Better This World (2011)
Wasn't this film already made and called Better This World (2011)?
shareYes, about half of it anyway. This film could have made a very good documentary short (of course then who would watch it), since much of it covers the same ground as Better This World (which did it without Darby's rationalizations and self-aggrandizing). But what the film does well - and allows me to give a tepid recommendation - is it allows Darby to dig his own grave. His megalomania and narcissism shine clear as day, despite Darby's best efforts to control the narrative. The aspect of this story that always intrigued me the most was not Darby's turn from revolutionary to informant, but his turn from left-wing radical to right-wing propagandist. I wish the film covered this aspect in greater detail, since it really only gets to it in the final 15 minutes, but when it does, it shows brilliantly the hero-complex on display, and that Darby's swing to the right had little to do with politics (I don't think he was ever that interested in politics), and much to do with it being a last refuge for him to be accepted and revered.
shareSo true. This guy had me cursing my laptop screen he infuriated me so much as he just kept talking and talking and lying and lying. How about the clips at the end where he's telling all the people at the RNC meets that he was proud to have stopped these guys from throwing these things at actual human beings (when it seems pretty clear they were just going to throw them at empty vehicles, but who really knows, i guess), telling everyone that he is literally a hero-and they all buy it and clap. It's pretty gross. He's such an egomaniac it makes the whole doc, for me, just fascinating as a character study of this whacked out dude (and his awful southern drawl-type voice). And when he talks to camera, he's so clearly being sooo incredibly dramatic, as if it's proving that all he wants to be is an actor in a film, the guy living the extraordinary life who is a true American hero. They even have the actual dramatizations where he's re-creating the scene with other actors!! I thought that was crazy bizarre. I got the impression that the filmmakers even saw him for what he was, and I think it helped the movie in the end.
shareDarby will turn into anything as long as it feeds his ego. He's never actually believed in anything. That's how he went from leftist to tea partier. Let them deal with him a why. Then he'll be off to something else when he quits being their pretty boy. Just like when he ran away from his commitments in the 9th Ward. As fake as they get. When I wasn't laughing at his fool storytelling I was sickened by his rationalizations.
shareI agree the guy is sickening I am so happy it was not Scott who was informant.
When I first heard about the doc I was worried having once been in touch with Scott because the profile is very similar and it turned out they were at first great buddies but Darby was and is such a piece of work. Like when he is telling the teabaggers about "the bomb plot" against the RNC what bombs ? what plot ? As a European I also find the accusations and fear of "leftist violence" bizarre coming from people who live in houses with their "2nd Amendment" stockpiles of weapons and ammo. Weren't the right wing Martyrs at Waco and Ruby Ridge heavily armed and don't they hate the government for killing them ? Interesting selectivity. But hey I guess they find the Black part of Black Panthers just too much.
The FBI has a pie chart of domestic terrorism and I saw this on a doc a few years back and the groups doing the most violence were the exact opposite of the media impression.
The selectivity is perfectly understandable when you realize the overwhelming reach of media conglomerates that use threats & intimidation to ultimately control the message.
The hypocrisy & egoism of Darby seems to be appropriate for someone who's had his entire conscience rationalized to him by FBI jingoism.
Check out this article from 2011,
http://www.alternet.org/story/150520/you_thought_the_koch_brothers_were_bad_turns_out_they're_even_worse_than_you_thought
written around the time the movie Informant was made - even though it's not directly related & it's rather superficial, it is some insight into the level of systemic, federally-sanctioned corruption. (Corruption is dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery)
Campaign contributions aren't bribes? Tell that to your constituents as you work against unions, the environment, & human rights to protect the interests of lobbyists & big business.
^<All of the pdfs and supplementary information have been removed from that article, btw, which makes me wonder how to find these documents and what evidence they contain..>
here are some questions I had while watching this film recently:
What has changed in the past 5 years?
Where is the political climate headed right now as the Koch dynasty is again discussing how best to support their own interests (by supporting Hilary Clinton nonetheless) ..?
Why was the Occupy Wall Street movement hailed as revolutionary (the protester was ironically named 'person of the year' in 2011 by time magazine) yet the protesters yielded very few results, & even fewer were publicized?
anyway, this country is kinda sorta seriously *beep* let's pray.
https://www.facebook.com/Bipartisanism/posts/1021355441274797