Dark Side of the Moon explores the theory that film director Stanley Kubrick helped the CIA fake the moon landing to help the US win the space race against the Soviet Union. One evidence given for this claim is that Kubrick was gifted a camera by the CIA to shoot the moon landing in his studio (Cineartemx, 2020). The mockumentary relies on interviews from astronauts and eye-witness accounts of the staged landing. It suggests that the CIA assassinated members of the film crew who participated in faking the moon landing but spared Kubrick. At the end of the film, there are bloopers revealing that the video is actually a mockumentary. The director, William Karel, intended to pay tribute to Kubrick while showing the absurdity of the staged moon landing conspiracy theory.
The mockumentary was creatively directed, and it is easy to believe that it is an actual documentary which supports the fake moon landing conspiracy theory. For instance, Kubrick’s widow, Christiane Kubrick, is featured in the film. However, it is helpful that throughout the film, Karel drops hints that serve as giveaways to the fact that the film is not to be believed, including inconsistencies within the narration and references to wrong dates (Cineartemx, 2020). Additionally, the bloopers at the end definitively demonstrate that the comedic nature of the film. Nevertheless, I believe this mockumentary has largely achieved the opposite of what it intended. Some people watch the film and conclude that it provides evidence for the staged moon landing theory. Additionally, the film has been edited to remove elements showing that it mocks the conspiracy theory rather than support it. Though brilliant in its premise, the mockumentary has, in-part, helped reinforce the belief that NASA faked the moon landing.
Reference
Cineartemx (2020). dark side of the moon (Dir.: William Karel, 2002) [Video]. YouTube. Web.