TMA 273 Grey Gardens Response

This documentary has been criticized by many as being a voyeuristic look into the lives of two people who are incapable of taking care of themselves. However, I did not get a sense of that at all here. I found this documentary to be extremely effective in depicting the idiosyncrasies of the lives being lived at Grey Gardens in a way that still promoted empathy and and understanding of the characters. I think that there was a potential that a depiction of this subject could have turned voyeuristic, but there was one key element that prevented this from occurring. This element was love and empathy. There were several moments throughout the film that were particularly effective in showing the love that the Maysle's brothers had for Edith and Edie. One of these was when they are all in the bedroom, and Edie is singing, and Albert and David join in with her when she does not remember the words. This moment demonstrates a stepping outside of themselves on the part of the filmmakers, and showed how much they cared for Edie. They wanted her to be successful in the performance of her song, and they were willing to put aside their roles as filmmakers to help her out.

This film depicts these characters, and they are very quirky, but the film never depicts them as an other, or as less than the people around them. Albert and David are always extremely fair, compassionate, and benevolent towards the ladies. At one point in the documentary, it becomes clear that we are so close to the ladies that people who fall more in line with cultural normativity seem strange to us. This becomes especially clear during Edith's birthday party. One of the guests is depicted as being quite reserved, and extremely uncomfortable with the loud and pestering nature of Edith and Edie. At this point in the documentary, we have spent so much time watching Edith and Edie that they do not appear as "other" here. Instead, we are so familiar with their antics that it is the reserved woman who appears resigned and uncomfortable that we see as "other."

This documentary is an effective example of the presentation of two potentially off-putting characters in a way that makes us care about them. I think that the best way that this is combatted in this documentary is letting the two subjects speak for themselves. We just follow their lives, and the Maysle's brothers never speak for Edith or Edie. This is the most effective, as the most accurate way for a person to be presented is to let them do it themselves. Humans are complex, and this situation has many layers of complexity. To have Albert and David come in and try to interpret the situation would inevitably lead to an over-simplification of the Bouviers lives, their struggles, and the things that they love and value. Instead of being an exploitation of two people who are not the most capable, letting Edith and Edie speak for themselves allows us to value their idiosyncrasies, to understand how interdependent they are, and to even find value in the lifestyles that they lead.

TMA 273 New York Doll Response

This 2005 documentary directed by Greg Whiteley is perhaps the most accurate depiction of Mormonism that I have ever seen. This documentary follows a single subject, Arthur Kane, who was the former bass guitarist for the band New York Dolls, as he reunites with his band for a music festival. This character also happened to be a Mormon who worked in the Family History Center at the Los Angeles Temple. This is a combination that has never before been documented, a devout Mormon who also happens to be a talented rock star. These are two worlds that have been set up to clash. They are in opposition with each other in almost every aspect, and yet, Arthur Kane has found a way to navigate these worlds together. Although it would seem that he is no longer fully a member of the rock world, he still is knowledgeable and a well-known figure in the rock world. Additionally, Kane's primary forms of describing aspects of the church are based in the rock world. He describes feeling the spirit as an LSD trip from the Lord, and tithing as an agent's fee. This man has managed to bridge the gap between these two most opposite of worlds.

This documentary was a hallmark of empathy and understanding, mostly demonstrated through the diverse talking head interviews that were shown. There was a true sense of democracy here, as everyone who had something to say about Arthur, his career, or his religion got to speak their mind, even when they were saying negative things about the Mormons. The Mormon director definitely did not have to include these negative statements in the final documentary. They could have pretended that everyone said positive things about Arthur's religion. Instead, they chose to allow everyone to have a voice. The diverse spectrum of voices that are present here allow for a nice spectrum of views to be demonstrated. We have the rock stars and the rock fans that are not the most positive about Mormonism, as well as the older ladies and the Mormon bishops who are not the most positive about the world of rock and roll. Right in the middle, we have the views of Arthur Kane, who never speaks ill of either world.

This democratization of voices allows for us to have a fair view of both subjects, rock and roll and Mormonism. Instead of the quasi-propagandized version of Mormonism that are present in some Mormon media, this documentary allows for a discussion that is open to both sides. This democratization of voice accomplishes important things for both the Mormon and non-Mormon audiences of this film.

