The Art of Persuasion – Assignment 2

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. Expositoryexposes 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

 

About joshuahouston

Just a kiwi trying to make his way in the big smoke.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *