I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know about anyone else, but I began to wonder a few days ago why we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re watching documentaries in a class where every other unit is comprised of adaptations. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think we can just chalk this up to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153oh, well, Dr. Campbell just wants to change things up a bit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d No. I am convinced there is some deeper connection here. So, last weekend I was driving to Roanoke, and, to my great surprise, when I hit Afton Mountain, it was SNOWING. Not only was a sad because it was snowing when I wanted it be warm, but I was having a hard time seeing (don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry, this does have a point, but it might take me awhile to get there, so just bear with me). The snow wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sticking to my windshield, but it was melting when it hit it, and my window was getting moist and blurry. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry, I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t in danger of careening off the side of the mountain, I could still make out shapes, it just wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the way I was used to seeing things. What was really cool is that the snow started to stick to the mile marker and exit signs (I guess because they were metal they cooled faster). From a distance, I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see what they said, but as I got closer, I could see faint outlines of town names and numbers. I thought to myself, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like reality; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a representation of reality. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reality in the snow\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Yes, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a dork and thought this or something similar). This reminded me of documentaries in that what we are seeing is still a representation. We see what the director shows us; if something isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t in full focus, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see it well and thus, are given a different picture of reality than we might see if we were present ourselves. While documentaries are comprised of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153real\u00e2\u20ac\u009d people portraying themselves, we still see what they, and the film maker, show us. Even if the person being filmed lied, their lies would still reveal who they are at their very core (someone who lies, perhaps?), but we are still seeing them in the light another person views them. No matter how hard you try, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think you could portray people in a documentary without commenting on how you think they should be viewed. So thus, every documentary is an adaptation of reality. At least, this is how I like to think about it so I have a nice overarching theme for this semester.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know about anyone else, but I began to wonder a few days ago why we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re watching documentaries in a class where every other unit is comprised of adaptations. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think we can just chalk this up to … Continue reading