Catfish- Andrew Anderson

This weekend when I was thinking about what documentary to watch, I thought about all of the boring History channel shows, excluding Ancient Aliens of course, the different ones on National Geographic, and the two hour long documentaries of Biography TV and I began to really dread this blog.  Then I thought of the new MTV show Catfish.  It is a documentary style TV show that helps unite people that met over the internet.  In the episode I decided to watch, the host Nev helped a girl meet a guy she met on facebook.  At the beginning of the show, they go to the person and interview them about their feelings, about their relationship with the other person, and what they know about the other person.  In the next part they do a lot of research on the other person to see if they really are the person they claim to be.  From there they contact the person to see if they can meet up.  The rest of the show is about them meeting and their reactions.  In the particular episode I saw, the girl thought she was talking to this guy for over a year and that they had made an emotional connection.  As Nev did his research, he began to find a lot of flaws in the “guys” facebook page.  Despite this, they still set up a meeting.  When she was waiting to see the guy, a girl walked out and said that she was the “guy” and that she was doing it just to be mean to the girl.  In the end, the girl had major relationship issues now and the other girl continues to use the “guys” facebook page to mess with people.   This was probably the best possible documentary to watch.  It was about something that was very interesting and they did it in a way that held my attention.

Erika Funke- Bo Jackson documentary

            The documentary I recently viewed was titled, “You Don’t Know Bo”. This documentary follows the life of Bo Jackson. Bo Jackson has been dubbed throughout history as one of the greatest players to play both professional baseball and football in the same year. This documentary follows Bo’s journey from high school football/baseball to the professionals. This film arguably states that Bo Jackson was the greatest athlete of all time, but not recognized for his achievements (he was not in the hall of fame for either sport). The documentary used visuals and interviews to enhance the impact of the legend of Bo Jackson through out his years as well as the famous campaign slogans present during his career.

            The film covered not only the life of Bo Jackson, but also the lives of the people impacted by his story. A variety of interviews ranging from his high school coach to his professional opponents were present. The documentary used a variety of rhetorical appeals to convince the audience of the argument. The documentary cited a multitude of quotes and statistics as well (enhancing the impact of the argument). The NIKE ads and footage present during Bo’s time gave the audience a vast understanding of who Bo Jackson was to the public during late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

            Personally, I was convinced concerning the argument of the film. I was truly not aware of how athletic and legendary Bo Jackson was and still is today. But I disagree on the way the film portrayed Bo Jackson. I believe that Bo Jackson was supposed to be presented to the audience as being a humble athlete; instead it portrayed him as a prideful man who knew what he was doing. I feel as if the editors could have portrayed him as a more humble person by not including his commentary as often. Overall, this film was convincing and informative.

Are you truly happy? - Laura Wewers

I recently watched Happy a documentary on the overall happiness of today’s world.  This documentary really interested me because come to find out China and Japan has the unhappiest civilizations.  In these countries, the men and women have long workday hours and little time to spend with their family and friends or even have rest.  This documentary showed the decline in health in these countries and short life span due to the lack of sleep and lack of happiness and increased stress within the society. 

            This documentary also mentioned how money can only bring so much happiness.  For instance, a poor person gets much happiness from money to buy food and clothes and the necessities.  However, after the necessities are taken care the money no longer brings an increase in happiness.  It was recorded that 50,000 dollars is the highest level of happiness that money can bring.  Once that mark is reached an increase in money no longer makes a difference. 

            The main argument of the film was to show the different ways of society and the general happiness of each society.  Denmark was found to be the happiest country.  There several families live in a one story large building, share meals, and time together.  The children are practically raised by all of the adults, usually about 20 couples and the families take turns cooking large meals.  This family time and peace is what true happiness is all about.

            This film used statistics, personal accounts, and actual footage of the working class from each of the countries mentioned to prove their point.  The argument of the film is very appealing to the audience and even won me over to make me realize the different types of cultures and the diverse levels of happiness associated with the way of each of these cultures.  

Fast Food, Fat Profits Annemarie Holbrook

For this assignment, I was interested in viewing a documentary about food. One that particularly caught my eye was “Fault Lines – Fast food, Fat Profits: Obesity in America.” The main argument of this documentary is the changing ways of society is to blame for the increase in obesity since the 1980’s in America. It informs us on the underlying causes of obesity to make us more aware  with the hopes of changing it. The film opens up with clips of people eating fast food, focusing in on their mouth. This visual gives the viewer an uneasy feeling, as the site of people shoving their face with fast food is not too appetizing. It sets the mood for the video which encourages us to feel this way about fast food and lean more towards healthier options. Throughout the documentary, facts are given while the screen shows images of people and food. The documentary opens up with the main issue of obesity, facts are given, examples are shown, causes are identified, and finally it shows possibilities and efforts for solving the problem.

            Some of the big causes identified for creating obesity is the cost of healthy food vs. unhealthy food. The most obese groups of people in the United States are the poor and minorities. This is because fast food is cheap, allowing for more money to put elsewhere. Healthier options come with a price. Therefore, in the recession, society is suffering but fast food places are thriving. Society has got something backwards, as they point out in the video. The food that children are being fed in schools is processed and fattening, putting our youth at a major disadvantage in the future. The most obese place in America lies within our capital in Washington, D.C. where many poor people live with few healthy options within reach. In return, actions being taken to fix this begin with pinpointing our youth to educate their friends and family on eating healthier. The first lady, Michelle Obama, is taking strides to fight obesity and promote a healthy lifestyle.

