Rage: A Social Analysis

“Are we becoming an angrier society?” Commentators from law enforcement and academia, as well as “recovered ragers,” discuss this question in Rage: A Social Analysis, which looks at the subject of rage in various forms—specifically road, work, and sports rage. Incorporating news footage of actual instances—some of them fatal—the documentary offers a disquieting glimpse at the depth and breadth of the problem. While some specific causes are discussed, the most pervasive trigger is a thwarted impulse, ranging from the driver in a hurry stuck behind a slow-moving vehicle, to the employee who can't finish a day's work because he is barraged with phone calls and e-mails. These triggers are coupled with a general decline in social skills and a sense of personal impotence, or as one “recovered” rager sums it up, the “one common denominator is the desire to be acknowledged for the space they take up in this world.” Especially disturbing are comments from little league and amateur hockey referees, whose treatment at the hands of parents and other spectators offer little hope that future generations will be any better socialized. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (N. Egan)