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{{Distinguish|Zeitgeist Films}} #REDIRECT ]
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2012}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Zeitgeist: The Movie
| image = Zeitgeist-themovie.jpg
| director = ]
| producer = Peter Joseph
| writer = Peter Joseph
| officialsite = http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/ http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com
| music = Peter Joseph
| editing = Peter Joseph
| distributor = GMP LLC
| released = {{Film date|2007|6|18}}
| runtime = 122 min
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $7,000{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}
}}
'''''Zeitgeist: The Movie''''' is a 2007 documentary-style film by ]. It presents a number of ]-based ideas, such as the ], ] in 2001, and argues that bankers manipulate the media and international monetary system.{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}
Released online on June 18, 2007, at zeitgeistmovie.com, it became popular among conspiracy theorists.<ref>{{cite web|last=Feuer|first=Alan|title=They’ve Seen the Future and Dislike the Present|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/nyregion/17zeitgeist.html?_r=0|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=2014-01-19|quote=…wild applause from the sold-out crowd…perhaps 900 people who paid $10 a head…a packed auditorium…|date=2009-03-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Constant|first=Paul|title=Beauty Is Truth|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=309650|publisher=The Stranger|accessdate=2014-01-19|date=2007-09-06|quote=The Truth Movement's newest, most popular film…}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Tossell|first=Ivor|title=Conspiracy theorists yelling in the echo chamber|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/conspiracy-theorists-yelling-in-the-echo-chamber/article4402442/|publisher=The Globe and Mail|accessdate=2014-01-19|date=2007-08-17|quote=…propelled by recommendations from bloggers whose eyes were opened and lives changed…}}</ref> Some critics have questioned the accuracy of its claims and the quality of its arguments, describing it as "]" and "propaganda."<ref name=IrishTimes>. '']''. August 25, 2007 Section: Weekend, page 16</ref><ref>Constant, Paul. . '']''. September 5, 2007 Section: Features.</ref><ref>Frauenfelder, Mark (August 6, 2007). . ].</ref>

==Production history==
''Zeitgeist: The Movie'' originated as an art project. According to the ''Zeitgeist'' website, "The original ''Zeitgeist'' was not a film, but a performance piece, which consisted of a ], multimedia event using recorded music, live instruments, and video."<ref name=Tablet2>{{Cite news| last = Goldberg | first = Michelle | title = Brave New World. |date = February 2, 2011| url = http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/57732/brave-new-world|title=Brave New World|newspaper=]| quote = The documentary that started it all began as an art project. “The original Zeitgeist was not a film, but a performance piece, which consisted of a vaudevillian style multi-media event using recorded music, live instruments and video,” the Zeitgeist website explains.}}</ref>

== Synopsis ==
] ''left'' and Jesus ''right'', both presented in the film as "solar messiahs."]]
The film opens with animated abstract visualizations, film and stock footage, a cartoon and audio quotes about spirituality by ], followed by clips of war, explosions, and the ]. This is followed by the film's title screen. The film's introduction ends with a portion of the late comedian ]'s monologue on religion accompanied by an animated cartoon. The rest of the film, divided into three parts, is narrated by Peter Joseph.<ref name=Companion>{{cite web|last=Joseph|first=Peter|title=Companion Source Guide|url=http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/Zeitgeist,%20The%20Movie-%20Companion%20Guide%20PDF.pdf|work=Zeitgeist: The Movie|publisher=The Zeitgeist Movement|accessdate=2014-01-22|year=2007}}</ref><ref name=Constant>{{cite web|last=Constant|first=Paul|title=Beauty Is Truth|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=309650|work=Features|publisher=The Stranger|accessdate=2014-01-22|date=2007-09-06}}</ref>

=== Part I: The Greatest Story Ever Told ===
Part I questions religions as being god-given stories, stating that the Christian religion specifically is mainly derived from other religions, astronomical assertions, ] myths and traditions, which in turn were derived from or shared elements with other traditions. In furtherance of the ] this part states that the ] is a literary and astrological hybrid, nurtured politically.<ref name=Companion /><ref name=Constant />

=== Part II: All the World's a Stage ===
] are the subject of Part II of the film.]]

