If you get a chance to see “The Adjustment Bureau” in theaters, at home, or by any other medium, around the middle of the film you will enjoy a brief conversation in which one of the main characters explains a key plot element with history as a justification for that plot element. In doing so, the main character neatly divides history into periods, good and bad, with order, social development, and lesser periods of warfare and suffering as the apparent sorting criteria between “good” and “bad” periods. What was fascinating was that this outline of history grouped the “good” periods as between (roughly) 44 BC to 476 AD, then the 1330s through 1910, and finally 1963 to the present (although the last is a “semi-good” period.) The “bad” periods were the times in-between those chunks, mainly the “Dark Ages” and the World War I to early Cold War periods of history. What I found particularly amusing was that the presentation was overly simplistic, what I found distressing was that there was a good chance regular people watching this movie might take this value system for historical periods to heart.
First off the “Dark Ages” – arguing that this was a horrible or destructive period in human history, even with a European focused view, is both short-sighted and overly critical of the period, the stretch of time from the decline and end of the Western Roman Empire through to the Italian Renaissance is actually a fairly complicated period of time, one filled with many technological innovations, philosophical developments, and an economic and political re-alignment that opened Western and Eastern Europe to new ideas and developments. The collapse of centralized Roman authority also meant a re-alignment of market forces, a change to labor patterns, and an explosion of technological innovations to harness animal, water, and wind power in new directions. Even during the period of Germanic conquest, roughly from 476 AD to 800 AD, Western Europe underwent a massive series of changes socially and politically that changed the distribution of wealth, opened up new opportunities for people, and allowed a flourishing of new sorts of art, music, and culture. What that period did not produce was a rash of new sources of written literature nor an upswing in social developments that conformed to the ideals of Roman and Greek society, ideals later embraced in Italy as a reaction to the developments of this period. This was a period of political collapse, a period of conflict, and a period of change – change is a destructive and constructive force – life was difficult at times for those living in this period and kind at other times in the same period. But the foundations laid during this period, and the later High Middle Ages, helped shape the modern world in profound ways, ways that are actually beneficial even today. To dismiss the period as a “bad” one in human history is short-sighted.
The same can be said for the period from 1910 to 1962 – the world shifted incredibly during that period, a shift fueled by changing economic and political forces. In that period is incredible violence and periods of dark oppression but also periods of political liberation and changes in economics that re-wrote the political order of centuries. It was the end of European imperial dominance of the globe and its replacement with a broader, more open system of political leadership. It was a period of violence but also a period of new ideals and new cultural ideas – as well as a technological age of wonder arguably unequaled for its pace and scope in any previous age. The world radically changed during this period – radical changes fueled by competition, violence, and danger.
But what really struck me was the argument made that humanity benefited greatly from the Italian Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason – all powerful periods of change for humanity and periods that laid the foundations for new orders of thought and development in Europe. Also though this was an age of regular rolling political wars, monarchies, slavery, and massive wealth shifts. During this period Europe carved an empire for itself across the globe, an empire only ended by violence and that first empire merely lead to a shift to a new empire in other exploitable lands. As well for all the amazing developments in Europe in cultural, literature, art, and science there were also movements in other directions, including those against personal freedom, liberty, and self-rule, it took violent revolt and unrest to end many European governments established power structures to end power imbalances that had lasted for centuries.
But a summary is in order – if you see “The Adjustment Bureau” take the suggested ranking of history with a grain of salt – it is at best unbalanced and at worst deceptive. It wasn’t all ponies, rainbows, and kittens during the “good” periods and it wasn’t all doom, gloom, and bad candy during the “bad” periods.
First off the “Dark Ages” – arguing that this was a horrible or destructive period in human history, even with a European focused view, is both short-sighted and overly critical of the period, the stretch of time from the decline and end of the Western Roman Empire through to the Italian Renaissance is actually a fairly complicated period of time, one filled with many technological innovations, philosophical developments, and an economic and political re-alignment that opened Western and Eastern Europe to new ideas and developments. The collapse of centralized Roman authority also meant a re-alignment of market forces, a change to labor patterns, and an explosion of technological innovations to harness animal, water, and wind power in new directions. Even during the period of Germanic conquest, roughly from 476 AD to 800 AD, Western Europe underwent a massive series of changes socially and politically that changed the distribution of wealth, opened up new opportunities for people, and allowed a flourishing of new sorts of art, music, and culture. What that period did not produce was a rash of new sources of written literature nor an upswing in social developments that conformed to the ideals of Roman and Greek society, ideals later embraced in Italy as a reaction to the developments of this period. This was a period of political collapse, a period of conflict, and a period of change – change is a destructive and constructive force – life was difficult at times for those living in this period and kind at other times in the same period. But the foundations laid during this period, and the later High Middle Ages, helped shape the modern world in profound ways, ways that are actually beneficial even today. To dismiss the period as a “bad” one in human history is short-sighted.
The same can be said for the period from 1910 to 1962 – the world shifted incredibly during that period, a shift fueled by changing economic and political forces. In that period is incredible violence and periods of dark oppression but also periods of political liberation and changes in economics that re-wrote the political order of centuries. It was the end of European imperial dominance of the globe and its replacement with a broader, more open system of political leadership. It was a period of violence but also a period of new ideals and new cultural ideas – as well as a technological age of wonder arguably unequaled for its pace and scope in any previous age. The world radically changed during this period – radical changes fueled by competition, violence, and danger.
But what really struck me was the argument made that humanity benefited greatly from the Italian Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason – all powerful periods of change for humanity and periods that laid the foundations for new orders of thought and development in Europe. Also though this was an age of regular rolling political wars, monarchies, slavery, and massive wealth shifts. During this period Europe carved an empire for itself across the globe, an empire only ended by violence and that first empire merely lead to a shift to a new empire in other exploitable lands. As well for all the amazing developments in Europe in cultural, literature, art, and science there were also movements in other directions, including those against personal freedom, liberty, and self-rule, it took violent revolt and unrest to end many European governments established power structures to end power imbalances that had lasted for centuries.
But a summary is in order – if you see “The Adjustment Bureau” take the suggested ranking of history with a grain of salt – it is at best unbalanced and at worst deceptive. It wasn’t all ponies, rainbows, and kittens during the “good” periods and it wasn’t all doom, gloom, and bad candy during the “bad” periods.