All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (TV series)
| All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Adam Curtis |
| Directed by | Adam Curtis |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Dominic Crossley-Holland |
| Producer(s) | Lucy Kelsall Adam Macqueen James Harkin Andrew Orlowski |
| Running time | 180 minutes (in three parts) |
| Production company(s) | BBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Two |
| Original release | 23 May – 6 June 2011 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Trap (2007) |
| Followed by | Bitter Lake (2015) |
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace is a BBC television documentary series by filmmaker Adam Curtis. In the series, Curtis argues that computers have failed to liberate humanity, and instead have "distorted and simplified our view of the world around us." The title is taken from a 1967 poem of the same name by Richard Brautigan. The first episode was originally broadcast at 9 pm on 23 May 2011.
In the first episode, Curtis traces the effects of Ayn Rand's ideas on American financial markets, particularly via the influence on Alan Greenspan.
Ayn Rand was born in Russia and moved to America in 1928. She worked for Cecil B. DeMille, receiving inspiration for what would later become The Fountainhead. Later, she moved to New York and set up a reading group called The Collective where they considered her work. On advice from a friend, Greenspan (then a logical positivist) joined The Collective.
When published, although critically savaged, Rand's Objectivist ideas were popular, and influenced people working in the technology sector of California. The Californian Ideology, a techno-utopian belief that computer networks could measure, control and help to stabilise societies, without hierarchical political control, and that people could become 'Randian heroes', only working for their own happiness, became widespread in Silicon Valley.
Rand had an affair with Nathaniel Branden, another married person in The Collective, which she justified in terms of her value of "rationality", and with the approval of his wife. After several years, the affair ended violently and it was revealed to the rest of The Collective, which disbanded. Rand ended up alone in her New York apartment, although Greenspan continued to visit.
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