2 Best Releases Network Hulu on Fubotv

Doctor Philip Zimbardo is something of the Stan Lee of modern psychology. And like the famed Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief turned mascot, that vibe has met mixed reviews. The two share an undeniable charisma and enthusiasm that tends to butt up against a frequently characterized slippery grasp of historical truths. As a former Marvel.com freelancer and therapist on hiatus, both have loomed large in my professional career. I made my piece and staked out my position on Lee some time ago. Zimbardo has proven a more complicated case. It is a struggle The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth seems to share. One that it largely fails to resolve. Before going further, it’s crucial to acknowledge Zimbardo’s death less than a month ago at 91 years old. Near as I can tell, The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth had been scheduled to air this week for some time. There was no move made to capitalize on the doctor’s demise. Additionally, Zimbardo does appear in the documentary to speak on his own behalf and appears hale and hearty. There’s no sign of mental decline in the doctor's words or body language. There isn't a hint of an attempt by director Juliette Eisner or the Muck Media team led by Alex Braverman to make a hit piece about Zimbardo. The timing is unfortunate, perhaps, but it does not seem the product of ill intent. Participants in the experiment pose with performers hired to act in a recreation. (National Geographic) As a work of structure and pacing, Unlocking the Truth is an impressive work. Divided into three segments, each ends on a sort of academic cliffhanger, compelling viewers into the next episode. Roughly speaking, part 1 is the history as most know it. This installment is skippable for those who attended grad school for anything related to psychology. Honestly, that goes for anyone who took more than two psych courses in undergrad, too. However, for the only vaguely familiar or truly unfamiliar, the episode lays out details quickly and compellingly. It’s easy to see why the Stanford Prison Experiment has become such a sticky part of psychology’s legacy. It’s fascinating and disconcerting, presenting its case in a way that flatters that “of course, I knew it!” backward reasoning. Continue Reading →

The acclaimed documentarian joins The Spool to discuss Brooke Shields, her work, her life, and her relationship to "Brooke Shields" the image. In 1981, Roger Ebert wrote a profile on Brooke Shields in which he—quoting a press agent—said, “She will be with us for the rest of our lives.” That turned out to be remarkably prescient, but neither the agent nor Ebert could have anticipated the myriad number of ways Shields has been with us in that time. Yes, she is extraordinarily beautiful. But many equally attractive people have come and gone, while Shields remains a consistent part of pop culture’s firmament. From her early appearances in films like Pretty Baby (1978), The Blue Lagoon (1980), and Endless Love (1981) and her controversial TV ads for Calvin Klein jeans, all of which focused on her sexuality while she was literally a child, to her shift in the later Eighties to become America’s Virgin to her reinvention as a comedic actress in the Nineties to becoming an advocate for those suffering from postpartum depression (and suffering the slings and arrows of Tom Cruise in full asshole mode as a result), Shields has been a persistently relevant figure in the American popular consciousness.  While Shields has lived much of her life in the public eye, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, a fascinating two-part documentary from Lana Wilson now streaming on Hulu, proves that she still has a great deal to say. Given access to nearly a half-century’s worth of archival material, which she presents alongside contemporary interviews with Shields, Wilson paints a fascinating, eye-opening portrait that demands a new consideration of Shields and her career. Much of her story is harrowing, be it specific to her life—her wrenching descriptions of sexual assault and her tumultuous relationship with her mother—or experiences too many young women in the spotlight share. (If you think having someone inquire about the state of your virginity sounds awful, imagine having talk show hosts do so on live television.) And yet, not only has Shields survived, she is thriving. She has found peace with herself and is able to look back on her life with a sense of control over it.  Continue Reading →