“MERCHANTS OF DOUBT” My rating: B
96 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13
“Merchants of Doubt” begins with a display of sleight of hand by magician Jamy Ian Swiss, who explains that real magic lies in the ability to misdirect.
It then follows that idea into the world of business to show how the tobacco industry has thrived despite the overwhelming evidence that smoking is a major health risk.
The key to big tobacco’s survival was simply to equivocate. To say that all the evidence isn’t yet in. Or that the evidence can be read in different ways.
In other words, to cast doubt on what the experts say.
“Merchants of Doubt” is an exhaustive look at how that sort of misdirection has become big business’s defense against scientific evidence of climate change, of pesticide poisoning of bees, vaccination safety or of any issue which doesn’t jibe with with the mercantile mindset. You don’t have to introduce facts of your own — all you have to do is cast doubt on the facts presented by the opposition.
This documentary from Robert Kenner (“Food, Inc.”), based on Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway’s best seller, lays out the chain of custody, if you will, of this idea from tobacco to 21st-century politics. It delves into the spin-doctor industry that has developed over the last 60 years, an industry that provides “experts” and entire think tanks devoted to not disproving but simply raising doubt about any issue that might invite government scrutiny and regulation.
“Masters of Doubt” makes it clear that it’s all about keeping the guvmint out of our business. In fact, it makes a case that many of us simply cannot recognize facts that don’t jibe with our preconceived ideas of how the world works (or should work).
There’s a marvelous segment here centering on Michael Shermer, editor of Skeptic magazine and for many years a climate change doubter. In recent years, though, Sheerer has studied the data and concluded that his earlier skepticism was wrong.
The irony is that when he now gives public talks, he’s often shouted down by belligerent deniers who view him as either a left-wing agent or a fool.
While many of today’s hot-button documentaries are one-sided propaganda pieces, “Merchants” takes pains to get comments from the other side. There’s a droll and depressing segment devoted to Marc Morano, a glib “expert” whose specialty is attacking not the science but the scientists. He admits to having “a lot of fun” posting personal information about scientists on his web site — with the result that many of those scientists and their families have received death threats.
“Merchants of Doubt” is overlong and too reliant on talking heads, but in the end it’s hugely effective.
Leaving us to wonder: If facts no longer matter, can we save ourselves?
| Robert W. Butler
Butler's Cinema Scene 
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