Its only when you are fortunate enough to have time on your hands, enough time, that you (and by you I mean me) put off doing the stuff that you (I) really should. As they say life is what happens when you are making plans, and for me this is definitely true.
Between daytime TV and infuriatingly addictive American reality shows the urge to be utterly productive slips away. I remember the time when I could look through the TV schedule and find a plethora of programs that would delight me, and not in the realm of chavs screaming at each other in the mornings! Minutes filed with enlightenment, debate and culture. Programs seem to me so dumbed down these days, not even an attempt to use the expanse of the english language, of course this is not true of all programmes, just a copious amount of them.
Not that I am some holier than thou head of broadcasting, or that my opinion could actually change anything, or anyone would even agree with me. I guess there comes a time in most peoples lives, where they want to stick the telly on and just watch some crap. I am one of those people too, and to be honest I do enjoy watching something completely mind numbing from time to time, just not all the time.
Okay enough griping now, I will get to the real point of this post... Documentaries!!! I am really in love with this artform. The range is enormous, wether you want to laugh, cry, or learn something new its all there for you in the word of documentary film. One thing that is really appealing is that whatever genre of film you watch it is showcasing other opinions and another perspective of the world. From biographies to drug culture, to society or economics whatever you are interested in, its all there to learn from.
Its amazing to think how far documentary film making has become. When it started in the 1900's it was a purely scientific venture for French surgeon Eugene Doyen, he used the films to watch over operations he performed to spot errors made. From this, documentary film has evolved in every which way you can perceive, even to the lengths of trying to sway people with political propaganda during the 20's to the 40's people even thought of documentaries as political weapons.
In more modern times I come to think of this as a purer artform, with the camera acting as a porthole into other peoples lives, and what is happening around us. Importantly documentaries can inform us and open our eyes to things we would not usually question or think about. A fundamental part of this can be giving a voice to people who have something to say, and a platform for which to share ideas or try to change something for the better.
Expand your horizons, documentaries are not boring and just for academic types, as perceived by some people. Turn off the 'reality TV' and tune into the real world!... Try this to get you started, and hooked like me!...
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/
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