Documentary on Werner Erhard, with his participation,arrived
Posted by:
igotit
()
Date: July 17, 2006 11:01AM
!!!!
Documentary on Werner Erhard, with his participation,arrived
Posted by:
joe6
()
Date: July 17, 2006 02:05PM
Interesting. Can you give some references? What was the executive producer's name?Quote
igotit
robyn symon did take landmark classes. the film was also executive produced by werner's former lawyer. It is pro landmark, I've seen it.
Documentary on Werner Erhard, with his participation,arrived
Posted by:
glam
()
Date: July 17, 2006 09:57PM
Hey, it's been reviewed:
Quote
Transformation: The Life & Legacy of Werner Erhard
Rating: (1.5 out of 4)
Directed by: Robyn Symon
Starring: Werner Erhard, Don Lattin, Jane Self, Michael Jenson, Randy McNamara, Warren Bennis
Review: "Transformation: The Life & Legacy of Werner Erhard" (AFF) PDF Print E-mail
Written by Michael D Friedman
Wednesday, 07 June 2006
I Just Don't Get It
What is "est?"
According to who you ask, it's an acronym for Erhard Seminar Training or merely Latin for "it is." Not exactly a religion, but more of a way of thinking, est was thought to be a cult by many, and was even targeted by the Church of Scientology for "stolen technology" in the early 1990s.
Trnasformation
An 'est' seminar during the 70s. (courtesy AFF)
However, I don't think you'll find an answer to the question in Transformation: The Life & Legacy of Werner Erhard. Instead, you'll get vague bits and pieces, but never the whole picture. With video tape footage of est seminars from the ‘70s and ‘80s, there are brief glances into the world of Werner Erhard, the founder of est. At these seminars, Erhard would often yell at the attendees, telling them that they didn't know "their ass from a hole in the ground."
He comes off like the Bobby Knight of self-help conferences, but apparently he helped a lot of people and became something of a pop icon during the height of the est craze. Before a scathing report by 60 Minutes that claimed Erhard abused his children (after first abandoning his family and taking on a new name - he was born John Rosenberg), Erhard sold the est seminars to his compatriots and fled the country. He's since not returned, instead going from country to country living in anonymity, but occasionally giving a seminar or two.
Erhard claims that the 60 Minutes report was fabricated in part by L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Scientology. It may or may not be true. His daughter recanted her testimony and nothing was ever proved.
The problem with Transformation, however, is that it reads like a love letter to Erhard, rather than a true examination of the man. To someone like me, who was too young to really remember the est movement, this is a fascinating story. But in the documentary, we only see one side. Erhard's interviews are backed up by supporters, former co-workers and reconciled family members. It's as if est could do no wrong.
I'm not judging whether est is "hooey" or a cult, as it has apparently truly helped some people. The seminar footage leaves me very skeptical, but I'll reserve judgment. I don't really get a feeling of what est means to its followers, other than to live in reality and to make yourself a better person. It seems to be a mish-mash of several different beliefs and philosophies. It's pick and choose, ala carte enlightenment.
In the documentary, people claim that Erhard's teachings gave tons of ideas to the world - ideas that are now used in business, our everyday lives, and even advertising. To me it just seems like standard life lessons we've learned before.
Transformation scratches the surface of what could be an interesting documentary. I just wish it wasn't so eager to try to prove Erhard right.
Michael D Friedman is the online producer and an editor for CinemATL. In his spare time, he is a screenwriter and filmmaker. He is a founder and co-president of the Atlanta Screenwriters Group.
Documentary on Werner Erhard, with his participation,arrived
Posted by:
glam
()
Date: July 17, 2006 10:02PM
It's also spawned a very quick little back-and-forth on the Atlanta Films board. As usual, when est or Landmark are mentioned on a non-cult-related forum, someone brings up the "cult" word...jeez, you just can't get in a good, unadulterated plug for any of Werner's stuff these days. :wink:
[www.atlantafilms.com]
[www.atlantafilms.com]
Documentary on Werner Erhard, with his participation,arrived
Posted by:
igotit
()
Date: July 17, 2006 10:30PM
!!!!
