Surplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers is a 2003 Swedish documentary about consumerism and anti-consumerism, directed by Erik Gandini and Johan Söderberg. It opens with footage of the protests at the 27th G8 summit in Genoa, and is sown together around the words of anarcho-primitivist John Zerzan, who claims that destroying property - as opposed to attacking people - is necessary and is not violence. A lot of other people, apart from Zerzan, appear in the documentary, including the person who may be his diametrical opposite, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

The documentary relies heavy on the of fast-paced audiovisual collage-techniques and music, resembling the MTV style of video- and television marketing, the result of this is that the documentary is more impressionistic than purely reporting or fully studying the argument or set of arguments. Another characteristic is its arch use of lip-synching, for example George Bush speaking for Adbusters, or Fidel Castro screaming Steve Ballmer's words "I love this company. Yeah!".

People appearing in the documentary

• John Zerzan, Anarcho-primitivist writer, author of Elements of Refusal (1988), Future Primitive (1994), A Reader (1998) and Running on Emptiness (2002)
• George W. Bush, President of the United States
• Fidel Castro, leader of Cuba
• Kalle Lasn, from Adbusters (a group that monitors advertising)
• Matt McMullen, Realdoll sex-doll manufacturer, USA
• Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft since 2000
• Bill Gates, Chairman of the Board, Chief Software Architect of Microsoft
• Tania, from Havana, Cuba
• Mirta Muñiz, Cuba (“toothpaste lady”)
• Svante Tidholm, from Stockholm Sweden, wealthy web-designer for Spray (Swedish internet company), author of autobiographical novel, Loser (Wahlström & Widstrand, 1998, in Swedish)

Music

• Gotan Project
• Tosca
• Aphrodelics
• Marc O´Sullivan (The Might Quark)
• Johan Söderberg, David Österberg

Locations

Genoa (Genova), Italy (G8 summit 2001) / Shanghai, China (Stock Exchange) / Alang, India (metal reclaiming) / USA / Cuba / Hungary / Sweden / Canada

Additional information

Runtime: Sweden:54 min / Argentina:54 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) Country: Sweden Language: Swedish / Spanish / English Color: Color Certification: Singapore:NC-16 / Argentina:13

External links

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• Official website

2003 films | Anarchist films | Documentary films

Surplus