This is a movie about freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of information, freedom of thought. This is not a movie just about Occupy, it’s a movie about technological and political revolution, damage control, media manipulation, the danger of monopolies and absolutely breath-taking examples of financial corruption and greed.

The Occupy movement is the biggest social activism uprising since the ‘60’s in the US. It began in NYC on Wall Street on Sept 17th, 2011 in Zucotti Park as a demonstration against Corporate corruption but quickly gained momentum. Occupy movements were initiated around the country. What began on Wall Street hit a nerve internationally and suddenly Occupy Movements were happening around the world. Opinions were divided. Some claimed it was connected to terror groups, others called them the latest patriots. Deliberate parallels are drawn with Martin Luther King’s Resurrection City. Occupy ran the largest soup kitchen in New York.

Corey Ogilvie’s movie Occupy asks hard questions of the viewer. Can dissence be duty? What future are we leaving our children? Is security more important than safety? Is violence an option, and if it is, how far should it go?

Beginning with the events that led to the Occupation, the bail-outs, the revolutions in Egypt, Tunisa, Greece and Spain and attempts made regarding redistribution of wealth in America, it moves on to media reception of the Occupation.

Occupy also examines SOPA and the lack of coverage it and similar bills receive. Despite a web-blackout as protest, more news channels talked about the Kardashians than the upcoming bill. Almost all the information about SOPA was not shared by traditional media, but by the internet. This leads the movie to talk about the rise of the internet, file sharing and the use of social media to spread information, including chilling footage of someone getting arrested for running a livestream in a car. There is also debate about laws introduced to detain suspects without due process. For example, the Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was not read his Miranda Rights until 16 hours after his arrest. In situations like that, should people be given those rights? What if someone is arrested at a peaceful protest? It’s a slippery slope and it’s definitely something that should be talked about more.

Occupy could have focused more on facts and events rather than opinion, and let us draw our own conclusions, but it’s understandable that Ogilvie has strong opinions on this. We all should.

Donal O’Connor