07 August 2012

Documentaries

For my English II course this semester, I am thinking of organizing a unit around documentaries. The course is designed to improve students' argumentative writing and critical thinking skills, so I'm hoping to gather a handful of documentaries which can inspire students to write an argument essay on interesting and unique topics. I would love it if you guys could give me some suggestions. My top choices so far are:

Religulous: RELIGULOUS makes a pilgrimage across the globe with political humorist and author Bill Maher as he opens our mind to the ultimate taboo: questioning religion. Known for his astute analytical skills, irreverent wit and commitment to never pulling a punch, Maher brings his characteristic honesty and skepticism to an unusual religious journey.

Into the Abyss: In his fascinating exploration of a triple homicide case in Conroe, Texas, master filmmaker Werner Herzog (Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Grizzly Man) probes the human psyche to explore why people kill--and why a state kills.

The Interrupters: The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed. Shot over the course of a year, The Interrupters captures a period in Chicago when it became a national symbol for the violence in our cities.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed: Big science has expelled smart ideas from the classroom... What they forgot is that every generation has its Rebel! That rebel, Ben Stein (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) travels the world on his quest, and learns an awe-inspiring truth...that educators and scientists are being ridiculed, denied tenure, and even fired - for merely believing that there might be evidence of "design" in nature. Perhaps life is not just the result of accidental, random chance. In the film Ben says "Enough" - And NOBODY messes with Ben!

Bonhoeffer: A voice of tolerance and courage in one of the world's darkest times, German Protestant clergyman Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke out against the Nazi persecution of Jews and urged his country's Christians to protest, eventually taking part in a failed 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler. Learn about Bonhoeffer's life, faith and influences in this moving documentary.

Zeitgeist: A treatment on Mythology and Belief in society today presenting uncommon perspectives of common cultural issues. 

Waiting for Superman: The lives of five Harlem and Bronx families in the high stakes lottery for access to New York City's best charter schools.

Restrepo: RESTREPO is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you.

My Brother's Keeper: This compelling documentary details the strange-but-true murder trial of Delbert Ward, accused of the mercy killing of his brother in rural upstate NY. This real-life murder mystery won the Audience Award at Sundance.

Miss Representation: Newsom interwove stories from teenage girls with provocative interviews from the likes of Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, Dr. Jackson Katz, Dr. Jean Kilbourne, and Gloria Steinem to give us an inside look at the media and its message. As the most persuasive and pervasive force of communication in our culture, media is educating yet another generation that a woman's primary value lay in her youth, beauty and sexuality.

For the Bible Tells Me So: Karslake goes to the Bible to examine the ways in which conservative Christian groups have used -- and sometimes exploited -- scripture to deny human rights to gays and lesbians around the world.

Dear Zachary: Kuenne tells the story of a child custody battle between the baby's grieving grandparents and Shirley Turner, Bagby's pregnant ex-girlfriend and suspected killer. Initially, Kuenne made this documentary as a memorial for Andrew's loved ones, but it morphs into an emotional legal odyssey when Turner goes free on bail and is allowed to raise her son.

I have not seen most of these, so any thoughts on these films would be much appreciated. And I'm not stuck on any one of them, so new suggestions are very very welcome!

29 comments:

  1. I just commented on Facebook! I love documentaries, probably more than regular movies. Born Into Brothels, Capturing the Friedmans (a bit intense), the one about Wal Mart is pretty shocking, Super Size Me is always good for kids that live on junk food. I'm going to have to look at Into the Abyss. That man makes excellent docs.

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    1. I had Born Into Brothels, but I swear I feel like I've seen it just too many times. :) Capturing the Friedmans is a new one for me, so I'm excited to watch it.

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  2. Ack! I commented on FB, too, but the one I recommended probably wouldn't be ideal for what you're planning. I've really wanted to see Miss Representation. I've heard it's really interesting.

    I would, though, think Good Hair might be an interesting choice.

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    1. Good Hair is an awesome choice! I haven't seen Miss Representation either, and I'm not sure it will be available in enough places on time....

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  3. Great idea for a course! Expelled and Religulous will provide a nice counter-balance to each other -- I would guess -- though I haven't seen either. On this list, I've only seen Waiting for Superman.

    Maybe a food-related documentary like Food, Inc. or King Corn?

    Also something by Michael Moore would provide interesting fodder for discussion. The one on health care (I've forgotten the title -- Sicko?) is timely. I saw it years ago. My impression was that some of its points were bullshit but many were relevant. Would be a good exercise in separating thoughtful, well defended opinions from propaganda.

    I also saw an interesting documentary on how advertising diminishes women -- "Killing Us Softly??" -- in a college sociology class many years ago.

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    1. Moore is always a good choice to get people talking since he is so biased. Sicko would certainly be timely.

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  4. Can I take your course? is it online?

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    1. I would love it if you took my course. Unfortunately it is a hybrid, so we still meet once a week. ;) But you could like move....

