Late night bullshit: Your favorite documentary.
 

I've been on a documentary bender the past few days. I've started threads about documentaries I've seen in the past, and I'm on record saying that Planet Earth and WWII in HD are the best things ever put on television.

I've seen a couple documentaries recently that really left a profound impact on me. Maybe you've seen some you'd like to talk about? Or maybe you just want to piddle around late at night. This is your thread.

1. I saw "Crisis: Behind A Presidential Commitment" on some channel called Pivot a few days ago, about John F. Kennedy enforcing the integration of the University of Alabama over the segregationist civil disobedience of its then-governor, George Wallace (almost certainly at the behest of his constituents).

This was pretty okay. The story it told didn't have a lot of chapters to it: the federal court decision that mandated integration isn't discussed, nor is any of the other fallout surrounding school integration in the south. This confrontation was entirely civil; there was no violence or use of force. Here's the entire movie: Kennedy wonders if Wallace is going to stand in the way of school integration at U of A, Wallace does, so Kennedy nationalizes the Alabama Guard and there you have it: school integrated.

What's really awesome about this documentary (and it's really old, made in 1963) is it has almost zero voiceover commentary. You are seeing everything happen as history unfolds, as cameras tape Kennedy sweating bullets in the Oval, and Wallace mouthing off to a federal representative as he stands in front of the entrance to his school, blocking it off.

This happened about 50 years ago. That is absolutely ****ing insane, that we've gone from segregation to total integration in such a small amount of time. A public divided on an issue so important became a public overwhelmingly in support of it. So much can happen in such a small amount of time. These were people that mostly look like us, dress like us, and talk like us. This is not ancient history. And we're at each other's throats over increasing gas mileage standards for cars. These people were talking about treating black people equally. Makes our fights seem small by comparison, if you ask me.

2. I saw "Blackfish" tonight on CNN, after months of wanting to see it at my local arthouse theater but never getting a chance to. This movie's about the gross negligence of aquatic amusement parks (SeaWorld, SeaWorld, and SeaWorld) for their criminally negligent treatment of killer whales.

I think the most amazing thing about this documentary is how ****ing amazing orca are. These are creatures that are the sizes of school buses, the intelligent capacity of humans, and what seems like an emotional capacity that far exceeds humans. It's really stunning, the things this documentary reveals about these gigantic mammals.

Mainly it follows the exploits of this one orca they call "Tillicum" from his capture at sea to his confinement in a tank that's simply impossibly small for a creature of his size. The fact that they store a ton of these things together in the same tank is revealed as absolutely insane: they're a lot like people from all over the world, and when you just cherry pick them, separate them from their families, and throw them into what must feel like a bathtub to them with a bunch of others who they can't talk to, can't understand, and don't trust, bad things happen.

Namely, trainers get attacked, mutilated, and occasionally even killed. And of course you see all the deliberate actions from SeaWorld to keep churning out product even in light of this danger.

Mostly, for me, this film really illustrates what it's like for us to abdicate our responsibility to take stewardship over the earth. Humanity simply does not have the resources to adequately care for these creatures: they span hundreds of miles a day, and require more stimulation and social interaction than we are capable of providing. These are incredibly social creatures apparently, and we are placing them in underwater jail cells.

I'm a religious person, and I can't help but think of this as a sin. I don't think you have to be religious to feel like the animals that share our world deserve moral treatment, and that aquatic amusement parks like SeaWorld are absolutely abdicating this responsibility with killer whales.

Anyway. :D That's my rant. What kind of mind-expanding documentaries have you seen recently?

Saw "Deep Water" a few weeks ago. Excellent.

even though it may be slanted, but I enjoyed watching Loose Change. Some things are interesting to think about, and some stuff is "WTF". But I enjoyed it.

Restrepo (spelling?) was crazy good.

Baghdad ER in HBO circa 2006. About an er room for wounded and dying troops in Iraq. It wa easily the most powerful and moving thing I've ever witnessed. No lie.

I don't watch many documentaries because a lot of them force a certain approach or perspective, rarely do you find one that has a neutral overtone on a given situation.

However, I'd recommend The Gatekeepers based of the flag in your avatar.
http://www.putlocker.com/file/C0F11434A9ECDC21

Also this if your into VICE.
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I really like The People vs George Lucas.

Also, Supersize Me, which is a fascinating experiment in eating nothing but McDonalds, if a bit flawed.

The Joe Montana documentary, Joe Montana: The Fire Inside, is a bit of a blowjob, but awesome nonetheless.

I'm a sucker for anything having to do with food, movies or football basically.

Blackfish is very good but very rough to watch...

Mine is The King of Kong...

Other favorites include Restrepo, Ghost Adventures, Paradise Lost, etc.

Right now, "Sound City".

9/11: In Plane Site and Zero: An Investigation Into 9/11 are much better than Loose Change IMO...

Loose Change... what's that about?

I really, really liked Restrepo. I read the companion piece, the book "War," by Sebastian Junger. One of my favorite books of the past few years. Way, way better than Restrepo, even as good as it is.

Sad that the documentarian behind Restrepo died in the field.

Interesting. Tell me about it.

If you like WWII documentaries try the British series from the early 70's called World at War. Tremendous.

Best sports doc I've seen in a while is Undefeated. Very, very good.

King of Kong was incredibly enjoyable.

Can you provide a synopsis?

Loose Change is a 9/11 conspiracy doc.