Targeted Individuals
In this age of global terrorism and unprecedented government surveillance, our collective sense of fear and paranoia has rarely been stronger. This certainly applies to the subject of a fascinating documentary titled Targeted Individuals. Produced by the always reliable and provocative VICE News, the film portrays a growing subculture that believes its every move is being monitored and manipulated as part of an ominous global conspiracy.
The film opens at a meeting in England with more than 60 goals in attendance. Some claimed they were regularly followed by agents who stopped them on the street and left them messages. Others said they had devices implanted in their heads that allowed the troops to read their minds and transmit messages via satellite.
The Internet provides a forum where members of the community, old and new, can discuss their struggles and organize a movement to support each other while raising public awareness. Many of them feel isolated, anxious and incapable of keeping their jobs or successfully communicating their pain to others outside their community.
Filmmakers don’t approach these thorny issues with cynicism. Instead, they offer them an opportunity to express their beliefs and experiences without fear of being ridiculed. Public criticism only digs deeper into their isolated shell. One of the most prominent members of the community shared a recent CAT scan and dental X-ray, both pointing to the presence of the mysterious implant. Another shows the lead sheet she wears to protect herself from alien transmission, and talks about her compulsion to move from city to city to avoid being hunted.
The medical community rightly believes that these individuals suffer from varying degrees of schizophrenia and other mental disorders. The Internet enables them to seek the company of others who share their fantasies. Society as a whole has a shameful history when it comes to addressing mental health issues. These are some of the victims who slipped through the cracks, and as they start organizing more people, their situation will only get worse.
Targeted Individuals is a deeply empathetic portrayal of mental illness that feels unique to our current culture of restlessness.