For Mormons, this film allows us to understand in concrete terms that there is not one right type of Mormon. Too often, especially in areas of high LDS concentration, we have limited ourselves to a perception of cultural homogeneity that is steeped in competition and a "keeping up with the Jones's" times one thousand mentality. This statement, of course, does not detract from so many genuine displays of religiosity and spirituality that abound in this church. This church does so much good in so many thousands of ways. It just happens that a potential area of improvement is the welcoming of more people who are so vastly different from ourselves. This depiction of Arthur Kane, who has done drugs, and has lived the standard rock star lifestyle, is one that we do not often see represented in the Mormon church. This documentary functions as a way of announcing that all types of people are welcome in the Mormon church. So often, the true diversity of the international LDS church is ignored in favor of perceptions that the Mormon church is just one thing. The I'm a Mormon campaign functioned in a similar way, to prove to the world that anyone, no matter what their background, can belong in the Mormon church.

For non-Mormons, this documentary accomplishes a similar, and equally important goal. The subject of Arthur Kane is accessible to the average person. He is a rock star who is seen as interesting and worth listening to anyways. The fact that he is Mormon is irrelevant to how interesting he is to the average viewer. This documentary, filled with Arthur's links from rock star to Mormonism make our religion accessible to the average person. This documentary demystifies Mormonism by discussing it in such a unique way.

TMA 273 Doc Art Mix Tape Sundance Forum Response

During the Sundance film festival, I had the opportunity to attend a panel that was being held by Ross McElwee and Sam Green. This panel was called the Doc Art Mix Tape, and dealt with different types of documentary filmmaking. At the beginning of the panel, the moderator announced that they had originally planned to have a more formal discussion on documentary filmmaking, but that they had noticed recently that much of the discussion around documentary film has become quite negative. The moderator said that Sundance views this as a problem, especially in the wake of the vast number of documentary films that are currently being produced. As a retaliation towards this trend, they decided that the panel would just be a discussion from Ross and Sam about their favorite clips from documentaries, and why these clips were their favorite. This lent itself to a rather disjointed and quite enjoyable discussion of documentary. However, within the disjointed and informal nature of the presentation, there were several key truths that were especially pertinent. 

The first of these truths is that the most important thing when dealing with people is to have empathy for the subject. Empathy allows you as a filmmaker to connect with the subject, no matter how foreign they are to you. The empathy that the filmmaker feels naturally comes across in the final project, and allows the audience to feel empathy for the subject. Empathy is what will connect your audience to the subject of your film. Having compassion for the subject of your film brings out their humanity, no matter how much you disagree with them. Having compassion and empathy for the subjects of your film are two of the most important things that can be accomplished in documentary filmmaking. These tools allow the filmmaker to depict subjects that are three-dimensional, and are fully developed. Having compassion for even the most ornery of characters acknowledges that the people around us are more complicated than we ever fully give them credit for, and that we do not ever fully understand the people that we come in contact with. Choosing empathy allows for a more full understanding of the subject, as well as an acknowledgment that there is probably some good in that person. 

Another key documentary principle was the idea that extraordinary things can happen within restrictions. This was discussed mainly in the context of a documentary called In the Dark, by Sergei Dvortsevoy. This documentary dealt with a blind man who mainly spent his time in his small apartment in Russia. Because of his physical restrictions, the filmmakers were restricted in space and interesting things to shoot. However, by adopting a fair dose of patience, they were able to create a documentary filled with an extraordinary amount of emotion and create something that was so much more than the perceived circumstances. So many documentary filmmakers are subject to restrictions. The main one is definitely money. Is there enough money to shoot what we want to shoot? There are also restrictions on time, access, and even freedom of speech in some parts of the world. However, the gist of this forum was that we should be embracing our restrictions, because they force us to be creative, to come up with solutions, and to create extraordinary things. This same concept can be seen across the documentary world. One pertinent example is that of This is Not a Film, a 2011 film by Jafar Panahi, who was banned from making documentary films by the Iranian government. Instead of submitting to the will of an oppressive regime, Panahi works around his restrictions, and ends up creating an extraordinary film.  

There were many other bits of wisdom that were shared through the course of this forum. The filmmakers encouraged everyone to give dignity to all of their subjects, to include as immersive imagery as possible, to have a clear artistic vision, and to above all be rigorously honest and as transparent as possible. Overall. the filmmakers encouraged everyone present to keep a driving curiosity about the world around us. In the end, there is no one right way to make a documentary, and we need to be engaged with the world around us if we are going to be successful in this endeavor. 

