Documentary Rivalry
1. I didn't really get an answer to my last week's question. The only interaction I remember between Michael Moore and Mike Wilson is the time when Moore was speaking at the college. Wilson asked for an interview and Moore declined. Later in the movie, Wilson is shown calling repeatedly to get a meeting with Moore arranged. He is denied basically every time. He even sent some flowers to Moore and never got his interview.
II. This week in class we finished watching "Michael Moore Hates America" and talked about it. We found overall that Mike Wilson uses the same media techniques as Michael Moore. We discussed the ethical issues behind Wilson's documentary. Where is the line drawn in terms of ethnicity in a documentary? Well, the title of Wilson's film is just the icing on the cake. As soon as you pick up this documentary you can tell that someone is going to be bashing this Michael Moore character. Already the audience gets the impression that Moore is the "bad guy". Anything that is harmful to the reputation of another person is technically unethical.
Penn Jillette was a man featured in Wilson's documentary. He said "Fearing not that I become my enemy, in the instant that I preach." I think Mike Wilson is honestly a little bit hypocritical. He bashes Michael Moore for all of his ways, but then does the same. Just as Michael Moore used evil media techniques to convince people that America is bad, Wilson used the same evil techniques to convince people that Michael Moore is bad.
Now that we've finished both documentaries, I've concluded that Michael Moore's documentary was much more effective at making its point. I don't entirely agree with either man's views, and I think they're both obnoxious. However Michael Moore did a better job with varying his media techniques to hypnotize the audience. Mike Wilson appears to be a more honest filmmaker than Michael Moore, but that isn't what makes an audience take your side most of the time. Moore captures the attention of his audience at the very beginning of the documentary, and holds it until the very end. The cartoon, the montage, and the random unqualified authorities made "Bowling for Columbine" entertaining enough for people to forget about the lies being presented.
At the end of the week we took some background notes on "The Perfect Candidate" and began watching it. As far as my opinion on this topic goes, I have an idea of an ideal political candidate. He/she would be charismatic, honest, organized, responsible, devoted, educated and respectful.
III. For this upcoming week I want to know more about the Iran-Contra Scandal. I hope to get information about the two longest held hostages, Terry Anderson and David Jacobsen.
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