Bill Moyers – Beyond Hate (1991/2013)

by | Apr 18, 2013 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

Bill Moyers – Beyond Hate (1991/2013)

Documentary originally broadcast by PBS 1991
Studio: PBS/Athena Learning AMP-8924/Acorn Media [5/14/13]
Video: 4:3 color & B&W
Audio: English PCM mono
Subtitles: English SDH
Extras: Bonus 58 min. program on “Facing Hate” with Elie Wiesel & Bill Moyers, Moyers biography, Quotes and discussion questions about hate, 12-p. printed viewer’s guide
Length: 87 minutes
Rating: *****

This is a profound and important documentary that in many ways is even more vital to the world today than it was when originally broadcast in 1991. There is a title at the start apologizing for the poor video quality of some of the clips, but the only ones that get a bit fuzzy and unclear are those clips from meetings of hate groups such as neo-Nazis and skinheads.

Moyers tries to cover every face of hate in the world, including racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, sectarianism, domestic violence, even neighbors violence to one another. He and his guests analyze the types of hate, the relationship between hate, anger and fear, and discuss what hate is doing to us. There are clips from school classroom discussions on hate and some revealing statements from a member of the Crips gang in Los Angeles. Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel and Jimmy Carter are also represented. There are several clips of the person who would probably still have the title of America’s most notorious hatemonger: Tom Metzger—a TV repairman in California who ran the White Aryan Resistance group and had a $12.5 million judgement against him and his son due to their role in inciting skinheads to murder an Ethiopian immigrant in Portland, OR.  The program features a philosophical discussion in depth. The documentary concludes with a quote by Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel that what is needed is for people to have a “messianic moment”—to find truth without pain or cruelty.

—John Sunier

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