Gibney's Warning at Venice
At the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday, filmmaker Alex Gibney discussed his new documentary 'Musk' during a press conference. The film, premiering out of competition, runs 225 minutes and examines the influence of Elon Musk, the owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. Gibney explained that the project shifted focus when Musk became involved with Donald Trump, blending the reality of Musk's actions with the unreality of his narrative.[S1]
Gibney said the documentary team reached out to Musk without success. To convey both the real and unreal aspects, they used an avatar speaking Musk's actual words, drawing on Musk's own ideas about living in a simulation. When asked about potential legal backlash, Gibney said lawyers gave sign-off to proceed. He also encountered a 'tremendous sense of fear of talking' among many people approached for the film.[S1]
Musk's Global Political Involvement
Gibney asserted that Musk is involved with right-wing parties worldwide, including in Germany, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and Turkey. He suggested that such governments are often more pliable and easier to influence, especially if they are corrupt and lack checks and balances. Gibney concluded that Musk is pursuing a global right-wing agenda for both ideological and practical monetary reasons.[S1]
The filmmaker emphasized the 'crony capitalist aspect' of Musk's political aspirations, noting that with Trump and other right-wing leaders, Musk sees unprecedented opportunities to buy influence. Gibney described Musk as 'always pragmatic' and moving where the money is. He also mentioned Musk's difficult childhood as a potential driver, suggesting Musk is playing out that trauma on the rest of us.[S1]
Panelists' Perspectives
Joining Gibney were Ashley St. Clair, who has a child with Musk, and technology journalist Zoë Schiffer. Schiffer said Musk ensures loyalty at high levels while treating others harshly, and at X, he has tweaked the algorithm to suppress mainstream journalism and amplify inflammatory voices. St. Clair claimed she was offered $40 million not to speak via an NDA after having her baby with Musk.[S1]
St. Clair said she got involved in Republican politics at 18 after meeting Charlie Kirk, but that ignorance does not excuse her role. She believes Musk is causing deliberate division that could be catastrophic if not regulated. Gibney called the film 'a cautionary tale' that attempts to show the forest amid the trees in a bewildering world of social media inputs.[S1]
