Harry Truman is reputed to have said “Political Correctness is a doctrine, recently fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and promoted by a sick mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end!”
Political correctness has become a turdy term, a polarising polemic that has accelerated extremism on both sides of the political divide.
To criticise it, one becomes a darling of the Right, and that is what has happened in the case of Jordan Peterson, a Canadian psychology professor who took umbrage at his country’s controversial pronoun laws. Section 16
A rare, intimate glimpse into the life and mind of Jordan Peterson, the academic and best-selling author who captured the world’s attention with his criticisms of political correctness and his life-changing philosophy on discovering personal meaning.
Christened as the most influential public intellectual in the western world, University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson skyrocketed to fame after he published a controversial viral video series entitled “Professor Against Political Correctness” in 2016. Within 2 years, he sold over 3 million copies of his self-help book, 12 Rules For Life, and became simultaneously branded by some as an academic rock star selling out theatres around the world, and by others as a dangerous threat to progressive society.
THE RISE OF JORDAN PETERSON intimately traces the transformative period of Peterson’s life while visiting rare moments with his family, friends and foes who share their own versions of the Jordan Peterson story.
Sluggish to start with, THE RISE OF JORDAN PETERSON takes a while to rise and even then doesn’t rise too far into overheated argument. More a failed souffle of reactionary discussion, with Peterson’s apparent pomposity fueled by the preposterous outer perimeters of the politically correct.
Possibly protesting too much that he is not politically aligned, his feting by the Right flatters Jordan giving him a fan base for his conservative views. Gender identity and expression versus freedom of speech is a conflict worth a conversation and this documentary gives robust and unfettered representation to the pros and cons.
‘Special screenings around Sydney from 30 October’
SYDNEY SCREENINGS
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> RITZ CINEMAS RANDWICK NSW 30 OCTOBER @ 7:00PM
> READING CINEMAS ROUSE HILL NSW 31 OCTOBER @ 6:30PM