Documentaries are one of those things we never question.
After all, they are supposed to be telling us the truth, right? Nope. Once
again, the class discusses something that isn’t true, shocker. The first time I
watched this documentary, I was a young junior in high school. I thought
Timothy Treadwell was awesome, kind of weird, but awesome. Now, I’m not so sure
how I feel about Treadwell. Herzog, the director of the documentary, portrays
Timothy as a crazy fool. He portrays his family and friends as weird and crazy
people who supported a ridiculous passion. The reality is Timothy maybe was not
the most logical person (he was, after all, protecting a national park), but he
did love those animals, and Herzog gives him no credit for that.
Also, all the footage shown on the documentary was cropped
and chosen by Herzog, the viewer has no idea what order this was supposed to be
in, or how Treadwell wanted us to see it. It is an unfair portrayal of Treadwell.
Herzog never includes quotes from the diaries Timothy kept through all his
trips, something that I would think is important for a documentary.
So, by the end of this semester I will second-guess
documentaries, books, science articles, and probably everything anyone tells
me. I guess it’s all lies.
When something we have been taught to interpret as true (such as a documentary) has had its layers peeled away one by one, it is difficult not to look around us and say, "then what is true?" I find that I am also more aware of biases and the simple fact that there is no way for anyone to share anything without one. That's a concept that's hard to accept when it's in our nature to always be looking for solid ground to anchor ourselves to.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Martina that after taking this course I feel obligated to question stories in any form. I see this as being positive because by questioning what is laid out by the author, I am allowing myself to have my own opinions. I am not just shadowing someone's thought rather I am creating my own shadow. In the documentary "Grizzly Bear," Herzog adds his own personal bias to the documentary and by me questioning his work, it allows me to realize the bias in his work.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to be aware of, however, it to not get too paranoid and OCD about this. There are very few things in our lives that are absolute truths - even our own memories. We all have different perspective lenses through which we see the world and therefore all have our own biases. These biases may not seem pertinent to us, because oftentimes our biases just have to do with what we consider to be "normal". Sometimes (and I'm not saying that this is necessarily the case for the documentary) we just have to trust others to be giving us accurate information. It's good to question and be critical, but we shouldn't just dismiss everything as untrue because bias is always present.
ReplyDeleteYou are right in saying how at the end of the semester we will be conditioned to second guess just about everything we are given, but in reality I don't think thats going to happen. I guarantee I am still going to take most things at face value and accept it for what it is. Because unless the truth is of grave importance to me, why does it really matter?
ReplyDeleteMatt has a good point. If this class is to teach us anything, it is that bias and manipulation are unavoidable facts of life. We should come to accept it as this and nothing more. Allowing it to overwhelm and paralyze ourselves would be an unproductive use of what we have learned. Like Matt said, if anything, we should use our awareness of the biases we face every day to give rise to a new, more critical mindset.
ReplyDelete