseph Weizenbaum, who wonderfully explains how science can and has gotten out of hand without a moral compass. That's my summary, but there is so much good stuff in the documentary.

I also really enjoyed Kumare (which many others hated); I've watched it several times and I go back and forth between thinking it was an immature prank or a profound exploration of religion and spirituality. My current conclusion is that it was an accidental profound exploration, which overrides the initial pretensions of the filmmaker.

And while I wouldn't say that Frontline documentaries are neutral and objective, I always appreciate them. They do a great job of delivering punches to the gut and making me feel like a selfish lucky US citizen.