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The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom

The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom

2007 - 2007

Fuck You, Buddy

11th March 2007
Episode 1
In this episode, Curtis examines the rise of game theory during the Cold War and the way in which its mathematical models of human behaviour filtered into economic thought with particular reference to the work of John Nash, who believed that all humans were inherently suspicious and selfish creatures that strategised constantly.

The Lonely Robot

18th March 2007
Episode 2
The second episode reiterated many of the ideas of the first, but developed the theme that the drugs such as Prozac and lists of psychological symptoms which might indicate anxiety or depression were being used to normalize behavior and make humans behave more predictably, like machines.

We Will Force You To Be Free

25th March 2007
Episode 3
The final program focused on the concepts of positive and negative liberty introduced in the 1950s by Isaiah Berlin. Curtis briefly explained how negative liberty could be defined as freedom from coercion and positive liberty as the opportunity to strive to fulfill one's potential. Tony Blair had read Berlin's essays on the topic and wrote to him in the late 1990s, arguing that positive and negative liberty could be mutually compatible. He never received a reply, as Berlin was on his death bed.
Top Cast
Director
Adam Curtis
Writer
Adam Curtis
Documentary

Individual freedom is the dream of our age. It's what our leaders promise to give us, it defines how we think of ourselves and, repeatedly, we have gone to war to impose freedom around the world. But if you step back and look at what freedom actually means for us today, it's a strange and limited kind of freedom.

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Full Cast
Adam Curtis Image

Adam Curtis

Narrator

Yevgeny Kiselyov Image

Yevgeny Kiselyov

Self

Ronald Reagan Image

Ronald Reagan

Self (archive footage)

Tony Blair Image

Tony Blair

Self (archive footage)

Boris Yeltsin Image

Boris Yeltsin

Self (archive footage)

Vladimir Putin Image

Vladimir Putin

Self (archive footage)

Margaret Thatcher Image

Margaret Thatcher

Self (archive footage)

Bill Clinton Image

Bill Clinton

Self (archive footage)

Full Crew
Adam Curtis Image

Adam Curtis

Director

Adam Curtis Image

Adam Curtis

Writer

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