Documentary on Werner Erhard, with his participation,arrived
Posted by:
igotit
()
Date: July 17, 2006 10:41PM
!!!!
Documentary on Werner Erhard, with his participation,arrived
Posted by:
joe6
()
Date: July 18, 2006 01:22AM
> The whole thing, more or less is attempt to clear his name.
Some speculate that Erhard commissioned this documentary to "clear his name" for returning to public life. Do you have any ideas about that?
Some speculate that Erhard commissioned this documentary to "clear his name" for returning to public life. Do you have any ideas about that?
Documentary on Werner Erhard, with his participation,arrived
Posted by:
nutrino
()
Date: July 18, 2006 06:35AM
In all honesty, I'd have to see this wonderful piece of creative expression before passing judgement.... as a general observation, vanity projects such as these have a whiff of desperation about them... because they go begging the question... IF this purported saint was, in fact, in general perception, made of the stuff he and his people insist that he is, then why haven't legitimate (i.e. hard nosed, clear thinking, well versed in the arts of obfuscation and evasion, meticulous researching) documentarians made exhibitable material from his life story ? Why, why, why do they have to resort to self published material... because no one else wants to touch the story, because they can't afford to a crack team looking to hard at the complete story ? There is no market for the story ? PBS couldn't care less ? The BBC did manage to edit in about 30 seconds of face time with Werner in their special, The Century Of The Self, and in that brief time, Werner managed to say one of the stupidest, most vapid , glib piece of pseudo profundity that could be squoze into the brief time they alloted him.... I was thinking, boy is this guy, deep down, one seriously dumb [i:d391d36be9] poseur [/i:d391d36be9] .
Documentary on Werner Erhard, with his participation,arrived
Posted by:
joe6
()
Date: July 18, 2006 07:02AM
I wonder if the documentary tralks about Erhard's training in Scientology? I thought Erhard when I saw the following clip showing the "technology" in action of harassing people into submission.
The "technology" is the astonishing discovery that many people will remain in the headlights of this kind of abuse long enough to give in to their abusers. In the clip, the three Scientologists keep
repeated "What are you afraid of? What did you do? What are you afraid of?" I imagine Werner undergoing this in his Scientology training and thinking "Hey, this is great stuff! It really works!" and formulating how he would sell it.
[video.google.com]
The "technology" is the astonishing discovery that many people will remain in the headlights of this kind of abuse long enough to give in to their abusers. In the clip, the three Scientologists keep
repeated "What are you afraid of? What did you do? What are you afraid of?" I imagine Werner undergoing this in his Scientology training and thinking "Hey, this is great stuff! It really works!" and formulating how he would sell it.
[video.google.com]
Documentary on Werner Erhard, with his participation,arrived
Posted by:
caligari
()
Date: August 21, 2006 02:58AM
Quote
Gregory8899
I just found this. Since I'm new here, pardon if this has been posted elsewhere:
A documentary on Werner opened April 2006, and showed in Atlanta two days ago. Looks like Werner, at 70, helped out! Can't wait to see it.
[www.transformationfilm.com]
The original meaning of the word deconstruct as created by Jacques Derrida is that the underyling, hidden assumptions and framework can be found in an expression without taking it apart. Having done est, been involved in it from 1975-1983 and critically thought about it since then, I see all the elements of est in the trailer for the documentary:
[www.transformationfilm.com]
- The technique Werner applied of a booming voice from the diaphram heard in the first words by Werner, "You don't know your ass from a hole in the ground." A technique when applied over and over to willing subjects that will lead some to a hypnotic state. With similar hypnotic techniques applied through repitition by other trained seminar leaders.
- The attack on a persons ability to criticaly think and determine reality in the next statements, "I want you to get that this is the way you live your life. You live your life as if reality is what's real to you."
- The denial of personal and individual physical reality in his next statements, "Old ladies don't bother me, you know that...that's good. I don't have any respect for old ladies. I got respect for people, but not old ladies."
Then clips from The Danger Process.
And the the irony of camparing Aristotle with Werner. Since Aristotle's philosophy is about logic, critical thinking, the scientific process. About an individuals ability to independently determine reality and truth. Not their inability to do that.
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