Can't Get You Out of My Head (TV series)
- ️Thu Feb 11 2021
| Can't Get You Out of My Head | |
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| Also known as | Can't Get You Out of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Created by | Adam Curtis |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Rose Garnett |
| Producer | Sandra Gorel |
| Running time | 66–120 minutes |
| Production company | BBC Film |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC iPlayer |
| Release | 11 February 2021 (2021-02-11) |
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Can't Get You Out of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World is a six-part BBC documentary television series created by Adam Curtis. It was released on BBC iPlayer on 11 February 2021.[1]
Like many of Curtis' previous works, the documentary explores and links together various topics such as individualism, collectivism, conspiracy theories, national myths, American imperialism, the history of China, artificial intelligence and the failure of technology to liberate society in the way that technological utopians once hoped it might.
Originally titled What Is It That Is Coming?, the series was inspired by the rise of populism in 2016.[2] Curtis wanted to investigate why the critics of Donald Trump and Brexit were unable to offer an alternative vision for the future, and why these sociopolitical circumstances were being continued beyond ethical breaking points.[3]
The Guardian's Lucy Mangan gave the series five out of five stars and called it "dazzling" and "a dense, ambitious triumph".[4] Sarah Carson of the i also rated Can't Get You Out of My Head five out of five stars, describing it as "terrifying" and a "masterpiece".[5] The Independent's Ed Cumming, who gave the series five out of five stars, called it a "fascinating and disorienting" series that "aims to show how radical movements, emerging after the Second World War, were neutralised and co-opted by an establishment determined to maintain the status quo".[6]
James Walton of The Spectator thought the series was just a variation on Curtis's theme of "how hopeless — in both senses — human beings are", deriding it as "incoherent and conspiracy-fuelled", though only having been able to preview four episodes of the six-part series.[7] Ed Power in The Telegraph found the series "completely implausible", awarding it only three out of five stars.[8]
In a sceptical review for Sight & Sound, Hannah McGill wrote: "Curtis practices journalism absent the qualities that give it credibility: specificity, corroboration, consistency. Instead, he serves up a soup of interesting, oddball historical anecdotes, accompanied by a voiceover favouring giant, blurry assertions about how 'we' interact with 'those in power' during the 'strange days' in which we live. Who are “we”? English speakers? Men? BBC viewers? People who watch Adam Curtis documentaries?"[9]
- ^ "New six-film series from Adam Curtis". BBC Media Centre. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ Knight, Sam (28 January 2021). "Adam Curtis Explains It All". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ Usborne, Simon (6 February 2021). "'You could be a cult leader': Diane Morgan and Adam Curtis on Brexit, Trump and his new series". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
- ^ Mangan, Lucy (11 February 2021). "Can't Get You Out of My Head review – Adam Curtis's 'emotional history' is dazzling". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- ^ Carson, Sarah (11 February 2021). "Can't Get You Out of My Head, BBC iPlayer, review: Adam Curtis's terrifying documentary is a masterpiece". I. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- ^ Cumming, Ed (11 February 2021). "Can't Get You Out of My Head review: Adam Curtis's emotional history is fascinating and disorienting". The Independent. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- ^ Walton, James (13 February 2021). "Incoherent and conspiracy-fuelled: Adam Curtis's Can't Get You Out of My Head reviewed". The Spectator. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
- ^ Power, Ed (11 February 2021). "Adam Curtis's mind-bending series is like a never-ending Radiohead video in search of a purpose". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ McGill, Hannah (29 March 2021). "Can't Get You out of My Head gets lost in its own thoughts". bfi.org. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
- Bedingfield, Will (13 February 2021). "Adam Curtis knows why we all keep falling for conspiracy theories". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- Brooker, Charlie (11 February 2021). "Charlie Brooker in Conversation with Adam Curtis". Vice. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- Butter, Susannah (11 February 2021). "Adam Curtis's new documentary isn't easy going but it'll stay with you". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- Cumming, Ed (11 February 2021). "Can't Get You Out of My Head review: Adam Curtis's emotional history is fascinating and disorienting". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- Feay, Suzi (10 February 2021). "Adam Curtis explains our muddled reality in Can't Get You Out of My Head". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- Gorton, Thomas (11 February 2021). "Adam Curtis on Our Troubled Times, TikTok and Taking Back the Internet". AnOther. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- Kanter, Jake (20 January 2021). "BBC Drops Teaser Trailer For Adam Curtis' New Series Of Films 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head'". Deadline. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- Power, Ed (11 February 2021). "Adam Curtis's mind-bending series is like a never-ending Radiohead video in search of a purpose". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- Rifkind, Hugo (11 February 2021). "Can't Get You Out of My Head review — I learnt a lot from Adam Curtis. I'm just not sure what it was". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- Walton, James (13 February 2021). "Incoherent and conspiracy-fuelled: Adam Curtis's Can't Get You Out of My Head reviewed". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.