Koch brothers exposed

Polarization has come to characterize today's political and social landscape, and two new documentaries reflect-and ultimately serve to reinforce-that condition. On the left side of the equation, Koch Brothers Exposed examines the calculated, clandestine efforts of wealthy industrialists David and Charles Koch to manipulate governments, policymakers, and institutions to expand their fortunes and further their right-wing social agendas. Filmmaker Greenwald (Rethink Afghanistan) delivers a blistering assault on the Kochs' tactics, documenting how the affluent siblings bankroll the development of self-serving policies in such areas as environmental regulation, government entitlement programs, and public education-policies that eventually characterize the opinions of politicians and pundits, eventually shaping public perceptions and handsomely benefiting their well-heeled sponsors. Yet through it all, the camera-shy brothers never willingly appear on screen to comment on these practices, the documentation of their absence presented, somewhat prejudicially, as an afterthought in the closing credits and bonus features. Meanwhile, on the right, Occupy Unmasked offers an expose on the allegedly "true" nature of the left-wing movement that catapulted to prominence on Wall Street in September 2011. What begins as a seemingly balanced look at the conditions that gave rise to this movement quickly, and lamentably, degenerates into a tabloidesque tirade that paints its members as little more than fanatical anarchistic hooligans hell-bent on fomenting chaos and lawlessness. Director Bannon (producer, The Undefeated) employs a shrill, cynical, propagandist tone to demonize the strategies used to marshal followers (tactics that are, in essence, not unlike those used by Occupy's right-wing counterparts in promoting their own agenda). VERDICT Regrettably, both films do little more than champion their own sociopolitical viewpoints, further fanning the flames of polarization. Those looking to affirm themselves in their own ideological positions will find these offerings comforting, but anyone seeking unbiased observations on, or meaningful solutions to, this problem is sure to be disappointed.-Brent Marchant, Chicago (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.