The documentary ‘13th’ is referring to the 13th Amendment which focused on the history of race and the criminal justice system in the U.S. People of color, especially African Americans, are being affected by the increasing rate of mass incarceration. The documentary does have an agenda which is to inform the audience about our overpopulated prison system and the involvement of our government in that issue. The movie ‘13th’ using facts and statistics heavily to presents the issue. Not only is it educational but also influences individual viewers to take action and stand against racial injustice in this country.
The ‘13th’ provides music, video, images and interviews that help the viewers to understand what issues they are tackling. I think the documentary is somewhat biased because the interviewers take more side on the victims and blame the political leaders more. It is hard not to be biased in this case because we are aware of how broken the system is. I think the creator did a good job producing the film to be very informative in the rawest way.
At the end of the documentary, one of the interviewers stated that people say all the time, “I don’t understand how people could’ve tolerated slavery. How could they have made peace with that? How could people have gone to a lynching and particpated in that? How did people make sense of segregation, this white and colored-only drinking.That’s so crazy. If I was living at that time, I would have never tolerated anything like that.” And the truth is, we are living at this time, and we are tolerating it. For me this is a power message that makes me think about how I live as a citizen in this country. It is real but because we are living in a fast moving country, we never stop and think about what is really happening around us and never pay close attention to these kinds of problems.
I believe the documentary I chose should be measures for impact because it displayed the public awareness, public engagement and social movement. By using fotages, facts and statistics it helps the film to increase public awareness. It is not enough to just being aware of the issue, but we need to take action for the impact. The documentary did a great job explaining the evidence that were being presented. The film mentioned Black Live Matter movement that already fighting for the change.
The Sweatshop: Deadly Fashion used reality TV show to help us see the living and working conditions of sweatshop workers in Cambodia. The filmmaker help us see the situation in the lens of three privileged teens. I think we need to see in the perspective of these teens because we can relate and make sense of the situation. This allows me to reflect on how much big fashion industry cheat on people who work for them. Another documentary we watched was Parts Unknown “Puerto Rico” which is a food and travel show. It is hard to go and start a conversation about controversial subject with strangers. People need trust and relationship in order to share their experiences. That is why sitting around food help people start a conversation. Lastly we watched Dr. Who Series “Rose” using sci-fi show. In this episode, the creator tell a story about the life of Rosa Park. I think it is engaging and bringing awareness to the audience because it is entertaining at the same time educational.
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