MovieChat Forums > Ceský sen (2007) Discussion > exploitive waste of time

exploitive waste of time

posted 16 years ago by kf440
10 replies | jump to latest

so they got a whole bunch of people to come out to this store; if no one had come out, there would have been no movie, thus the filmmakers pulled out all the stops to ensure their marketing tactics would entice people. anyone can make people want to come to their fictitious store if they advertise their fictitious products at unheard-of low prices and enlist marketing experts at every step along the way.

i just don't get what point was supposedly proven by this 'experiment'--people want cheap products in the czech republic, sure, but people everywhere else want the exact same thing, regardless of whether they grew up under communism. if the store had been advertising something undesirable, on the other hand, and people were still convinced to go just because of coercive advertising, that would perhaps have made an interesting social experiment, but this is just sort of a no brainer--we make every effort to get people to come, and they come. so what?

if this film had been made by a foreigner, it would have been blatantly offensive. even still, to me the whole film smacked of cynicism and condescension, and was basically a giant waste of time for everyone involved.

eh?

[–] therealdocmartin 16 years ago

Preach on brother kf440! I had exactly the same response to this film and I usually consider myself a fan of documentaries, shockumentaries, mockumentaries and independent/art house film. This one was exactly as you describe : a big waste of time!

[–] cinesimon 12 years ago

Yes we must never ever allow any self awareness or self examination.

[–] sshendy 16 years ago

Yes, it was intended to be cynical and condescending, and with good reason. What is not to be cynical about when advertisers are able to sell anything, whether it is worthwhile or not? Why shouldn't we be cynical and condescending of advertisers, when most western countries don't hold them responsible for their actions? It is irrelevant whether they are selling a product, a political party, or a political idea: if they can influence us as much as they please and in any direction they please, then democracy is a myth, and the power that is supposed to be vested in the people of a democracy is actually in the hands of those who can pay the advertising industry.
That's the point of the film.
The guy near the end says that he is going to vote against the EU because of the prank; so I think it's silly to ask what the point of the film is. If it's changing people's votes, it's making a very valid point about the political system.

[–] omad84 16 years ago

Agree with sshedny. My guess is that at least half of that people in that meadow left feeling and thinking something, for better or worse it made us intellectually active within our ourelves and question certain ideals. Exploitative to a certain certain extent with regards to those that where there but remember it was a film, and the experience was for the czech people and the world in general, not just those who turned up for a cheap camera.

Can we remember what it was to be like when not under the vicelike grip of advertising power, not too feel others creating anxiety in us, then for us luckily to have it healed at the nearest store? Noone in this world, thinks of themselves as the fool, or likes to be made a fool of, but I believe the Czech's are clever enough and bittersweet enough to realise this is not for or against those that came, it merely asked in them all, why are you here?

[–] dave-3235 15 years ago

The simple answer to "why are you here?" probably has something to do with the really cheap stuff that was advertised. That's all. That doesn't seem too ridiculous. People were desensitized to the ad slogans, and came for the cheap stuff. The only semi interesting part of the film was when they showed the families that pass their time in the hypermarkets. That was quite frightening, and explains why there are always lines at Centrum Chodov...

[–] Immersion 15 years ago

Hmmm...watched it yesterday and I really badly wanted to like the documentary. I tried to resuscitate my dormant leftie anti-global POV and still came away feeling a bit cheated.

As the original posted says, it is a bit of a no brainer. However, this might have actually shown the the general populace to be a nice bunch of people. Here's why:

- only about 0.02% of the population turned up
- They didn't get violent
- The worst they did was to stone the poster
- People generally were philosophical about it
- They actually did relate this campaign to the ongoing campaign for EU intergration and other political schemes

Were this to have happened in London (my home town) this is what might have happened:

- People try to trip each other up trying to get to the store first
- People then turn on each other in the process (c.f. IKEA openeing night where people stabbed each other)
- People stab the 2 documentary guys to death when they find out "we was robbed"
- Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury's launch a massive bidding war to buy the "English Dream" brand as it would have gone through the process of maturing through media exposure
- We would all be shopping at "English Dream"

There you go our Czechs friends, something to be happy about me thinks...

[–] TroubledWorld 14 years ago

I totally agree with Immersion's comment. Soon, in North America, we'll have Boxing Day (December 26) and we will witness uglier behaviors.

An interesting point that foreigners (non-Czech) may have missed: how much some folks relate the ad campaign, the opening of a new megastore (and, finally, the hoax) to the debate on whether the Czech Republic should join or not the European Union. Euro skeptics, the were (and still are, probably)!

[–] usarmycwo 8 years ago

"I tried to resuscitate my dormant leftie anti-global POV and still came away feeling a bit cheated."

Funny, smart, wise. And what I was thinking too.

But my "dormant leftie" POV is buried so deep it'll never see sunlight again. I agree with the original poster: if you advertise very low prices, there should be no surprise that a lot of people want to shop with you.

This film was indeed a waste of taxpayer money. This American is a little surprised it happens not just in our country.

[–] cinesimon 12 years ago

Yes we must never ever allow any self awareness or self examination. We must simply allow ourselves to be manipulated by large corporations and ideological movements, and never ever try to understand why it is we fall prey as a society to such manipulation.
After all: if we can [pretend like it's not happening, we can continue to pretend all is well with the world, and our betters have everything under control!

[–] Stratego 8 years ago

Man man, I can't believe how naive and pretentious some of the responses are. This "documentary" was completely fake, in execution and motivation. Totally insincere. Indeed a waste of time.