Part II uses integral footage of several ] films and states that the September 11 attacks were either orchestrated or allowed to happen by elements within the United States government in order to generate mass fear, initiate and justify the ], provide a pretext for the curtailment of civil liberties, and produce economic gain. These ideas include assertions that the U.S. government had ] of the attacks, that the military ] the planes to reach their targets, and that ] buildings 1, 2, and 7 underwent a ].<ref name=Constant/><ref>{{Cite web| title= Zeitgeist: The Movie – Companion Source Guide, p. 102| work= Zeitgeistmovie.com| url= http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/Zeitgeist,%20The%20Movie-%20Companion%20Guide%20PDF.pdf| accessdate = August 2013}}</ref>

=== Part III: Don't Mind the Men Behind the Curtain ===
Part III states that the ] is controlled by a small cabal of international bankers who conspire to create global calamities to enrich themselves.<ref>Tossell, Ivor (August 17, 2007). . '']''.</ref> Three wars involving the United States during the twentieth century are highlighted as part of this alleged agenda. Events said to have been engineered as excuses to enter into these wars include the ], the ] and the ]. The film asserts that such wars serve to sustain conflict in general and force the U.S. government to borrow money, thereby increasing the profits of the international bankers. The film then goes on to state that the ].<ref name=Companion/><ref name=Constant/>

]'s income tax is unconstitutional.]]
This section also says the existence of a secret agreement to merge the United States, Canada and Mexico into a ]. The creation of this North American Union is then alleged to be a step towards the creation of ]. The film speculates that under such a government every human could be implanted with an ] to monitor individuals and suppress dissent.

An updated version of ''Zeitgeist'' released in 2010 removes the North American Union section, among other changes.<ref>{{Cite web| title= Zeitgeist: The Movie – Q&A| publisher= Zeitgeistthefilm.com| url= http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/qa.html| accessdate= January 2011}}</ref>

== Reception ==

=== Film award ===
The film was screened on November 10, 2007, at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood as part of the 4th Annual ], where it won the 'best feature' award in the Artivist Spirit category for feature-length documentaries.<ref name="MW20071105">{{cite web|title=4th Annual Artivist Film Festival and Artivist Awards Announce the Winning Films of This Year's Festival|date=November 5, 2007|publisher=Artivist Film Festival and Artivist Award press release|url=http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=788818|accessdate=February 10, 2009}}</ref>

=== Critical response ===

==== Conspiracy theory and propaganda ====

The newspaper ] described ''Zeitgeist: The Movie'' as 'a bramble of conspiracy theories involving Sept. 11, the international monetary system, and Christianity" saying also that the movie trailer states that 'there are people guiding your life and you don't even know it."<ref>http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/16/20110116gabrielle-giffords-jared-loughner-profile.html Retrieved April-27-2014</ref>

A review in '']'' entitled "Zeitgeist: the Nonsense" wrote that "these are surreal perversions of genuine issues and debates, and they tarnish all criticism of faith, the Bush administration, and globalization—there are more than enough factual injustices in this world to be going around without having to invent fictional ones."<ref name="Irish">{{Cite news|last=O'Dwyer|first=Davin|title=Zeitgeist: the nonsense|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2007/0825/1187332519087.html|accessdate=September 16, 2010|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=August 8, 2007}}</ref>

Other reviews have characterized the film as "conspiracy crap,"<ref name="vvoice">{{Cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-09-10/film/able-danger/|publisher=]|last=Orange|first=Michelle|title=Able Danger|date=September 10, 2008}}</ref> "based solely on anecdotal evidence," and "fiction couched in a few facts,"<ref name="utne">{{Cite web|date=January 1, 2008|publisher=]|url=http://www.utne.com/2008-01-01/Politics/Towers-of-Babble.aspx|title=Towers of Babble}}</ref> or they have made disparaging reference to its part in the ].<ref name="NYT20090317">{{Cite news|title=They’ve Seen the Future and Dislike the Present|author=Alan Feuer|date=March 17, 2009<!--"A version of this article appeared in print on March 17, 2009, on page A24 of the New York edition." -->|work=The New York Times|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/nyregion/17zeitgeist.html|accessdate=March 17, 2009}}</ref>

