Better This World

Excellent and disturbing
First, the full movie is available for free online. Just google it. It's on the PBS website.

Second, if you appreciated this movie, you would almost certainly appreciate another one in the POV series about "domestic terrorists" (the Earth Liberation Front) called If A Tree Falls.

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This is one of the most disturbing movies I've seen. Instead of feeling safer against the threats of "terrorism," I feel paranoid that I could get entrapped in an arbitrary and brutal justice system that views human beings as "terrorists."

The filmmakers probably wouldn't agree with me, but this movie is fundamentally about deception. Deception from the FBI, from lawyers, from news sources, and, most importantly, from ourselves. If you do not feel extremely vulnerable after watching this movie -- vulnerable to what could happen when your most fundamental beliefs and values are mixed with an...

Feel safer?
Imagine you're driving, heeding the the speed limit, when a car starts tailgating and in nervous reaction you exceed that limit by one mile per hour. Next thing you know, that tailgater turns out to be an officer of the law in an unmarked police car and you get a speeding ticket.

Sure, you violated the letter of the law, but you did not violate the spirit of the law. The cop who gave you that ticket could have caught speeders by waiting at the roadside. However, doling out the speeding ticket, not protecting the public from those who drive too fast with disregard for others' safety, was all that mattered.

View the documentary BETTER THIS WORLD and tell me if the F.B.I. is any different than the police officer in my scenario. Two citizens who wish to demonstrate at the 2008 Republican presidential convention think they are learning about activism from one Brandon Darby, who presents himself as an experienced protestor. As it turns out, Darby is a stooge for...

Incredible film on the use and misuse of FBI informants post-9/11
One of the most impressive aspects of Better This World is that it almost lacks any intentional political or social bias. It is not about peaceful/violent protest, national security, terrorism, partisan politics, as it is about the fate of two unfortunate youths. These two students thought of doing something dangerous, and possibly were ready to accomplish it. That seems clear. However, all their supposedly wicked thoughts could be influenced or rather enforced by a third source that is supposed to be doing some good by figuring out these men's original intents on the eve of the 2008 Republican National Convention.

The directors deserve acclaim for the way they deal with this case. They could have very easily avoided or limited the government or FBI's point of view in this case and simply advocated the innocence of the two men from Midland, TX. They rather show the opposite, and maybe the least attractive, point of view and let the audience make their minds on the validity...

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