Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles (2011)

directed by Jon Foy
USA
86 minutes
5 stars out of 5
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The Toynbee Tiles are a series of messages embedded in roads all over the upper east coast of the United States as well as South America. They're alluring because it's so hard to conclusively prove who did them, why, or what they mean. Nearly all of them read "TOYNBEE IDEA/IN MOVIE 2001/RESURRECT DEAD/ON PLANET JUPITER", sometimes substituting "Kubrick's 2001" for "Movie 2001" but always referring to the same basic concept: An idea by historian Arnold Toynbee, shown in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, that the dead can be brought back to life on Jupiter.

I think the most compelling thing about the tiles is that it proves that at the tail end of the 20th century and even into the 21st, you can do something like this and there's still a good chance no one will find out who you are. In an era where it's relatively easy to find out who somebody is, where forensic technology and, likewise, technology used to do less scrupulous things like doxx people is on the rise and getting stronger, the Toynbee Tiles serve as a reminder that you can still disappear in the world. This is why the tiles are meaningful to me.

And this phenomenon is also a striking example of the fact that the world changes massively from generation to generation- one of the conclusions of the film is that at some point in the past, the Toynbee Idea was an active force, and the buzz around it today is merely a resurgence. In the early 80s when there were real efforts by the organization behind the tiles to get people involved, it wasn't just crack investigators ferreting out the smallest bits of information, there was a network of people associated with the idea, but now the people reviving the mystery are too young to know that, and the people who were around at the time aren't inclined to adopt new technologies. The true story behind the Toynbee Tiles is not dead, not erased from the surface of the planet- it simply exists in the minds of people who happen to be relatively difficult to find.

This is one of the best documentaries I've seen and one of the most sympathetic in its portrayal of someone who doesn't want to be found. Justin Duerr, the man who the doc focuses on the most, seems like a genuinely kind and understanding person fueled not by a desire to know who the hell this "crazy, delusional weirdo" is but to find someone who he admires and cares about. Too many documentaries about outsider art dehumanize their subjects when they assume that they are mentally ill or otherwise part of The Other, invading privacy and taking work out of important context because people who aren't in on it can't empathize with anyone they assume to have mental health issues. Resurrect Dead acknowledges the importance of respecting someone's privacy and individuality. This may in fact be my new favorite documentary on any subject, ever.