I'm currently milling around an idea

I'm tentatively staking out the position that I don't like documentary movies for learning about … anything.

I don't have any research to back this up, but my default position is going to be that audio and visual methods of conveying a message are more able to tweak your heartstrings than the written word.  This, combined with low information content compared to text, means you're gathering information about fast food or Monsanto or 9/11 or whatever cause célèbre in the medium with the worst ratio of actionable information to ability-to-bypass-your-critical-thinking-centers.

In other words…documentary movies are effective propaganda.

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12 Comments.

  1. I love watching architectual documentaries. 

  2. Do you love watching such a thing more than reading about architecture?  If so, why?

  3. There's a lot of truth to that. but I must say…I would have never gotten into some of the subjects that I read a lot about without an introduction from a documentary.

  4. as a source of information no documentary, biographical movies convey too little.. BUT to start one off on researching more… finding out more… reading more… absorbing more… the media of film is great. 

    How many people went on to find out more facts about the Titanic after James Cameron? How many more people visited the Cleopatra exhibits after Elizabeth Taylor? How many people dove into the history of Rome after HBO? And when you think about how much more research, publishing, archived materials and discussion came about because of Oliver Stone.. well.. there you go. 

    But yes, to watch a film about a subject and walk away assuming expertise… well only a fool would do that. 

  5. Documentaries are as much about storytelling as they are about facts. But so is most of written communication. Moving images are much more visceral than words – but they also offer a way into otherwise inaccessible worlds words cannot offer. But then – much of the documentaries that are on offer especially in the American market are emotionally charged and subjective to the point of being agit-prop. 

  6. Add to this the amount of interest the innumerable BBC documentaries have piqued in a huge variety of topics well, I think a lot of university departments worldwide can thank them for a lot of their admission interest… even though it just opens a door for a young person… catches a heart string on a sheltered mind… they are well worth the investment.

  7. I never gave a crap about fashion or any of that until I watched "The September Issue"

    But I also now buy a copy of the Vogue September issue, every fricking year. Cold bitch can make a good magazine spread.

  8. +Dustin Wyatt I suppose it's because of the fact that when reading about artchitecture there are a lotr of blue prints and technical language andi it's above me. Seeing it helps me to better appreciate the technical feat of what they have accomplished. Plus I just love to see things spring to life. I don't know if that makes sense but it's just all much more interesting and attention-grabbing. 

  9. BBC series on the monarchy got me all up into the history of England and Europe in general

  10. +Günther Mulder said something very important.. any form of 'retelling' or 'documenting' is propaganda in one form or another.  It's one of the most important things to remember for anything you read, watch or listen to. 

  11. I don't think I'm making the argument that documentary movies aren't good sources of information or good springboards into further research.  The problem, as I currently see it, comes when we're taking a position based upon what we've seen in a documentary.  How can we reliably filter our evoked emotions and determine whether we've been duped?

    Of course, that's a question for any medium.  My point is that it seems as if it is a harder question to answer for film.

  12. +Dustin Wyatt. I don't know about that. If I say the words blood libel, the image that is pulled up in some peoples mind comes from a book written in the middle ages. 

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