Erroll Morris V Adam Curtis
It Becomes a Self-Fulfilling Thing: What I’m trying to say to people is: “Look, you do face a terrorist threat, as is obvious from the attacks on America and more recently on my country. But you’re looking in the wrong place. You’ve created this sort of phantom enemy, which is a disorganized network. When in fact what you’re actually facing is an idea that springs up all over the place.” You’ve created a notional enemy that’s driving you mad looking for it, when in fact, it’s something else entirely. And that’s when I went back and tried to explain the ideas. I thought that was much more important for people to understand. Because when something that doesn’t exist becomes perceived wisdom, people tend to go slightly bonkers. That’s sort of the mood of our times. I like the idea of a notional mole, it’s good. Because no one ever found one, did they?
