Popular culture mirrors the human psyche and it can't lie about the state it is in: which is what makes it an essential guide on the quest for self-knowledge. Seen and Not Seen: Confessions of a Movie Autist is a series of explorations which slowly uncover the author's secret life to himself. In the process, the book reveals an unexpectedly dark underbelly to popular culture and shows how it shapes our identities from an early age, in ways both intentional and not.
Moving into and through the social and political dimensions of movies, the book examines the Hollywood revenge fantasy, the military-entertainment complex, and how American movies have become weaponized. In the final chapters, with reference to the infamous UK disc jockey Jimmy Savile and crucified artist Sebastian Horsley, it examines the relationship between escapism and dissociation, trauma and celebrity, to reveal unsuspected political, psychological, and spiritual realms to the entertainment industry, and, by extension, to the movie-going experience.