#11 We just watched this on Netflix streaming. You should too!: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

The Film: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

This film is overshadowed now by the more important financial scandal caused by the credit default swaps and derivatives that helped bring about the global financial crisis of the 2000s.

I was raised throughout these financial scandals, as well as the Iraq/Afghanistan War, which makes it amazing that my generation is not more disillusioned with America than they seem.

Some scream for the deregulation of everything in the American market, but isn’t something like Eron proof that these people are smarter than us and want deregulation to fuck you in ass? Socialism and Capitalism are sound systems, but without some sort of regulation behind the geniuses involved in these systems, bad shit can go down.

Why to watch it: It is fucking crazy

There was an aruguement in Michael Moore’s documentary that the smartest kids in America are not going into Math and Science careers anymore because it just isn’t incentivised enough. Instead, their running to Wall Street where millions of dollars is easy to make if you play your cards well. Jeffrey Skilling and the late Kenneth Lay were really creepy fucking people who, even faced with overwhelming evidence, lied about their guilt. It makes you wonder if they in their heart of hearts believed they really didn’t know what was going on. It is amazing what the mind can convince itself is true.

Pay attention to this: The cheesier moments (motor bikes, tie-in songs, sky diving video, etc.)

This is a pretty good example of a documentary’s director getting in the way of the film. The evidence, interviews, and content of this film are more than enough to keep the audience entertained and get the point across. These transparent attempts at witticism, puns, and visual imagery are pointless and harmful to an otherwise masterful film. These problems are abundant in Moore’s movies, Larry Charles’s Religilous, and many other documantaries attempting to become the “docbuster” or whatever the hell it is called.

Watch this right now when you get home from work or school or whatever it is you’re doing….you should be watching this instead. And if you don’t have Netflix streaming….buy it. It costs the same as a shot and a beer at your local bar!