             I am convinced of the film’s argument, drawn in by its startling statistics, vivid images, and convincing arguments to what seems to be thorough research.  The documentary addresses the issue, gives examples, shows supporting images, and then shows how the issue can be overcome. The documentary brings the issue to life and presents a convincing, plausible way to fix it.

Documentary: Grizzly Man- Sadie M.

The documentary I chose to watch is called "Grizzly Man". I was first exposed to this film by my senior year science teacher who had very good taste in movies. I must say that I'm extremely glad that he showed this movie to my class because I thoroughly enjoyed it (enough to watch it again for this assignment.) What's interesting about this documentary is that it's extremely different from what you expect. The movie starts off talking about Alaskan wildlife and the state of the grizzly bear population in the state while showing footage of both the beautiful forests and rivers, as well as the bears themselves. You initially think that this will be a film about the bears in Alaska  and perhaps some controversial issues issues surrounding them, or, as the name suggests, a man who must have some relationship with the bears: maybe he's the narrator, or maybe he is the director. Slowly, however, you realize that this movie isn't really about the bears at all. It's about a man named Timothy Treadwell and his obsession with grizzly bears that ends in his death.
The documentary explores his life and how he comes to be obsessed with the Alaskan bears. Almost all of the movies footage was shot by Treadwell himself, which only makes it more disturbing to watch after it is explained that he is no longer alive. The documentary slowly introduces the dark thoughts that possessed him and show disturbing footage of him talking to himself, almost crazily, as if he is having a normal conversation. While the movie doesn't necessarily try to explicitly prove a certain point, it definitely provides a very intimate look into this strange man's life. The film uses multiple types of information: old pictures and videos of Treadwell as a young man, as well as interviews from his parents and even grizzly bear experts.
I definitely recommend this documentary to anyone with some spare time. I can't quite explain how this movie touches you, but I know I both laughed and cried, all while being shocked at the breath-taking beauty of the wildlife Treadwell bonds with in this documentary.

Tim Tebow: On A Mission - Rebecca Leary

I have always been interested in sports of any kind, as I grew up with a brother and dad who are sports fanatics, so I decided to watch a documentary on the life of Tim Tebow and how he has become who he is today. At the beginning of the documentary, there is very intense, upbeat music as well as action shots and videos of Tebow doing what he does best – playing football. This documentary follows Tim Tebow’s life chronologically, beginning with his birth in the Philippines where his parents were missionaries all the way to his current career in the National Football League.

Though the film did not interview Tim Tebow himself, it included video clips of Tebow at press conferences, and it also interviewed very credible sources who have worked with Tebow throughout his football career, such as ESPN sports reporters, Denver Bronco news reporters, etc. Something else that made this film credible was the use of statistics to show Tebow’s success throughout his football career. This film also interviewed Tim Tebow’s high school football coach and teammates, which I believe played an important role in showing that Tebow was just a high school athlete like any other who worked extremely hard to get where he is today. To separate the different segments of the film, inspirational quotes of Tim Tebow were used, which is similar to some of the other documentaries we watched in class.

Another important aspect of this film that I think could really play into a lot of the viewer’s emotions was the emphasis on Tebow’s work ethic and his faith in God. Throughout Tebow’s career at Florida, a lot of people knew him for the selfless Christian that he was, and I think this film used to show what a huge role it has played in who Tim Tebow has become today. This film was not one of those two hour long ones that I usually think of when I hear the word documentary, but it really showed Tebow’s background and its role in his success today.

History of Kentucky Basketball- Sarah Anne Semke

This weekend I watched a documentary on the history of Kentucky basketball. This documentary was on ESPN and it focused specifically on the coaches and their contributions to the legacy that is Kentucky basketball. This documentary was organized chronologically to show the progression of the program and how each coach had a specific impact on the team. This documentary is not something I would usually be very interested in,  I’m not a big fan of history documentaries but this one was incredibly intriguing. I really liked this documentary because they brought in all different people to interview on the subject to keep the matter interesting and varying in opinions. They started from the beginning of Kentucky basketball with the first coach and the first team showing pictures and commentary from those games. They had current players, former players, and fans alike all comment on their perception of Kentucky basketball’s beginnings. It was a great way to see how enthusiastic these people were on how this was the start of a fantastic program. It was a good way to look at the distant past and connect it to the present.  That was the main theme throughout the documentary and why it kept my attention. The entire time,  we were learning the steps taken to create the power house that is Kentucky basketball today. That aspect of it kept your attention very well, the people they interviewed also gave the film credibility. They had players, famous sports casters, and other coaches comment on the history of Kentucky. But they also had families of players commenting on the coaches their son’s played for. Each family had such positive things to say about each coach it seemed like they took value in their son being coached by a Kentucky basketball coach. The other big theme of this film is that Kentucky’s program is what it is today because of the incredible coaching staff they constantly maintain.