Do Documentaries Have To Be Objective (or Just Fair)? (Joe Gandelman)
Roger Ebert agrees with filmmaker Michael Moore's politics and he makes no bones about it. But what he has disagreed with in the past has been the accuracy in Moore's films. And he contends it's no big deal at all that a documentary is partisan or nonobjective...but it must be accurate. He raise and articulates some interesting issues...
UPDATE: That Colored Fellas Weblog (real name of blog so don't email me) has a contest to see who can come closest to predicting the controversial Moore film's first weekend gross. Details are here (and if you put aside whatever your feelings are and take a guess and win you win some of TCFW's CDs from his former musical career!:
Milwaukee talk radio entity Mark Belling, an avowed conservative who is more abrasive and self satisfied when at home than when covering for Rush, read the entire Ebert piece over the air, with a few interjections. He called Ebert a "big time lefty" (a stardard Belling tag) but complimented him for being honest about his position.
Nobody has a reponsibility to be "objective", i.e., neutral.
Everybody has a responsibility to not tell lies.
Joe,
Thanks much for the plug of my FHT 9/11 Contest! Hope to see lots of your readers enter, and you're not off the hook, by any means!
I will make use of the Ebert article and re-update my entry. Funny, I had just posted a comment of the exact same argument before visiting.
There were shrill, inaccurate and over-the-top assertions made in 'Columbine' that made me whince, too. Plus, I felt Moore's endorsement of Wesley Clark was more calculated, than altruistic.
However, the coming controversy will prove once again how Liberals are still at a big disadvantage, when it comes to political discourse. All the likes of O'Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh, etc will need, is just one miss-step or inaccuracy by Moore, and it does not need to have any connection to the movie's central claims.
Remember, Conservatives do not hold the Ann Coulters' or Matt Drudges' to the same level of scrutiny and truth, that instead, they will savage Moore with relentlessly.
Well, if we were PAID to review Coulters' book, we might write a review you would approve of.
...and you just learned everything you need to know about conservatives ;-)