The documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest (2017) explores a fascinating case of “Munchausen syndrome by proxy” (aka factitious disorder imposed on another), an abusive situation whereby a parent or guardian forces an imagined illness onto a vulnerable dependent. As a result, the once-healthy person often becomes sick from forced treatments and/or unnecessary medication.
Jawline (2019) is an intimate look into young men aspiring to social media fame. Profiling a number of “influencers,” the film focuses on a teenage boy as he attempts to grow his social media followers. Platforms like Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok mean that celebrity is no longer institutionalized in Hollywood but rather available to anyone with a camera and Internet connection. While this has democratized celebrity to some degree, it has also opened the door to self-professed “experts” who seek to exploit those hoping to go viral.
Tickled (2016) is essentially a film about how the YouTube-based world of “competitive tickling” is run by a secretive exploitative millionaire named David D’Amato, a man who inherited his fortune and served as an assistant principal to 8 different high schools over the course of just 10 years. D’Amato would pay young straight men to tickle and be tickled by their friends, all on film, all completely clothed, and all under the guise of a homophobic, pseudo-religious media organization called Jane O’Brien media.
The documentary Voyeur (2017) has two subjects. The first is Gerald Foos, a voyeur who secretly observed guests at his motel. Foos built an observation platform above the motel’s rooms and spent decades spying on guests through fake ceiling air vents. In violating the privacy of his guests, Foos witnesses their unmanaged backstage selves in addition to sexual acts, heated arguments, and even a murder. Even more intriguing, Foos considers this to be his “research”
In Icarus (2017, we learn how the deception of Olympic officials was accomplished, how the Russian government directly sponsored the illegal doping program, and how far the government was willing to go in their attempts to cover up the mess—denials, lies, and assassinations. Revelations made in this film implicate all levels of the Russian state bureaucracy, nearly every Russian athlete, and the International Olympic Committee which turned a blind eye for years. The film makes us question the fairness of modern athletics and whether steroid-free sports are still possible.
While any brief description of The Florida Project (2017) may paint the setting and characters as delinquents engaged in a destructive lifestyle, what makes this film beautiful are the extraordinary acts of kindness, love, and mutual support. For example, arguments between characters often later give way to sharing cigarettes and other small acts of compassion. This demonstration of empathy is evident in director Sean Baker’s other films as well, most notably Tangerine (2015).
Who gets an obituary in the New York Times? Obit (2016) gives us a glimpse inside the most prestigious obituary outlet in modern day America. Editors and writers tell us what makes for a good obituary as well as the types of people they profile in these widely-read life histories. We also learn about the history of obits such as how old obits used to avoid words like “death” or “died”. Moreover, did you know many obituaries of famous people are written well before they die? These are called “advances” and are often composed when notable individuals become ill or pass a certain age.
Hail Satan? (2019) is an exciting documentary that focuses on non-theistic satanism as a means to maintain a secular democracy. The film presents The Satanic Temple as a religious and political organization where satanism functions as a socio-political counter myth. They don’t see themselves as anti-Christianity but rather post-Christianity, and they advocate for religious pluralism. It is very intersectional, too!
Cooked: Survival by Zipcode (2019) tells the story of the tragic 1995 Chicago heatwave, the most traumatic in U.S. history, in which 739 citizens died over the course of just a single week, most of them poor, elderly, and African American. This is a story about life, death, and the politics of crisis in an American city that asks the questions: What if we approached poverty through the lens of disaster management?
DW Documentary, 2022, 42:25… From the video’s description: Across Africa, lobbyists, philanthropists and businesspeople are working to open up the continent to GMOs. They argue that GMOs can provide a miracle solution to two of Africa’s biggest problems: famine and malaria. One of the main supporters of the movement is Bill Gates, one of the world’s wealthiest individuals and founder of the most powerful philanthropic foundation in history. The film shows how the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation became the main funder of genetic experiments underway on the continent. Discreetly and beyond the reach of critical voices, scientists are conducting research on the genetic modification of cassava plants and mosquitoes as a solution to the malaria problem.
DW Documentary, 2020, 49:52… Who has power over the emoji? Where are emojis coming from? There is one "High Council" of online communication that is difficult to access and has the power over our emoji selection on the keyboard: The Unicode Consortium. So what does it take to get a new emoji on the phone's keyboard? Why is the LGBTQI rainbow flag emoji in the keyboards, but not the one that stands for transgender people? Where lies the power to make such decisions?
According to new figures, it is estimated that 35 million people are suffering under slavery. It is a booming global business, relying on oppression and exploitation. The film shows the many forms slavery can take in today’s world: from political imprisonment, to child labor to the forcible recruitment of child soldiers as well as more classical forms of physical and economic exploitation.
How does the power elite view their employees in 2017? First off, they remove the human element by calling them "performers" (as opposed to people) and are introducing technologies that further solidify a panoptical structure of control... This hour-long episode has shocking examples of economic and employment changes which are discussed in a corporate ideological framework. Technological impacts on education are discussed too. Concepts evident here include the work/life balance, the power elite, neoliberalism, panoptical surveillance, depersonalization, class struggle, and many more...
Available FREE for a limited time on YouTube. Original video link here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0990xks/billion-dollar-deals-and-how-they-changed-your-world-series-1-3-work
Yes, there is such a thing as a "smart" gun, a gun that only the owner can fire, though it is not without a great deal of controversy. Some people fear technological failures, others fear government interference of their Second Amendment right, yet the fear of losing individual control of the firearm seems to pervade everyone. This 43-minute documentary explores the debate around these guns and reveals to us the social dynamics at play.