Some journalists have focused on it as an example of how conspiracy theories are promulgated in the Internet age. For example, Ivor Tossell in the '']'' argued that contradictions in the film are overwhelmed by passion and effective use of video editing:

<blockquote>The film is an interesting object lesson on how conspiracy theories get to be so popular.... It's a driven, if uneven, piece of propaganda, a marvel of tight editing and fuzzy thinking. Its on-camera sources are mostly conspiracy theorists, co-mingled with selective eyewitness accounts, drawn from archival footage and often taken out of context. It derides the media as a pawn of the International Bankers, but produces media reports for credibility when convenient. The film ignores expert opinion, except the handful of experts who agree with it. And yet, it's compelling. It shamelessly ploughs forward, connecting dots with an earnest certainty that makes you want to give it an A for effort.<ref name="Globemail1">{{Cite news|last=Tossell|first=Ivor|title=Conspiracy theorists yelling in the echo chamber|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/conspiracy-theorists-yelling-in-the-echo-chamber/article4402442/|accessdate=September 15, 2010|newspaper=]|date=August 17, 2007}}</ref> </blockquote>

Filipe Feio, reflecting upon the film's Internet popularity in '']'', stated that "Fiction or not, ''Zeitgeist: The Movie'' threatens to become the champion of conspiracy theories of today."<ref name="Diario1">{{Cite news|last=Feio|first=Felipe|title=Teoria da conspiração no 'top' do Google Video (Conspiracy theory is the 'top' Google Video)|url=http://dn.sapo.pt/inicio/interior.aspx?content_id=1002811|accessdate=September 16, 2010|newspaper=]|date=February 18, 2008|language=Portuguese}}</ref>

], founder of the ], mentioned ''Zeitgeist'' in an article in '']'' on skepticism in the age of mass media and the postmodern belief in the relativism of truth. He argues that this belief, coupled with a "clicker culture of mass media," results in a multitude of various truth claims packaged in "infotainment units," in the form of films such as ''Zeitgeist'' and '']''.<ref name="SciAm">{{Cite journal|title=What Skepticism Reveals about Science|last=Shermer|first=Michael|journal=Scientific American|date=July 2009|url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-skepticism-reveals}}</ref>

Jane Chapman, a film producer and reader in media studies at the ], called ''Zeitgeist'' "a fast-paced assemblage of ]," an example of unethical film-making.<ref name="chapman">{{Cite book|title= Issues in Contemporary Documentary|publisher=Polity Press|last=Chapman|first=Jane|pages=171–173|year=2009|isbn= 978-0-7456-4009-9}}</ref> She accuses Peter Joseph of "implicit deception" through the use of standard film-making propaganda techniques. While parts of the film are, she says, "comically" self-defeating, the nature of "twisted evidence" and use of Madrid bomb footage to imply it is of the London bombings amount to ethical abuse in sourcing. In later versions of the movie a subtitle is added to this footage identifying it as from the Madrid bombings. She finishes her analysis with the comment: "Thus legitimate questions about what happened on 9/11, and about corruption in religious and financial organizations, are all undermined by the film's determined effort to maximize an emotional response at the expense of reasoned argument."

On March 17, 2009, in a '']'' article, Alan Feuer reported that Peter Joseph had indicated that he had "moved away from" his opinion on whether the September 11 attacks were an inside job perpetrated by the U.S. government.<ref name="NYT20090317">{{cite news| title= They've Seen the Future and Dislike the Present|last= Feuer|first= Alan| newspaper='']''| date= March 17, 2009| page= A24| url= http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/nyregion/17zeitgeist.html}}</ref>

==== Regarding the origins of Christianity ====
] Tim Callahan, criticizing the first part of the film (on the origins of Christianity), wrote that "some of what it asserts is true. Unfortunately, this material is liberally—and sloppily—mixed with material that is only partially true and much that is plainly and simply bogus."<ref name="callahan">{{Cite news|title= The Greatest Story Ever Garbled|last= Callahan|first= Tim|magazine= Skeptic|volume= 28| issue= 1|year= 2009|url= http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/09-02-25#feature}}</ref>

