Ethics and Documentary

Although it may not be entirely relevant to the projects produced in this class, one aspect of documentary that is very interesting to me is the ethics of documentary. There are a few ways that ethics can be discussed in relation to the various modes of documentary. In the observational mode, there are sometimes situations in which the filmmaker(s) choose to document a bad situation rather than intervening, choosing to benefit their own project rather than helping the people involved. In an expository mode, there are a few ethical concerns. Ethnographic expository documentaries deal with ethics of representation of indigenous peoples. It is easy for such films to depict indigenous peoples as primitive or savage, rather than honestly exploring a culture. Other types of expository documentaries deal with the investigation of important events or institutions. One example is the films of Michael Moore (although these also include participatory elements). Such expository works bear an ethical burden of honest, un-manipulated representation of the subject manor. Lastly, in the participatory mode, the main ethical issue deals with the fact that the people appearing in the film do not necessarily know the way in which the filmmaker will be depicting them. One example of this last point is an interview with Charleton Heston in Bowling for Columbine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD2x6-CF2h4