Farenheit 11/9
- Thread starter tjebarr
- Start date
I think movies (documentaries) are in inherently bad way to learn about things. They're too intellectually passive. You sit and watch and the moviemaker controls everything and of course it's easy for them to put whatever spin they like on it. It's too easy to emotionally carried away. That's why movies are good for fiction, where they draw you in emotionally.
All that said, even if I did think documentaries are okay as a genre I wouldn't be a fan of Michael Moore. I saw "Roger and Me." Ever see that? I thought it was very good when I watched it, back before I realized that documentaries were a bad way to learn. But what really eventually turned me off Moore was when I learned, about 20 years later, that he had already interviewed Roger Smith (twice) when he made that movie. And the whole movie was about how Roger Smith wouldn't do an interview with him. Feeling duped? You should.
All that said, even if I did think documentaries are okay as a genre I wouldn't be a fan of Michael Moore. I saw "Roger and Me." Ever see that? I thought it was very good when I watched it, back before I realized that documentaries were a bad way to learn. But what really eventually turned me off Moore was when I learned, about 20 years later, that he had already interviewed Roger Smith (twice) when he made that movie. And the whole movie was about how Roger Smith wouldn't do an interview with him. Feeling duped? You should.
Yes, individuals should learn from legitimate, fact driven sources. Documentaries, tweets from talking heads, message boards, Facebook, etc. are nothing more than opportunities to present half-truths from agenda-driven individuals in order to win over someone else mostly using emotion. Basically, Trump's entire campaigning style can be thrown into that arena as well.
Yes, I said Moore made good documentaries and he makes you think. Good movie makers will make one think. Thinking doesn't equal learning which is the point of my second post in this thread. Two different human actions. One can think about a subject without being a believer in the subject. Hell, I do it here all the time. Many good posts from individuals that makes one think and I tend to "like" those.