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The Loving Trap

Ben Woodhams
Comedy
YouTube
15 HN users recommended this comedy video11 months2012–2026 score 11.5
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

Recommended as the standard companion to any Adam Curtis film, since it lampoons the style and gives reasons to take his claims with skepticism.

A three-minute parody of Adam Curtis's documentary style, assembled from archive footage with his typical narration and leaps of logic.

“You should always acompany this documentary with a watch of this short little video.” (HN, 2021)

1 strong recommendations · 14 recommendations · 3 citations · 2 jokes · Comedy

20 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@fimdomeio Nov 2021 Strongly recommends
on HN thread Can't Get You Out of My Head
You should always acompany this documentary with a watch of this short little video. The Loving Trap ( [this video] ). It mocks adam curtis style while making some very good points.
Short video mocking Curtis's style with good points.
@jn Dec 2013 Recommends
on HN thread What the Fluck
Have you seen "The Loving Trap"? [this video] (spoiler: it's a parody of Curtis's methods)
Parody of Curtis's methods.
@JonnieCache Dec 2013 Recommends
on HN thread What the Fluck
That's his whole thing. His films typically come in three or four 60 minute sections. He occasionally does stuff like stage live action interactive theatre versions of his documentaries in abandoned warehouses. He once did a show with Massive Attack. So when he writes articles like this, it's him being restrained. See the following brilliantly observed parody for the reasons to take him with a pinch of salt: [this video] That said, he is one of my intellectual idols, however much he does enjoy gimmickry.
Observant parody encouraging skepticism of Curtis.
@andreaja Jan 2014 Recommends
on HN thread Amusing ourselves to death
And if you're interested in Adam Curtis, I recommend this parody/critique: [this video] Not saying that Curtis's documentaries are without merit, just lending a little context.
Parody/critique giving context to Curtis's documentaries.
@benkant Feb 2015 Recommends
on HN thread Adam Curtis: Bitter Lake
Read more
Yes. I disagree with most of his points of view. Some of his statements are outright incorrect and a majority are at least questionable or wanting for references. In _The Trap_ he constantly uses the phrase "based on numbers" in a negative fashion, as if it were an inferior method of analysis. I find that particularly strange considering that if you just listen to his narrative without the images, there is no analysis and often no cogent argument. One argument, if I remember correctly, was that game theory should no longer be used as a tool because it was largely developed during the cold war, which is over now. And yet I'm utterly I'm fascinated by his movies. I probably (re)watch one every 2 months. Go figure. edit: You can't miss this parody: [this video]
Parody of Curtis not to be missed.
@thackerhacker Feb 2017 Recommends
on HN thread HyperNormalisation (2016) [video]
It's easy to get sucked into thinking it all makes perfect sense but there's a few pretty big implied leaps of logic. This spoof sums it up pretty well I think [this video]
Spoof highlighting leaps of logic in Curtis's films.
@Melting_Harps Jan 2021 Recommends
on HN thread New six-film series from Adam Curtis
Read more
> [this video] LOL! I had paused Hypernormilzation on the mid point when it got to AI and the picture of the screen was a one of these guys [0] and I just had it that way and kind of wondered why I prefer to just hear his work as as podcast as I do other stuff rather than hyper focus on the screen. This explains my latent feelings of the absurdity on screen rather well. His documentaries have so much exposition that you can kind of look up the topics on your own as you go along to try and compare and contrast the facts as they're narrated, his work is probably my first foray with interactive TV. 0: [link]
Parody explaining absurdity of Curtis's on-screen style.
@twic Jan 2021 Recommends
on HN thread Adam Curtis Explains It All
> Boone directed readers instead to a short online spoof of Curtis’s films by Ben Woodhams called “The Loving Trap,” which describes his work as the “televisual equivalent of a drunken late-night Wikipedia binge.” I'm glad this was mentioned, because i think it's hilarious: [this video]
Hilarious spoof of Curtis's films.
@luminouslow Nov 2022 Recommends
on HN thread Half a million UK workers drop out of workforce, citing long-term illness
Why do you think its a joke? it seems you agree with me? Sure brits love to get drunk but their politics always seemed reasonable to me. I love the different subcultures the UK birthed and its heartbreaking how bad things are and are still going to get in the coming century. Downvote me if you must, wont change my personal (albeit uninformed) feelings. As for Adam Curtis i enjoy his work but this parody hits it on the nail: [this video]
Parody that hits Curtis's style on the nail.

Citations, criticism and jokes

@whyhellothere Dec 2012 Cites it
on HN thread Save Your Kisses For Me
Adam Curtis is one of the most important documentary film thinkers of this or any other generation. Seminal. 'The Loving Trap' (2011) is a good place to start exploring this visionaries ground breaking work... [this video] Why is this on hacker news?
@hyko Feb 2021 Makes a joke
on HN thread Can’t Get You Out of My Head [video]
“...and, as a result, Thabo Mbeki was swept to power” [this video] Love a good Adam Curtis documentary, especially when he throws light on obscure moments in history. Probably best not to hang your understanding of the world on the scaffold he constructs though.
@pmg102 Mar 2026 Makes a joke
on HN thread "It Turns Out"
A phrase also beloved of Adam Curtis, along with starting new sentences with conjunctions. "But this was a fantasy." [this video]

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

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