Fireside Chat Reflection - Limitless

At the beginning of this semester, Benjamin talked about the fact that one of these assignments would inevitably be out of our comfort zone at some point. This was that assignment for me. I do not particularly enjoy speaking in front of other people, and where this was our final exam, I felt like there was extra emphasis on this assignment. This made me even more nervous to speak. I was very influenced in class when we talked about the things that we believe. I decided to speak on a topic that was very near to my heart, and my beliefs, but was something that I had never spoken about with a large group of people. There were many topics that I could have spoken about, but I felt impressed that I should speak on the topic that I chose. I kept wanting to talk about other things, but this was the topic that I felt most passionate about at this time. With the decision to speak about the topic which I chose came a lot of stress and doubt, and also a lot of worry to make sure that I was talking about exactly the things that I believe. I wanted to make sure that this topic, which is very near to my heart, was represented fairly, and was represented accurately to my experience. Over the past several years, I have been very inspired by various TED talks and speeches where people discuss hard things that they have experienced in a hopeful manner. Although I have never heard her speak, I have been inspired by Elizabeth Smart, and her willingness to discuss the hard things that she has been through with the public. This semester, and the past several years of working on art have all been leading up to me discussing this topic, and being fair about the topic that I chose. For several years, I have promised myself that I would discuss this topic in public, and this was the first time that I was able to do it. For this reason, this project was extremely important to me, and was one of the most important to me of the semester. At the time, I did not explicitly express what I believe in from this presentation. I came into this project wanting to tell my story, and I wanted to let people gain their own insights from my story without me telling people what to think. I simply wanted to present a part of my story, which has never been presented in public before. However, I also wanted to present that each of us has problems and trials that we may perceive limitations from. But if we have compassion on our limits, and acknowledge them, we can still be limited in how we achieve things, but we will never be limited in what we achieve. That is what I truly believe.

Concerned Citizen Documentary: Annette Morrell

This has been one of my favorite projects thus far. In this program, I want to focus on making documentaries, so any chance to make a documentary is always good with me. After several other plans fell through, Hannah and I decided to film my aunt who lives in rural Idaho when I went up for a little vacation this weekend. For this project, I was very much inspired by some of the videos that we watched for class, but most especially the "stoop sitters" video. This video was integral in the creation of this project for me, as I wanted to create something that was both visually engaging, as well as interesting to view. This video also influenced me to choose a topic that was really quite narrow. The person that we chose to interview is not travelling the world, giving polio vaccines to malnourished children. Instead, she is teaching rural high school students the art of good cooking, and is encouraging rural children to eat healthy, and to eat with their families. I thought that this topic was too small until we viewed the “stoop sitters” video. After viewing this piece, I realized that all efforts to make our communities a better place should be lauded, no matter how small those efforts might seem in the grand scheme of the world. While filming this video, I really wanted to portray that these efforts to increase the quality of life of rural high school students is not a small thing at all, really, and that this is a truly noble effort. I also wanted to portray the fact that this goal is her life right now, and that she lives in the same way that she is encouraging her students to live. She plants a garden every year that provides produce for both her students and her family, and she is always working to live simply, naturally, and in a wholesome way. The things that she is teaching her students are things that she really believes in, and are things that she lives, and I think that that is a noble thing. From outside media, I was influenced by a video that we watched for class about a month ago. This short video portrayed a man that was committed to wholesome living, and who made intense efforts everyday to live in a natural way. This was quite influential to me, as I thought about wholesome living as a concept, and how hard that must be to accomplish. This was instrumental in the realization that wholesome living is noble, and the desire to spread wholesome living to other people, particularly young people, is significant, and important, and should be celebrated.

