Documentaries

Documentaries are watched now and they are everywhere in the movies , on TV and on any cable network too. I remember the time when we only saw them at school and they were educational but boring too. Not anymore. They are sensational with groundbreaking information that are making careers and breaking careers and most of all they are being watched by everyone and in demand. Are they fact or entertainment? The idea is that you should tell both sides of a story. In a documentary you don't have to do that. So now we have situations like the Michael Jackson estate suing HBO $100 million dollars for airing the documentary called Leaving Neverland that documents the experience of child sexual abuse victims stories. The documentary is damaging especially since Michael Jackson has made $200 million dollars since his death with a new interest in his music, Las Vegas show and a Broadway show that might not go on now.

The modern documentary has become powerful and popular even if it can tell just one side of a story. 

Now there is the Apollo11 documentary that takes real footage of the moon landing and brings it all back to life being shown in movie theaters. Last year a hit was Won't You Be My Neighbor about the life of Mr. Rogers in his own words from old footage. March of the Penguins had great storytelling. Now after 80 years of who cares about a documentary they are being made more, being shown more and making alot of more money now. 

We could thank NETFLIX for taking you to documentaries because they will take you to new films that they deem to be in your interest based on what you chose to watch inn the past. They brought the documentary to you even if you didn't ask for it. You can also find documentaries everywhere else like on HBO, SHOWTIME, HULU, National Geographic, Amazon and now even Apple TV. After 80 years of who cares, documentaries have become more creative and movie like in the amount of money spent on production. 

They are powerful now. Super Size Me made everyone aware of the dangers of fast foods to our health. Inconvenient Truth taught us about the dangers of climate change. Some of the most popular documentaries give a voice to victims of abuse. There have been documentaries about Harvey Weinstein, Roger Aisles and Bill Cosby who would have never allowed their victims stories to be shown in their film genre. Most recently is the musician R. Kelly story of sexual abuse and captivity of underage girls that led to his arrest. Is it dangerous that documentary producers are not under any obligation to produce anything other than a particular point of view? Most of the abusers deny all the allegations made by witnesses in popular documentaries about themselves.

Documentaries are popular now, are making money now and are informing us more now with stories you may not even see in a court room. But is it making fake news popular too?  We will have to do our homework to know if documentaries say all the facts too now. Meanwhile get your popcorn and watch them too.