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  5. I've seen both Bonhoeffer and My Brother's Keeper and can recommend both as films, I suspect Bonhoeffer would be the better choice for the writing you expect from your students.

    I guess you'll have to decide if you want movies that leave the viewer with questions or with answers. I've a feeling movies like Religulous and Expelled seek to provide answers, both clearly have an agenda. So does Waiting for Superman. That's fine, but you'll have to provide your students with enough background on the issues to make it possible for them to think critically about the position the movie takes. I'd want movies that provide background so students can make an argument on the issue, myself.

    There are so many wonderful documentaries out there to choose from. I be there's more than a few excellent top 50 lists if you Google it.

    Sounds like a very interesting course.

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    1. I kind of like the films with such a specific agenda because it helps students learn that they absolutely MUST think critically about media. If you do the obviously biased ones, you can shift to the more subtle stuff....

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  6. The only one on your list that I've seen is Waiting for Superman, which was really good. Sounds like a great course!

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  7. I haven't seen any of these. Obviously, I need to take your class, too. They sound fascinating.

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    1. You and Care, living in Illinois for a semester....sounds awesome.

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  8. The one I was going to recommend already made your list-Waiting for Superman. I watched it with my senior classes in the fall for a rhetorical analysis activity and they became super passionate about it!

    I think a food documentary might be interesting to add to the mix!

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    1. I keep going back and forth on things like Food Inc or Super Size Me or Fast Food Nation....

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  9. I've seen Restrepo, and it was really very good if you haven't seen it already. It's been a while, but I remember not really breathing throughout the whole thing.

    Another documentary that I thought was very good was The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. It's a little more... riskay perhaps, but I think it brings up the issue of the ability of someone who is born into a bad situation to get out of it as well as the idea of having a fatalistic outlook on life. Definitely worth a watch!

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  10. GREAT choices! And many of these are docs I'd like to see, so I need to start scouring Netflix. The only other one I'd throw into the mix (and I've had good luck with it in my classes) is FOOD, Inc.

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  11. I am going to vote for Grizzly Man just because that is one of the only documentaries that has stayed with me in all it's craziness and horror. But I do agree that Super Size me was very good too!

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  12. Murders in Conroe?! I had some college roommates from there and have vacationed at Lake Conroe. had no idea.

    I'm terrible with documentaries. I love them in books but don't take the time to watch them. Freakanomics was a fascinating book that I heard was being turned into a documentary but not sure if it has yet or not.

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  13. I would say that Religulous is too controversial and not good enough to justify its controvesialness to make it worth it. Bill Maher doesn't really approach his arguments objectively, and I say this as a person who is fairly opposed to religion. My boyfriend and I just watched a really great documentary that is actually from the ESPN 30x30 series called The Two Escobars about Colombia and soccer/football. It's a great narrative, it really doesn't take sides, and it's just fascinating.

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  14. OMG! Can I join your class along with Jill and Care? :-) Picky's right, Good Hair is an EXCELLENT choice. I've just seen The Garden (2007). It's a great documentary about Latino farmers in Los Angeles and the community garden that they fight to keep. Corrupt city politics, racism, and class issues all play a role. It can lead to a great discussion on what's important for our community and how that's not always the priority.

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  15. I love using documentaries in comp classes. I've let my students vote before on what they want to watch. Waiting for Superman is great. The ones I've used and liked are Dark Days (about a community of homeless living in abandoned subway tunnels) and Murderball (about a group of wheelchair rugby players).

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    1. Oh I've also used Grizzly Man and Super Size Me, but Food Inc would work along the same lines and is really well made.

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  16. Ooohhh some really great ones there - Miss Representation was amazing by the way. Some other amazing ones I saw recently include: The Invisible War (rape in the US military), Dark Girls (about colorism), Shadows of Liberty (decline of investigative journalism in the US and the reasons why it is becoming harder to do it), and Finding North (working poor in the US). I love documentaries! :D

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  17. Gosh .. I haven't seen any of these but I have Religulous to watch somewhere. I heard great things about Waiting for Superman.

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  18. It depends a lot on the students and their level of interest and knowledge, but Exit Through the Gift Shop is a fabulous doc that's both super fun to watch and really hard to think about. It just begs for debates on the nature of art, authorship, etc. :)

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  19. I know I am probably too late but Bowling for Columbine is good. I've used pieces of it to talk about how Moore sets up his argument. Also, it's timely with the mass shootings that have happened recently.

    Born into Brothels, mentioned above, is excellent. What's the one with the kids doing ballroom? Something fun can be nice. Or the one about the elderly choir that sings hits? I am terrible at documentaries, but I really do enjoy them when I watch.

    Also, please post your final list! I may do a documentary course for my comp class. I know someone else who has done it successfully.

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  20. For something completely different, Forever, a meditative documentary on a diverse assortment of people who visit Pere Lachaise cemetery, with interweaving strands. A beautiful subtle film that might make an interesting contrast - or be good for another class.

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