Reader Participation: Truth is Stranger?
We at CHHQ have been on a bit of a binge lately. We’ve mostly been able to stay away from the Girl Scout cookies–no thanks to the hordes of cute little girls lying in wait outside every business EVER with their alluring but fatal Samoas–but we’ve been allowing ourselves a different kind of consumption: documentaries. With last week’s viewing of the venerably weird Grey Gardens, we kicked off a bit of a thing, including an appointment with a soon-to-be-reviewed film about the Australian cane toad (I know you’re salivating with anticipation, but you’ll just have to wait).
Of course, documentaries have their own little shadowy sub-genre these days: the mockumentary, in which writers and directors decide that real people just aren’t weird enough. One might also contend that the mockumentary is basically a one-man genre, as it is populated mostly by one Mr. Christopher Guest, though there are others following in his footsteps and making names for themselves.
So, join me, readers. Are you documentary people? Faux-documentary people? What’s your favorite documentary/fake documentary, and why?
documentaries, mockumentaries, Christopher Guest, Girl Scout cookies
March 13th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
I am certainly a Mr. Guest fan. I don’t know about mockumentaries in general. But I don’t think it has that much to do with real people not being weird enough. I think it’s more a good format for commenting on Society.
March 13th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Documentaries! Yay! I am a documentary person, and certainly a mocumentary person, if it is done right.
Favorite documentary: Titticut Follies (though I doubt you’d be able to find this; it’s pretty much a university-only find.) Why? Because Frederick Weisman is a freaking genius. (You have to see one of his films to know what I’m talking about, and yeah, he’s a little dated, but he’s still effing amazing.) Runner up: Capturing the Friedmans Which you can totally find), Murderball and American Movie.
Favorite mockumentary: Just one? hmm. Probably “A Mighty Wind,” because it makes me cry, because MITCH AND MICKEY! Runner up: Drop Dead Gorgeous. Need I say more?