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The Mad Century (2000)

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Cost-efficient but 'human stupid'

Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

This clip covers the end of the 20th Century, where we learn that East Timor voted and Indigenous Australians wanted their land back. ‘When Iraq wanted oil-producing Kuwait back again, car-driving America drew the line’. Computers are cost-efficient but 'human stupid’. Finally, because of globalisation, everything is efficient and interconnected. 'The only problem is, we seem to have accidentally locked ourselves out of it.’

Curator’s notes

by Antoinette Starkiewicz

Bruce Petty is telling us that in the rush to connect and control the globe we seem to have lost the plot and forgotten that humans, who actually inhabit the world, are made of much more than pixels. Digital technology, the war in Iraq and globalisation – all in our collective living memory – can now be pondered in the light of this film.

The final image, of a man desperately trying to embrace and hang on to the sphere that is our world, suggests that man has locked himself (and his humanity) out of the very world he helped to create.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer Cost-efficient but 'human stupid' from the short film The Mad Century as a high quality video download.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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