Behind the Curve

Flat Earthers seem to be more attracted to belonging to a group of nonconformists than actually proving the world is flat. My favorite part was near the end when Mark was in his room at the conference talking about the Truman Show. He contrasted Truman, who could escape because by the end he had nothing else to lose, and the town's mayor, who was sort of tied down by the trappings of life. And the director says "Aren't you like the mayor of Flat Earth?" And Mark, who has an answer for everything, was speechless. Mark actually is trapped in Flat Earth. The notoriety is something he'd never allow himself to give up. If one day he was confronted with irrefutable proof of the planet's curvature, he wouldn't be able to accept it because he cannot walk away from this fame. Therefore Mark ultimately doesn't want to know the truth. He has no interest in it because his life isn't about that anymore on a fundamental level.

I have heard this theory in the past few months and thought I would tune in to see what their theory is and why. Unfortunately they had none. No science, no evidence, no smoking guns, where are they flat head people? Goof ball people trying to make a living convincing others to buy their books, t-shirts, hats, bumper stickers and watching YouTube videos. I have so many questions to ask these people. For the big one, where's the edge at? Has anyone actually found the edge of the flat earth? You would think one of them would be getting on a plane or a ship to find the edge at least. His own mother doesn't believe it. She says, show me proof. I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinion on whatever it is. I'm just shaking my head. Yikes!

Good documentary, well done. Tbh I still reckon the earth is A globe though. Entertaining to watch people who seem of relatively sound mind claim such a strange notion with real conviction.

While I'm like 85% certain eclipses are an inside job distracting us from the machinations of our lizard overlords, I have always been a skeptic of flat earth theory. Just watching the semi-credentialed believers become troubled by the globe-supporting evidence they collected themselves was simply priceless.

I worked in pub where you meet lot of americans and can say all non american people are making fun of americans because they seriously believe any stupid nonsense you tell them. So not surprised that they believe this ridiculous theory. I would have just one question for them . WHY??? Why would they lie to us? What is the point ?? These people are so stupid that is annoying. People who just so desperatly think that everyone is lying or i dont know, they should all just go to shrink!!!!

Came into this hoping to hear rational perspectives on flat-earth theory. What we get instead is an inside view of how cultists think and behave. They believe they have discovered some grand truth that nobody else can see. Then they prescribe to the idea with such reckless conviction that they either outright reject any evidence that disproves their theory, or they contort it until it fits into their distorted view of reality. They then point at the rest of society and say that the truth will be revealed to us as long as we adopt their view of reality. And anyone who refuses to believe them suddenly becomes the enemy. At one point, they even go so far as to claim "it is a battle between good and evil." This all shares stark similarities with other cults, like Scientology. This film makes it easy to see why some people fall prey to cults, it's a mechanism by which they can cope with their crushing feelings of insignificance in the world. Suddenly they belong to something "exclusive," something that brings them closer to other human beings (which is a struggle that many people face.) This is especially effective with flat-earthers since, by adopting this view, we all become the center of the universe. I applaud Netflix for not outright ignoring or censoring pieces centered around pseudoscience. But at the same time I'm disappointed because, as is evident in this film, these folks feed off publicity like vultures and use it as a weapon to trap others into their cultist views. Notice how satisfied their "leader" gets when he realizes the media is actually giving attention to one of their conventions; and the way his eyes light up when he sees that a couple brought their kid to said convention was just downright disturbing. The only thing I gained by watching this film was a stronger distaste for cults.

The most poignant and perfect scene in this documentary was when one seemingly-prominent member of this flat earth community, Patricia Steere, was driving in her car. She was talking about how other members of this community have come up with conspiracies about her. How she actually works for the CIA (last 3 letters of her first name). She's using her good looks to lure men in and then "steer" (her last name) them the wrong way or something. Anyway, she actually provided personal documents of hers like her birth certificate to disprove their ridiculous theories about her. So as she's driving, talking about this, she's like, "no matter what I do, they'll just dismiss it anyway. 'Oh you're birth certificate can be a fake, created by the CIA.' etc...I do wonder though, in their heart of hearts, whether they know these things they're saying aren't true....And that got me to thinking about myself, and the things I believe... ...so I wonder, am I like that too?" (pause) "But I know I'm not" That's it right there. Perfect.