I loved this documentary. I had heard about the Yes Men, but it was great to actually see them in action and learn about the various stunts they pulled. Imagine this, the Yes Men pose as a Dow Chemical spokesperson and inform 300m people on BBC news that Dow has decided to clean up the Bhopal site and compensate the victims. Dow's stock dropped $2 billion in 20 mins!
Why did they do this? To attract people's attention to the fact that the site has not been cleaned up and still leaks harmful chemicals into the groundwater. And that the people are still suffering the after effects of the explosion more than 20 years later but have received no compensation for their suffering.
This is just one of the many hoaxes the Yes Men have pulled off in their unique style. They do it to try and create awareness of important issues which most people either don't know about or haven't given much thought. We are brainwashed by the propaganda of the media every day in every way and sometimes we need a little wake up call.
Do you know what happened at Bhopal and what the current situation is there? Very few do, but thanks to the Yes Men, the number of people who know is growing. If you would like to read about it, check out this website http://bhopal.net/
I won't go into details of every issue they cover in the movie, but I encourage you to watch this documentary, not only to become aware of important issues but to perhaps be motivated to make a difference in some way. Unlike a lot of documentaries, this one is also really entertaining. The audience was laughing a lot of the time, so it's something you can take a friend to, even if they don't know what they are going to see.
The Yes Men Fix The World is showing again at the V&A Nu Metro on Saturday 21st Aug, 2010 at 6pm. Then at the Labia on Sunday 29th at 8pm. More details on the Encounters Documentary festival here http://www.encounters.co.za

And finally, you can learn more about the documentary at the official website http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/

[More articles by Dax available at Relax With Dax]