Documenteries Report - Essay Example

DOCUMENTARIES REPORT Visual Arts and Film Gimme Shelter 2) Pauline Kael accuses Gimme Shelter of being propaganda –“Gimme Shelter plays the game of trying to mythologize the event (Altamont) and clear the participants (the Rolling Stones and the film-makers) [of blame] …” (Reader article 6, p. 274). Do you think that was the Maysles’ intention, or does the film have another purpose? Pauline Kael is wrong to accuse the film Gimme Shelter of being propaganda as the film clearly does have a purpose or intention contrary to the notion that it is meant to mythologize events (Kael, 2010). The film ‘Gimme Shelter’ is presented in a riveting manner that shows the plight of women who have got pregnant while still at their homes and not married and the humiliation and rejection that they always meet at these families. It gives n insight of what can be done to these ladies who get pregnant in order to make them feel as parts of the communities that they are in (Rolling Stones, 1971). Through a lot of drama, the film shows how ladies often get rejected by their parents especially their mothers when they get pregnant and the tribulations they go through by the mere fact of their pregnancy. The question that these ladies usually meet includes the matter of whether to retain the babies or alternatively procure abortion in the midst of such kind of competing forces and rejection. Even after being involved in an accident and being admitted in hospital and subsequently being sheltered by the church, the tribulations of the Apple do not cease as her mother still pursues her while initially she seemed to have rejected her. Through the tribulation of pregnancy of Apple and other occurrences that occur to her life, we can easily see how a society can at times be unfair to those that are hitherto vulnerable in all aspects. For example, Apple is involved in a car crash at one point in her life, the doors to the shelters are at times locked, families that are unsupportive as well as social workers who fail to understand her predicament of nursing injuries and a pregnancy that has been rejected by her family. The film ‘Gimme Shelter’ therefore has the purpose of highlighting the plight of young girls who get pregnant and are in need of shelter after being rejected by their families and is not merely propaganda or mythology. Aside from showing the plight of rejected pregnant girls and their quest for acceptance by the society, the film also she violence, shows the suffering suffered the violence, rape and the other forms of suffering that impede them from self actualization. Though the lead character Apple tries to run away from these unwanted and unwarranted acts that keep on following her wherever she goes, they keep following her despite her wishes and desires. The film is therefore in total disagreement with the claims by Pauline Kael that it merely mytholizes events as it gives a powerful representation of how the rejected pregnant girls are usually treated by the society and the need to protect them including the unborn children. Through the film, a debate has risen on the importance of life even to the unborn child and the ethical issues that dictate abortion and how the system as it is has broken down that requires the intervention of private entities to protect pregnant girls and their unborn children from rejection and abortion. The Times of Harvey Milk 3) HM is historically located in the social and political concerns of the late 1970’s, but what allows it to connect to viewers in 2013? Which wider (still relevant) themes and social issues are being explored in this film and what other argument(s) does the film make? Justify your answer with examples from the film The film ‘The Times of Harvey Milk’ is historically located in the social and political concerns of the late 1970s but has serious connections and implications to the viewers in the year 2013 and the years beyond. This is because it explored wider themes and social issues in the society that applied then and still do apply in the current society such as the perceptions of the society towards gay people and whether they should hold positions of political power (Bayer, 1993). It documents the rise of Milk from being a symbol of gay political movement and his subsequent assassination probably due to his sexual inclination. The film depicts the dissatisfaction of citizens with how their government is run and managed and ending up being against the regime by openly running and winning a political seat in order to try change things and the acceptance of minorities into the society (Schmiechen et al, 2004). It shows the political climate in the 1970s that frowned upon the gay community which is comparably similar to the current situation as it is difficult for any gay person or homosexual to win a political seat in most societies though Milk triumphed. Even though some gay persons may triumph against such bottlenecks put against them by the society, they find it difficult to gain acceptance and most of them get killed or banished from the society all together. The film also shows some hitherto discriminated-against persons winning seats that were traditionally not meant for them as shown by the first Chinese-American and the first black woman joining the board of San Francisco. This film has got the effect of shading light on the barriers that minority such as homosexuals, persons of color as well as those with other differences in terms of race, religious affiliations amongst other face in trying to get to political offices right from the 1970s up to date. Currently, some societies do not even allow homosexuals to live within the confines of their borders and such persons are likely to be murdered, for instance in Nigeria and Uganda. The United States has also undergone massive transformation as at the moment minority such as the gay occupy several political seats while its president is an African-American who had to endure much opposition to arise to the highest seat on the land. Triangle Wars 2) Triangle Wars uses a classic heroes and villains structure. What are the differences and similarities between this film and The Times of Harvey Milk? Comment on the representation of participants, themes explored, and storytelling – has this film ‘borrowed’ from Harvey Milk? The film ‘Triangle Wars’ gives an exposition of the social issues and the emerging political trends in Australia as seen through the perceptions of three persons who are driven by a desire and passion to change the way things are run in the society (Atkins et al., 2011). With the local council trying to bring up a project without consulting the residents of that particular local