Behind the Curve

This film is a relevant and necessary documentary for these precarious times. As the Internet has given us unprecedented access to so much information (credible or otherwise) at our fingertips, it's hard to tell if this is leading us to another Renaissance or a return to the Dark Ages. This documentary uses the Flat Earth Society as a springboard to discuss not just science versus conspiracy, but also the challenges in getting those who have gotten wrapped up in questionable worldviews out of their belief bubbles, and to what extent each of us constructs our own reality, even as it contradicts facts and logic.

This challenge to the viewer is what makes Behind the Curve so important. The easiest thing to do for a documentary such as this would have been to make fun of those who believe that not only is the Earth is a disc, but that those who believe that the Earth is a globe are part of a vast conspiracy of NASA, the makers of Tang, and your sixth grade science teacher. Instead, the filmmakers let their interviewees talk, and talk, and talk, and what emerges is this sense that many of the "Flat Earthers" -- if not struggling with mental illness -- are lonely and disconnected people looking for a sense of belonging and acceptance in a larger community, even as their attempts at experiments to prove their conception of the world don't work. Some of the scientists themselves acknowledge this, and see these conspiracy theorists not as the proverbial tin-foil hat wearing kooks, but rather, as "scientist(s) who might have been...that fell through the cracks." The biggest and greatest takeaway from this documentary is that all of us need to do a better job at discerning what's real and not just shrieking "Fake news!" at credible sources of information that tell us what we may not want to hear.