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As You See

Name: As You See
Director: Harun Farocki
Released: 1986
Duration: 72 min

Representation Score

5.7/10

Fair

1986

Director

Harun Farocki

Runtime

72 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Harun Farocki’s essay-film serves as a sophisticated critique of systemic power. By juxtaposing military technology with socially useful civilian alternatives, the work challenges the prioritization of destruction over social utility. The film's strength lies in its intellectual depth and its innovative mosaic structure that encourages viewer-led connections. However, the documentary's focus on specific industrial histories and technological processes results in a lack of explicit representation for various identity groups.

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Category Breakdown

Does As You See have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film does not include explicit LGBTQ+ characters or stories, focusing instead on industrial labor and technological history.

How does As You See portray gender?

Fair

While the documentary looks at masculine hierarchies tied to warfare, it does not provide specific character arcs related to gender.

How racially and ethnically diverse is As You See?

Fair

The film explores global technological histories and socio-political implications but focuses mainly on British aerospace history, limiting the visibility of racial diversity.

How does As You See represent religion and culture?

Excellent

Farocki uses a mosaic structure to critique the military-industrial complex and questions the morality of Western technological advancement and institutional power.

Does As You See include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no information regarding the depiction of physical or neurodivergent disabilities in this work.

Present on Screen

Sophisticated deconstruction of Western industrial and military institutions.
Innovative mosaic structure that encourages viewer-led connections.
Strong intellectual critique of the military-industrial complex.

Limited or Absent

Lack of explicit LGBTQ+ characters or narratives.
Limited visibility of racial diversity within the subject matter.
Absence of specific gendered character arcs or representation.

Official Synopsis

In 'As You See', Farocki searches for those instances and facts in the history of technology that have been overlooked or ignored, also exploring the ambivalent relationship between technologies developed for civil use and those designed for military purposes. Thus the film for instance describes how in the 1970s workers at the British arms factory Lucas Aerospace attempted to develop socially useful products to replace the company's military output. Rather than following a linear argument, this essay-film juxtaposes disparate images and weaves them into a mosaic-like structure which makes it possible for the viewers to make their own connections between the different images as well as between the images and the commentary.

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