Concerned Citizen Documentary: Annette Morrell

Relentless: The Nature of Chronic Poverty - A Social Issue Video Game

In the process of working towards a minor in International Development, I have read extensively on a large number of social issues, many of which I could have made a game around. I am passionate about all of these issues, from the way that we are treating the environment, to the status of women in many countries around the world. However, the issue that I decided to write about is the relentless nature of chronic poverty. Chronic poverty is simply defined as a phenomenon whereby an individual or group is in a state of poverty over an extended period of time. This is something that has always struck me as a crucial social issue, and is one that scores of people have researched and tried to understand. What frustrates me the most about this issue in the US is that many people still believe that the American Dream is alive and well. Many people still believe that if people would only work harder, they would be able to pull themselves out of poverty. This has led to a belief that people in poverty are lazy, and are not doing enough to pull themselves out of this hard time. Globally, in 2010, 1.22 billion people lived on less than $1.25 per day (World Bank), and the vast majority of these people are hard-working, honest people who cannot just pull themselves out of chronic poverty by their bootstraps. In his book The End of Poverty, economist Jeffrey Sachs discusses what he calls the poverty trap. While it would be difficult to explain in words, here it is in a picture. 

Basically, people who are trapped in poverty are unlikely to be able to get out. This is a problem that spans across many generations, and leaves whole groups of people in cross-generational poverty. The entire field of international development exists for the increasing of quality of life, and for the reduction of chronic poverty, and yet, this issue is much more complex than most politicians and policy makers realized, and the people in poverty continue to suffer. The poverty rate is effected by the economy, by past generations, by access of the individual to opportunities, by policies that are created by various countries, and so many other factors. From class, I was greatly affected by the Ted Talk that we viewed about the danger of the single story. I decided that I wanted to try and give a different perspective of the experience of poverty through a video game. For this game, I decided to try and simulate the way that it would feel to be a person in chronic poverty. To do this, I created a game that is impossible to win. There are many monsters to overcome, to simulate the number of obstacles that people who endure chronic poverty. There are also very few rewards for the things that the player overcomes, which leads to a drain in the ability of the player to continue. Without these rewards for the hard work that is being put forward, the player quickly dies, and there is no chance to overcome the circumstances in which they have been placed. 

Play the Game!!

Citations: 
"Poverty." Overview. The World Bank, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Sachs, Jeffrey. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. New York: Penguin, 2005. Print.
Shah, Anup. "Causes of Poverty." - Global Issues. N.p., 24 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. 

Webspinna Battle Artist Statement

For this assignment, Neil Reed and I decided to battle as masculinity and femininity, with Neil being femininity and I as masculinity. For me, there were many things that influenced our decision to take on these personas. I am currently taking a Sociology of Gender class, so I have been studying gender all semester, and gender issues have been an interest of mine for several years now. Particularly frustrating to me are gender stereotypes, and the expectations that exist for the different genders in our society. My studies in this class, as well as several outside sources, such as the documentary Miss Representation are what influenced me as we came up with these personas. When we decided to take on the opposite persona, it was very interesting for me, as I had never tried to be explicitly masculine before. As I went about preparing for this assignment, I tried to think about the gender expectations for men, and how those expectations and stereotypes are different from the expectations for women. I thought about the societal pressure that I feel as a woman, and the societal pressure that I could potentially feel as a man. I thought about the things that I would be expected to be as a man, and the way that society would expect me to act. For the night of the event, I did not wear any makeup, I went to DI and got a man’s collared shirt, and I borrowed a bow tie from Tree, and I pulled my hair back tight.

Although I knew this implicitly coming into the assignment, there was a plethora of media based on gender stereotypes. I had no trouble at all finding songs about what it means to be a man. These songs, and the other media that I found were very explicit in their discussion of gender norms. Men are strong, muscular, tough, manly men. Women are delicate, emotional, they need to be beautiful, and they need men. I had no trouble finding media that perpetuated these norms. When looking for media, I also tried to find media that was not explicitly talking about men, but implicitly makes us think about men. An example of this was the theme song from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, which is an iconic western song, that for me exemplified the expectations of being manly.

It was a very interesting and fun thing to be able to perform in front of our class. I am usually averse to live performances, but this one turned out to be very enjoyable. I was very influenced in this performance by the things that we discussed in class about glitch art, and the way that it is created. I thought that our performance took a lot from that reading, as we strived to take differing discussions of gender stereotypes, and make a statement about gender equality. Our performance strived to move from the most stereotypical sounds of gender, to less stereotypical, and the dance at the end was meant to say that we are all equal, and that there should not be a dominant gender. I think that the mix and dance aspect of our performance made it so tat it could not have come across the same way if we had not all been in that room making art together. In my opinion, the community aspect of this experience was essential to the meaning of this piece. Overall, this has been one of my favorite assignments so far, and I greatly enjoyed making art together as a class.