The Art of Persuasion – Assignment 2

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What is wrong with simply observing the world?

Joshua Houston

S3663263

 

It takes an amazing level of self-control and open mindedness to observe the world as an individual without judgement, emotion, or bias, but to document your observations of the world through writing, film, and other media without bias is simply impossible. Every piece of media reveals a truth about its author and their opinions, but that doesn’t justify or condone creating overtly bias media that could be misconstrued as propaganda. An argument should be presented within a documentary, showing both sides of an idea or story in order for the viewer to be able to make up their own mind.

Documentary as a genre can be split up into 6 types of modes, or subcategories in which the level of director interaction or guidance is more or less. I’ve organised these modes from the most to least potential of bias, ‘observational’ being the least.

  1. Participatory – Direct engagement with the subject / social actor. (eg. Forbidden Lies by Anna Broinowski, Louis Theroux
  2. Performative – The filmmaker is the subject of the documentary (eg Supersize me Morgan Spurlock 2004)
  3. Expository – exposes logical argument often in the form of a narrator (eg nature documentaries)
  4. Poetic – Documentary emphasising visuals, music, rhythm and mood. Offers a more inner truth
  5. Reflexive – Documentaries based on true stories, but re-enactments rather than real footage
  6. Observational – Attempting to capture objective reality as a neutral observer / fly on the wall.

 

I’ve chosen Observational as the least bias, or most neutral form of documentary because of the director’s lack of physical involvement in the film, though it’s important to take into account the selective filming and editing that takes place to produce the finished piece of media. Despite its apparent neutrality, some observational films can be regarded as the most biased, for example, ‘Gimme Shelter’ is an observational documentary directed by Charlotte Zwerin, Albert Maysles, and David Maysles in 1970 about the Rolling Stones and a concert involving the death of multiple people, including Meredith Hunter who was filmed being beaten to death by member of a motorcycle gang called the Hell’s Angels. ‘Gimme Shelter’ is a great example of how it is impossible to simply view the world without bias, because although the directors of Gimme shelter didn’t physically appear in the documentary, the documentary specifically featured the reactions and opinions of the members of the Rolling Stones rather than the members of the audience or people affected by the deaths that took place. Because of this, the film can be regarded as biased towards the Rolling Stones, seemingly exemplifying them from the events that took place and relieving them of responsibility. The fact that the directors chose to show footage of Meredith Hunter’s death without any filmed discussion of the friends or family reveals the bias that they have as filmmakers, and their lack of empathy for those personally involved.

“The ethical debates about whether the Maysles should have used the footage have long since been forgotten as Gimme Shelter achieved classic status. It is a vivid portrait of a moment in time in America, but it also demonstrates the limits of documentary. We see a murder…” – Paul Byrnes (2015) (2)

Participatory Documentary is arguably the most bias, because the filmmaker has not only chosen to document a story on someone or something, but they’re also willing to involve themselves in order to convey their thoughts and opinions of the topic. In saying this, the documentary itself may not appear overtly bias, but the director will likely have made up their mind about where they’d like the film to go. An example of a great participatory documentary (as well as expository documentary) is Forbidden Lies by Anna Brionowski (2007), which follows the true story about the writer Norma Khouri and her book about an apparent untrue story of her friend who was killed as an honour killing in Jordan for seeing another man titled ‘Forbidden Love’. Anna initially tells the story solely from the perspective of Norma, making her story seem personable and true. If Norma were to be the only subject observed, the audience would inexorably believe her story, however throughout the documentary Anna reveals more and more perspectives and evidence which imply that Norma is lying, Anna also converses with Norma about the statements which rendered Norma’s tale’s false, forcing an impulsive response.

I admired Anna’s participatory documentary techniques because although she had personally made up her mind about the fact that Norma was lying about the book and the events that took place, she gave Norma a chance to tell her side of the story before revealing to the audience the contradictory accounts of multiple other people. Whether or not Norma was telling the truth is still partially up for debate. We can conclude that through personally gathering and recording the facts and opinions from multiple people reveals a greater and more reliable truth, a truth that neutral observation could not achieve.

“The Art of a Good documentary portrait is to gain your subject’s trust, and then betray them”

-Anna Broinowski (2007) (3)

Regardless of the mode of documentary that is being created, observing the world through a completely neutral lens is impossible, and attempts can result in being insensitive due to a lack of opinion variety. It’s evidentially important to show multiple perspectives regarding an account or story, as it can potentially reduce the possibility of false information. Despite the impossibility of film neutrality, upholding ethics and open mindedness as a film maker or director is still important, as it can result in reputability and respectability from audience, subjects, and social actors involved, making future film productions easier to produce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Nichols, N 2010, ‘Introduction to Documentary’, Indiana University Press, pp. 99-139.

  • Byrnes, P 2015, ‘Gimme Shelter shows the day truth in cinema took a beating’ The Sydney Morning Herald

  • Rigg, J 2007, ‘Interview with Anna Broinowski, director of Forbidden Lies’ ABC network

 

The Art of Persuasion – Assignment 1

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Joshua Houston (s3663263)

Can something be both political and poetic?

Any subject, regardless of how mundane or audacious, can be written and presented as poetry. Politics refers process of making decisions to apply to members of a group, and though politics is often referenced in regards to elected leaders of the country, politics can also refer to the policies and rules that apply to people every day. The subject of politics is not exempt from being presented in an unorthodox way, and people who feel they are discriminated against with the rules and policies that are presented to them may feel the need to express their disdain with a poetic style. A classic example of this are the speeches delivered by rights activists.

“I have a dream that my poor little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character”

–Martin Luther King

However, Terry Eagleton, a critic and Professor of English Literature at Lancaster University, argues that poetry is emotive, original, and sensuously particular, with the texture of personal experience, whereas politics is a question of abstract notions, impersonal institutions, and collective entities. (1) Politics involves well defined determinant ideas, whereas poetry thrives on ambiguity and ambivalence.

 

What is the role of formal experimentation in political documentary?

Because documentary as its own genre is so difficult to summarise, it’s important to push the limits of what can be considered a documentary in order to create an agreeable definition and recognise the constraints of the category. Formal Experimentation as shown in the Week 1 lecture, include implementing unorthodox themes and media, such as singing your situation in a documentary rather than speaking it, or showing still images with sound rather than a video.

“Increased experimentation by film-makers such as Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock means that the walls between art and documentary are collapsing, generating innovative ideas and attracting an entirely new audience. ” (2)

–Sam King

I searched Google for popular documentaries and found many documenting about what everybody would agree is considered political, like war, terrorism, conspiracy theories, and presidential affairs. A documentary that stood out to me was one directed and hosted by Michael Moore in 1989, before he was renown as a filmmaker. The documentary was titled “Roger and Me”. Despite following the somewhat depressing story about General Motors closing all of its plants and leaving 30,000 people unemployed, Moore approaches the topic in a humorous and light-hearted way. In the documentary, he tries to interview the CEO of General Motors Roger Smith, and the cameraperson documents his failed attempts with receptionists sending him away and compilates them for comedic effect. Moore also interviews ex workers and general motors associates with a more sombre tone.

Moore’s experimentation of how he structured the political documentary, made it more personable, and reached a larger audience because of that.

 

 

 

  1. Battersby Eileen, Aug 1996, The politics of poetry, Irish Times; Dublin

  2. Truth or Dare: Art and Documentary Editors: Gail Pearce and Cahal McLaughlin M2 PRESSWIRE-December 3, 2007