authority, the enraged members of the community came together in order to stop it from being developed. It shows how the locals have brought forth and practiced democracy and stressed the fact that truth usually prevails no matter how corrupt and deceitful a regime may be as it compares the determination of the community, a corrupt local authority and a powerful and well-heeled developers. It reveals the strong desire of protesters against the development of buildings that will prevent their beautiful view of the sea against the wrong decision-making mechanism of the local authorities that has vested interests supporting the consortium of developers. In summary, the film transcends time and stresses the fact that no matter the situation, democracy will always prevail and all individuals must be involved in the decision making of matters that affect the society and the politics of the citizens. In the film ‘Triangle Wars’, the heroes are the citizens of the particular local council and the protesters who have opposed the construction of the buildings that would block their view of the sea. The villain here is the Port Phillip City Council which tries to exercise its political power without consulting the citizens within its council of what it intends to carry out in collaboration with the consortium of developers. The similarity between ‘The Times of Harvey Milk’ and the ‘Triangle Wars’ is that they show democracy at work and how it can break serious barriers and have a society that is well run and is inclusive of each and every person notwithstanding their views or affiliation. They show that each and every society has the power to ensure that political power is exercised in such a manner that every person is involved in the running of its affairs for a better society. For instance, ‘The Times of Harvey Milk’, the residents elect Milk to a political position in San Francisco, the first openly gay person to hold such a position and this opens political opportunities for other minorities such as the Chinese-Americans and the African-Americans to rise to political positions in the United States. Similarly, in the ‘Triangle War’s, the protest by the residents conveys the message to the ruling local council that political power should be exercised in a manner that includes every citizen in decision-making. The difference between the two films is what occurs to the heroes and villains in the respective films in their roles. In ‘The Times of Harvey Milk’, the hero who is Milk is assassinated and the villain Dan White is not handed the sentence that he rightly deserves due to an incompetent prosecution showing that what Milk had fought for had not been realized. However, in ‘Triangle Wars’, the heroes who are the protesters get the desired result as the villain Port Phillip City Council end up stopping the construction of the buildings and consult the citizens within its area of jurisdiction. Aileen Life and Death of a Serial Killer 1) John Dovey (Reader article 7, p.32) gives a history of Nick’s filmmaking tactics – including his assumption of a bumbling, non-aggressive persona, moments of (constructed) anger, apparent lack of control over events and seemingly innocuous conversational interview style which gives his subjects “enough rope to hang themselves”. What evidence is there of these tactics at work in Life and Death? Is there any evidence to suggest that he has modified his approach in this film? The film ‘Aileen Life and Death of a Serial Killer’ adopts a bumbling non-aggressive persona that has intermittent moments of anger, lack of control over events as well as modes of interviewing that may make the audience be confused and make a wrong analysis of the movie (Human et al, 2004). The film gives the plight of Wuornos who despite being of unsound mind faces imminent execution irrespective of her mental state of mind and has a climax when she is interviewed a day before the execution. Wuornos at first claims that she was tortured through sonic pressure in order to change her mental state of mind while imprisoned while at the same time exhibits anger against the society at large for having failed to guide and nurture her before finally ending the interview without notice. This perplexes the interviewer who wonders whether the same Wuornos is the same person who had been found to be of sound mind a day before by the same highly respected psychiatrists who had examined the governor. More surprising is the final statement made by Wuornos before her execution in which she vows to be back to earth which makes one to again question the mental status of Wuornos and her comprehension of events. In the interview, there is a modification of the approach initially used by Nick as through the interview, we are also able to see the softer side of Aileen and understanding the reasons of her actions which include being homeless and being involved in prostitution. While the confessing and the recanting of the confessions by Aileen in the interview may make a person portray her as a cruel and person of unsound mind, proper synthesis of the interview as carried out by Nick portray a person who still has reason and is of sound mind only lying to the authorities to hasten her execution. The film therefore confuses the subject who may think that the fits of anger and rage by the accused show her to e of unsound mind but in real sense it is all about reason in plying with the minds of the authorities. This is due to the fact that on the day before her execution, it was found that she was sane and though executed by the correctional authorities, human life advocates believe she should not have died or been executed. References Atkins, L., George, P., Jones, R., Tiley, D., Screen Australia., Circe Films (Firm), Captive Films (Firm), ... The Melbourne International Film Festival Premiere Fund. (2011). The triangle wars. Melbourne: Film Victoria. Bawer, B. (1993). A place at the table: The gay individual in American society. New York: Poseidon Press. Human, J., Broomfield, N., Churchill, J., Ferguson, C., Lane, R., DEJ Productions, Inc., Lafayette (Firm), ... Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (Firm). (2004). Aileen: Life and death of a serial killer. Burbank, Calif.: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. Kael, P. (2010) Pauline Kael vs. Gimme Shelter, The Documentary Blog. http://www.thedocumentaryblog.com/index.php/2007/09/10/pauline-kael-vs-gimme-shelter/ Rolling Stones. (1971). Gimme shelter. London: Decca. Schmiechen, R., Epstein, R. P., Milk, H., Kronenberg, A., Hartmann, T., Ammiano, T., Elliot, J., ... New Yorker Video (Firm). (2004). The times of Harvey Milk. New York, NY: New Yorker Video. Read More