Documentary Films

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Documentary Films

• What is your understanding of documentary?

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See www.michaelmoore.com

• Roger and Me (1989) was a huge success leading to
  more films, a career in documentary film-making
  and so far his two greatest documentary successes
  are
• Bowling for Columbine (2002) and
• Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

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Q? What kinds of pleasures are being promised
here?
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Michael Moore

• Born 1954 Flint, Michigan, United States
• Father Grandfather worked in GM plant
• Dropped out of Uni. to become journalist
  political activist, first in Flint, then in San
  Francisco where he was fired used his
  settlement money, as well as selling his house,
  to finance his first film ..
• Roger and Me (1989)

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Controversy

• Explicitly intended to defeat George W. Bushs
  attempt to gain presidency for 2nd time by
  exploring his role in the events surrounding
  9/11.
• To date, it has made more money than any other
  documentary film ever 119,194,771 (lifetime
  gross) Ranked 5th most controversial film
• Sicko ranks 4th most successful documentary with
  24,540,079
• Bowling for Columbine (United Artists) ranks 6th
  most successful documentary achieved
  21,576,018 22nd most controversial film
• Moores films are openly rhetorical ie. up-front
  about wanting to persuade their audiences of a
  particular position.

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Mobilising US political opinion?
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Postdocumentary times (Corner 2002)

• The massive commercial success of Fahrenheit 9/11
  Bowling for Columbine was a revelation to many
  in an era when it was argued that documentary was
  outmoded.
• At the same time, there was a growing appetite
  for nature or wildlife documentaries (eg.
  BBCs The Blue Planet 2001) drama-docs such as
  Touching the Void (UK 2003)

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John Corner

• John Corner, an academic expert on documentary
  argues that we are now in a postdocumentary
  culture of television and also refers to a new
  ecology of the factual (2002) In its
  traditional, serious sense, documentary is said
  to be weakened by 3 things
• Extensive borrowing of its realistic look
• Strengthening of a performative, playful element
  within factual programmes
• Shift in the broader culture towards more
  emphasis on individual consumers

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Some of Moores techniques ...

• Recording of events
• Interviews (Marilyn Manson, Charlton Heston)
• Other materials eg. Charts, maps, cartoons,
• archive footage, use of statistics
• Voiceovers and music
• More controversially, the performance of
• documenting

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Key Questions ...

• How are spectators to assess his presence and
  performance in these films?
• How fair accurate are the arguments he puts
  together, both explicitly and implicitly (ie.
  cartoons, music, etc)?

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Moores performances

• Clearly his presence is a key component in the
  success of his documentaries, using smart
  comments and humour
• Performs the role of Joe-Ordinary with his
  scruffy appearance, baseball cap commonsense
  questioning style
• This strategy was particularly effective at the
  time when multi-millionaire George W. Bush was
  presenting himself as Joe-Ordinary
• Puts him in touch with a large and involved
  fanbase (partly from his 1990s TV programmes TV
  Nation 1994/1995) In September 2008, Moore
  released his first free online film, Slacker
  Uprising, documenting his personal crusade to
  encourage more Americans to vote in presidential
  elections, as a thank you to his loyal followers
  since Roger Me
• Some of the extraordinary footage in F9/11 came
  from embeds US soldiers in Iraq who trusted
  him from his previous work and contacted him
  about the abuses and sights they had seen

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Criticisms of his work

• Some objections to Moore as a performer in his
  documentaries include
• He hogs the limelight
• That he stages encounters such as with Charlton
  Heston in Bowling for Columbine
• Can be perceived as a threatening presence
  willing to say anything to anyone (for
  performance purposes)
• The documentarist openly showing how his film has
  been constructed and therefore changed in the
  making

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Criticisms continued ...

• His style of setting people up, knowing they
  will look ridiculous on screen raises ethical
  issues
• This can also stop discussion of more complex
  debates eg. The systematic gendering of violence
  in Bowling for Columbine (See Katz, Jay 1999,
  Tough Guise Violence, Media and the Crisis in
  Masculinity)
• All these issues relate to how far Moore can be
  said to present fair and accurate arguments

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But ...

• This is not the same as his right to argue and
  present a position as a documentarist.
• Watch for this distinction some still assume
  that documentaries should have the same
  aspirations as news which is not the same genre.
  However, there is an obligation to be as fair and
  accurate as possible , even when arguing
  passionately!

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• Finally, for you to follow up ...
• List the number of issues Moore deals
• with in F9/11 or Bowling for Columbine
• Explore the statistics he cites using
• anti-Moore websites (eg. www.bowlingfortruth.
  com) as well as
• his rebuttals on his website
• How far do you agree with the criticisms of
  Moores performances and methods?