Chris Forbes, Senior lecturer in ] of ] and member of the ] of the Diocese of Sydney, severely criticized Part I of the movie, stating that it has no basis in serious scholarship or ancient sources, and that it relies on amateur sources that recycle frivolous ideas from one another, rather than serious academic sources, commenting, "It is extraordinary how many claims it makes which are simply not true."<ref name=forbes>{{Cite web|url=https://publicchristianity.org/search/edf06f5712adcabf75147cca7fda1cfa/|title=Zeitgeist: Time to discard the Christian story?|publisher=Interview at the Centre for Public Christianity, Sydney, Australia}}</ref> Similar conclusions were reached by Dr. Mark Foreman of ].<ref name=foreman>{{Cite web|url=http://www.epsociety.org/library/authors.asp?mode=profile&pid=75|title=Challenging the Zeitgeist Movie: Alleged Parallels between Jesus and Ancient Pagan Religions|year=2011|publisher=Evangelical Philosophical Society}}</ref>

==== Allegations of veiled anti-semitism ====
In ''Tablet Magazine'', journalist ] criticized ''Zeitgeist: The Movie'' as being "steeped in far-right, isolationist, and covertly anti-Semitic conspiracy theories," and called the Zeitgeist Movement "the world's first Internet-based cult, with members who parrot the party line with cheerful, rote fidelity." She went on to write that the film borrows from the work of ], ], and radio host ], saying that ''Zeitgeist: The Movie'' portrays a ] of international bankers purportedly ruling the world.<ref name=Tablet>{{Cite news| last = Goldberg | first = Michelle | title = Brave New World. |date = February 2, 2011| url = http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/57732/brave-new-world|title=Brave New World|newspaper=]| quote = The first ''Zeitgeist'' documentary borrowed from the work of Eustace Mullins, Lyndon LaRouche, and Alex Jones to rail against the cabal of international bankers that purportedly rules the world.}}</ref> In an interview with ], Joseph stated that while the film does mention bankers it does not seek to place blame on any individual or group of individuals. He argues they are merely a product of a socioeconomic system in need of change.<ref name=TheMarkerTV>{{YouTube|GbN86J-ihHE|Discussion of the Zeitgeist Movement with Peter Joseph}}, ] (Israel), Jan. 19, 2012. Interview conducted in English, following a brief introduction to Joseph and the Movement in Hebrew.</ref>

] writes that the 9/11 conspiracy theories "are bait used to attract viewers from the 9/11 truth movement and others who embrace conspiracist thinking to the idiosyncratic anti-religion views of the videographer and the world of right-wing antisemitic theories of a global banking conspiracy."<ref>{{Cite web | title = Loughner, "Zeitgeist - The Movie," and Right-Wing Antisemitic Conspiracism | accessdate = 2012-06-03 | url = http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/1/14/92946/9451 }}</ref>{{verify credibility|date=January 2014}}

==Sequels and the Zeitgeist Movement==
A sequel, '']'', focuses further on the monetary system and advocates a resource-based social system influenced by the ideas of ] and ]. Following ''Zeitgeist: Addendum'', Peter Joseph created an organization called the Zeitgeist Movement to promote the ideas of Fresco's Venus Project.<ref name="HuffPo20100316">Travis Walter Donovan (March 16, 2010). . '']''.</ref> An updated version of the original film was produced in 2010 entitled ''Zeitgeist: Final Edition''.<ref name="Project Q & A">Joseph, Peter. , zeitgeistmovie.com, accessed March 21, 2011.</ref> A third film called '']'' was released theatrically on January 15, 2011, and online on January 25, 2011.<ref> Retrieved on January 26, 2011</ref> Peter Joseph has stated that its topics are focused on human behavior, technology, and rationality.

== Pop culture presence ==
In June 2013, the band ] used extensive imagery from ''Zeitgeist: The Movie'' and the ''Zeitgeist'' film sequels in their music video "God Is Dead?"<ref>{{cite web|title=BLACK SABBATH Taps Controversial Filmmaker PETER JOSEPH For 'God Is Dead?'' Video|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/black-sabbath-taps-controversial-filmmaker-peter-joseph-for-god-is-dead-video|publisher=BlabberMouth|date=June 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>. ]. June 7, 2013.</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
*{{official website|http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/}}
*{{IMDb title|1166827}}
*{{Rotten Tomatoes|zeitgeist}}

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