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December 1997, Week 3

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From:
Donald Larsson <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Mon, 15 Dec 1997 11:53:15 -0600
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Mike Franks grouses:
 
 
>  . . . that no account can tell the whole truth hardly means that all
> accounts are equally false . . .
>
>  . . . so, can we now stop worrying ourselves and each other with this
> trendy relativist pseudo-problem, and get on with thinking about
> what accounts actually do?
 
Good question.  It's clear that some "documentaries," such as Capra's
WHY WE FIGHT series, have an explicit purpose of seeking to provide
certain information in order to convince people of a certain point
(i.e., that the war is a "just war").  Par Lorenz's government
documentaries do the same thing.  But so does THE THIN BLUE LINE,
albeit in a less blatant way--the same material could have been covered
in a typical 60 MINUTES style expose, but Morris also wants to make
some points about (I think) perception and cultural conditioning, among
others.
 
The point of a cinema verite documentary may be even less apparent but
the very existence of some kind of structure makes one assume that the
material has been shaped for a purpose, in the Maysles Brothers as well
as in Wiseman.  These filmmakers may not "fake" or stage material, but
I'm sure that there are at least a few feet of film left on the cutting
room floor--and that presupposes a shape and an intention.
 
Don Larsson
 
----------------------
Donald Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)
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