No Future: The Philosophy and Aesthetics of Adam Curtis

Abstract

In this extensive essay, I analyze the films of documentary filmmaker and BBC archivist Adam Curtis. I discuss the historical and political dimensions of his documentaries and compare his critiques of contemporary technocracy with the works of other sociologists and political theorists. Synthesizing these ideas, I articulate the pessimistic outlook of these social scientists regarding the phenomena of late stage capitalism, or in Curtis's own words 'Hypernormalisation'.