Having problems with message search?
Hello Everyone,
Posting my reply here for the benefit of those who are not members of the SLS discussion forum, where Rosemary also posted her message.
Hello there Rosemary,
I'm not sure why the career of this Curtis chap would be something of interest to the members of this forum, but thanks for posting it all the same.
You might notice that I've edited your post slightly to reduce the amount of link spamming; however, the text you posted remains completely as you originally posted it - which, I note, differs slightly from the yahoo post, to wit:
Laingforum intro:
In his latest documentary series starting on BBC2tv on Sunday 11 March 2007 -about the erosion of our freedoms - Adam Curtis, includes R D Laing.
Yahoo list intro:
Documentary maker, Adam Curtis, includes R D Laing's anti-family arguments
as part of his latest BBCtv documentary series starting on Sunday 11 March,
about the erosion of our freedoms...
As a gesture of goodwill I am disregarding the fact that you also posted the otherwise identical text, which is not in itself original writing, to the Laing list on yahoo, which you ought to be well aware of, Internet protocol is a form of spamming.
My reasons for limiting the number of links you have posted is a practical matter, having to do with individuals antagonistic to Laing as a person while having no legitimate scholarly critique to offer nevertheless attempting to use Laing's name in general, and this site in particular, to advance themselves.
This is a map of the unique IP addresses* that access the Society for Laingian Studies pages on March 5, 2007.
Go to a full-size version of today's map by clicking here (It is a link directly to Clustrmaps - doesn't count toward the stats).
When Daniel Burston invited me to co-found the Society with him, we agreed that under no circumstances would the SLS be affiliated with any other institution, college, or association, because of the politics of greed and self-promotion they breed. Staying true to this principle seems to have been a good choice, and I intend to continue preserving the integrity of the Society in years to come.
I have no comment about this Curtis fellow, whom I don't know from Adam, (or Natasha) but I find one aspect of this current mini-campaign of yours to be noteworthy:
In the yahoo post you wrote,Documentary maker, Adam Curtis, includes R D Laing's anti-family arguments
as part of his latest BBCtv documentary series starting on Sunday 11 March,
about the erosion of our freedoms, whereas in his 2002 documentaries
charting the use of Freud's theories, Laing is noticeably absent...
But what was that 2002 piece about?
"This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try
and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy." - Adam Curtis
broadcast 2002, available to view online - see links on the Wikipedia site.
Well, then if it's a film about using Freud's theories for purposes of control then it would make sense that Laing would be "noticeably absent".
After all, Laing's trenchant analysis of the manipulation of the truth is the kind of thing that got him in trouble with those who wanted most to employ these methods. Which you would know if you'd ever actually read any of Laing's work on the subject. I recommend, Mystification, Confusion and Conflict for starters. And not to put too fine a point on it, the essay originally appeared in one of the most esteemed volumes published on the subject: Intensive Family Therapy, Ivan Boszorenyi-Nagy and James L. Framo, Eds.
So much for "anti-family".
But, the kind of comment one has come to expect from you, Rosemary. Absent of substance, when not plainly libelous, as were the comments you have made in other submissions to the yahoo list about me. It does nothing for your credibility.
Well... Personally, I'm a bit tired of having to state The Obvious to people who have not read Laing but feel in a position to make these ill-informed statements. If it is the case that Curtis has taken a malign view of Laing, it seems inappropriate for him to then adopt Laing's own phrasings, when he is quoted in the Guardian article: 'As for what happened to the concept of freedom, [Curtis] says: "I don't think there are baddies in this."', in pale imitation of Laing's own statement:
"As long as we cannot uplevel our thinking beyond Us and Them, the goodies and
baddies, it will go on and on. The only possible end will be when all the goodies have
killed all the baddies, and all the baddies all the goodies, which does not seem so
difficult or unlikely since, to Us, we are the goodies and They are the baddies, while to
Them, we are the baddies and They are the goodies.It seems a comparatively simple knot, but it is tied very, very tight -
round the throat, as it were, of the whole human species."
If anything, I'd probably watch it just to see how someone could reconcile in their own mind using someone's words as their own and then seeking to depict that person antagonistically - if he is in fact, the person doing this... one can't help but wonder, if he doesn't "see any baddies in this", then who is undertaking to hold up this "no baddies" film as an example of some sort of negation of Laing's position?
On the basis of what you've posted here Rosemary, it appears that either the research on Laing undertaken for this project leaves much to be desired, or it is an effort by individuals trying their hand at 'spin'. I'm just too busy trying to keep up with positive, interesting and meaningful work to find the time to take interest in that kind of thing.
_______________________
* unique IP addresses - refers to the number assigned to a single computer for internet
use. Each visitor is counted only once a day, regardless of the number of different
times s/he visits the page.
* unique IP addresses - refers to the number assigned to a single computer for internet
use. Each visitor is counted only once a day, regardless of the number of different
times s/he visits the page.
----- Original Message -----From: Rosemary MooreSent: Saturday, March 10, 2007 2:39 PMSubject: [RDLaing] The Trap: What Happened to Our Dreams of Freedom, Sunday 11 March 9pm BBCtvDocumentary maker, Adam Curtis, includes R D Laing's anti-family arguments
as part of his latest BBCtv documentary series starting on Sunday 11 March,
about the erosion of our freedoms, whereas in his 2002 documentaries
charting the use of Freud's theories, Laing is noticeably absent, with the
narrative omitting any mention of sixties "anti-psychiatry" and going
straight to the seventies "Me" generation and Werner Erhard's est (Erhard
Seminar Training)......
Send Email