Criticisms of doc theory
- 1. Criticisms of Documentary Theory Gareth Daniel
- 2. In 2000, Stella Bruzzi published the book ‘New Documentary: A Critical Introduction’ which in part criticized Bill Nichols, John Grierson and Andre Bazin’s theories and opinions on documentary creation. She particularly criticized Nichols for thinking that film makers were ‘trying’ to replicate reality, aiming for as close a representation of the real as possible and were therefore failing in their efforts. In her opinion this undermined the caliber of documentary creators. She thought that the classification of documentaries in to only six modes was unnecessary, as many would blur the lines and could be fit in to 2 or even three categories without having a dominant ‘mode’. She found that the modes system didn’t work and that documentary creators should be free to make a documentary with whatever they saw fit without regulations as to what is considered a ‘real’ documentary. What did she do? Criticised other theorists views on documentary making. She thought that the categories confined creators and made it impossible to recreate reality. Stella Bruzzi
- 3. Steven Barnett’s ’Disneyfication’ theory looks at the state of documentaries being put in to the public eye, specifically on television. The theory states that the quality of content in documentaries is lessening in intellectual quality and gaining more entertaining qualities to make them more attractive to a mass audience. Steven believed that this was being done to appease the audience, as this is the type of content already being released on mainstream television, but also for the organizations behind the creation of such products to cash out by making an overall cheaper product. The theory also states that the showings of documentaries of actual importance is declining, reducing the saturation of ‘real’ documentaries on mainstream tv. What did he do? Disneyfication Theory The theory that less serious, dumbed down and cheaper documentaries are being made to entertain the audience that accepts this as the norm. Steven Barnett
- 4. The Ethics of Documentary Making Gordon Quinn to IndieWire: ‘We as documentary filmmaker, I feel, have a responsibility towards ethics’. ‘ You owe your audience to tell the truth to get to the bottom of the story & to be accurate.’ In my opinion this shows a lot about documentary makers specifically. When Quinn for example feels a moral duty to create content that is truthful and would therefore be filmed and edited as faithfully as possible. However, as we have seen in more recent years, some filmmakers seem to lack this type of moral judgement, instead finding drama and viewing figures more important. Ethical Issues Disneyfication Theory The theory that less serious, dumbed down and cheaper documentaries are being made to entertain the audience that accepts this as the norm.
- 5. Recent Ethical Criticisms of Documentaries As mentioned in the previous slide, certain filmmakers decide to bend the rules of ethics in favor of making interesting television. A highly controversial recent documentary series was ‘Benefits Street’ which saw the residents portrayed as drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals and most importantly benefits scroungers. After the show aired there was mass controversy surrounding the origins of the documentary. When the residents were interviewed they said that they were lied to and that the documentary was supposed to be about the tight knit community which is only featured in a minor way in the final product. From this example, although quite simple, we can see how the ‘intended purpose’ can be manipulated by the filmmakers with no penalty other than a scalding from the press. Recent Controversy Disneyfication Theory The theory that less serious, dumbed down and cheaper documentaries are being made to entertain the audience that accepts this as the norm.