18 votes

What's a video/series you would consider a "required viewing"?

Identify a topic/target audience and a piece of "required viewing" for that topic/audience.

"Required viewing" means that you consider the video content you've chosen to be so important or relevant that it is essentially mandatory for those interested. Also, explain why you feel so strongly about it. What makes the video "required" rather than just "preferred"? What makes is stand out over other videos like it?

For example, maybe there's a concert video that you consider essential for rock music fans. Maybe there's a TV series that's an essential introduction to space exploration. Maybe there's a movie that's a must-see for new parents.

Any video media is fair game. Movies, television, online series, livestreams, documentaries, YouTube videos. Whatever. Also, if it's publicly streamable, include a link for us!

5 comments

  1. Icarus
    Link
    Hmm, I would say David Foster Wallace's famous 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI I don't know the specific audience for this type of video but...

    Hmm, I would say David Foster Wallace's famous 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI

    I don't know the specific audience for this type of video but I feel the Wikipedia description of the speech's essay later published could tell you whether or not you would be interested in it:

    This essay covers subjects including the difficulty of empathy, the importance of being well adjusted, and the apparent lonesomeness of adult life. Additionally, Wallace’s speech suggests that the overall purpose of higher education is to be able to consciously choose how to perceive others, think about meaning, and act appropriately in everyday life. He argues that the true freedom acquired through education is the ability to be adjusted, conscious, and sympathetic.

    9 votes
  2. [2]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. JakeTheDog
      Link Parent
      Oh yes. It's one if not the only Sci-Fi series that does it's best at portraying where society may be realistically. Lots of Sci-Fi, especially classics, didn't spend much time on the social...

      Oh yes. It's one if not the only Sci-Fi series that does it's best at portraying where society may be realistically. Lots of Sci-Fi, especially classics, didn't spend much time on the social aspects of future societies.

      5 votes
  3. culturedleftfoot
    Link
    Human, a film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Simply put, it's a collection of people telling the stories of their lives, in an examination of what makes us human. It's available in a few different...

    Human, a film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Simply put, it's a collection of people telling the stories of their lives, in an examination of what makes us human. It's available in a few different languages.

    I truly believe this film should be required watching for everyone on the face of the planet. No description I provide can really do it justice, but I will say I found it a tremendously humbling experience. Writing this post was a good reminder that I need to rewatch it, so thank you.

    "Life is like carrying a message from the child you were to the old man you will be. You have to make sure that this message isn't lost along the way."

    6 votes
  4. balooga
    Link
    There are lots of different versions of Carl Sagan's "pale blue dot" homily available on the web, I think this one may be the best quality. It is profoundly humbling and motivating, a clarion call...

    There are lots of different versions of Carl Sagan's "pale blue dot" homily available on the web, I think this one may be the best quality. It is profoundly humbling and motivating, a clarion call to the human race to come to its senses.

    If that moves you like it moves me, I recommend following up with this full reading of the "You Are Here" chapter of Sagan's book from which it came. It includes a more detailed backstory of the how the Voyager 1 solar system self-portrait came to be, and makes the case as only Sagan could that our progress as a species has been diverted by petty and meaningless hubris. This message is more relevant today than it's ever been.

    If that doesn't make you feel small enough, the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field will. (Official photo download available here.) I also highly recommend Timelapse of the Entire Universe as a reminder of the infinitesimal blip of humanity's entire existence, when viewed against a cosmological timescale. We've only been here 200,000 years or so. Civilization in any recognizable form has only been around maybe 10,000 years. The industrial revolution (which made possible the modern era) was less than 300 years ago... that's NOTHING. Compare that with the dinosaurs, the dominant life on this planet for more than 175 million years, conservatively 875 times longer than we've been here. I have trouble even conceiving of the scale differences between these numbers.

    Happy Friday! Haha, here's a nice existential crisis to to help you kick off your weekend!

    Extra credit: Whether you're a Bible reader or not, take a peek at the first chapter of Ecclesiastes. These words were written by the Hebrew king Solomon, storied "wisest man in history," about 3,000 years ago and echo the same thoughts I'm having here. Truly there is nothing new under the sun.

    4 votes
  5. Talespin
    Link
    Apollo 11 - Amazon Prime Video I have always been interested in the moon landing and being only 31, I wasn't around to witness it. This documentary made me feel like I was actually there. My eyes...

    Apollo 11 - Amazon Prime Video

    I have always been interested in the moon landing and being only 31, I wasn't around to witness it. This documentary made me feel like I was actually there. My eyes even teared up when they announced they landed on the moon. It is a must watch.

    3 votes