There are moments in our lives when we're suddenly aware of a seemingly hidden world around us. Up until that point we may have had no idea that something had been happening without our knowledge. It's at that moment when we can decide to continue on like we had before or stop what we're doing and try to make a change. People tend to see what they want to see, even when it's put right in front of their faces. We all have a picture in our heads about how life is supposed to be. Sometimes we're living that idea and sometimes we're just striving to get there. Either way it's ours and we really don't like it when anyone or anything tries to disrupt it. So in that regard sometimes we don't want someone to show us something that we don't want to see. It's still out there, but acknowledging it would put a dark spot on our ideal picture of life.
These days it's really hard to know what is fact and what has been manipulated in order to sway someone to another way of thinking. I really enjoy documentaries. I think when done correctly they can really bring forth issues that people may otherwise be unaware of. It used to be that going into a documentary I just assumed that it was someone presenting the facts and it was up to us to decide what to do with them. I didn't occur to me that someone would tweak facts and events in a way that served their purpose. So for a long time I took documentaries at face value. Looking back I can see how naive that was, but back then thinking any other way would have seemed cynical. I guess that's really how the world can be divided anymore, either you're naive or you're a cynic. I think the division really comes from experience more than anything else. Get lied to a few too many times and it's just assumed that everyone is trying to deceive you.
I still enjoy documentaries, but in some cases they are bordering on simple entertainment. Sure some of them are attempting to show what they believe to be the facts. The problem is that just the facts tend to be boring. If it's boring then no one will listen. It's like John Doe said "Wanting people to listen, you can't just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with a sledgehammer, and then you'll notice you've got their strict attention." That's what filmmakers are being forced to do in order to get people to pay attention in a media saturated environment. Like I said before, people only see what they want to see. You can tell them about the horrors of the poultry industry and they'll walk right by you saying "I don't care". You show them footage of chickens getting their beaks clipped or spending their life inside a tiny cage then maybe you've shocked them into noticing there's an issue. Whether you like him or hate him, Michael Moore was once a really effective documentary filmmaker. Unfortunately he made his beliefs to be the focus of the film rather than allowing the facts to present themselves. After doing that and being called on it a few times it became hard to trust him, regardless of if you shared his opinion on the subject.
There's a problem when someone like him has more exposure than the subject he's trying to present. Look at what happened surrounding the release of his film Fahrenheit 9/11. There were websites dedicated to debunking what was shown. There was even a counter film made to discredit nearly every aspect of what Michael Moore said. Now there are always multiple sides to any subject and things are rarely black and white, although there are those who would like you to believe it's as simple as "either you're with us or you're against us". To me oversimplifying the issue like that is either a misunderstanding of the facts or its own manipulation. Both sides are so intent on making their point that they'll do or say just about anything in order to appear right and who knows, maybe in their mind they really believe what they're saying. I'm not sure which is scarier, the fact that they don't mind exaggerating to win the argument or that they truly think what's coming out of their mouth is fact.
People also tend to be somewhat forgetful. Sometimes that's a voluntary forgetfulness because we don't always want to be reminded of certain things and would rather that they stay off in some dark corner. As Americans we remember 9/11 because it's a fairly recent trauma. At the same time though it's fading quickly and may not really have much impact on our daily lives unless we're traveling by plane. So we've been shown images of chickens living miserable lives and every once and awhile we may remember them, but does that really stop us from wanting to buy inexpensive chicken for dinner? We know there is a cost to everything and in some cases there may be a bit of darkness to the convenience we enjoy every day. Just because the Japanese are slaughtering dolphins and whales every year doesn't mean we want to be reminded about it all the time. It reminds me of in those movies or television shows where the insightful character reveals some dark secret another character had been carrying around with them. They cry and suddenly behave as though a weight had been lifted. They knew that secret was there, but chose to hide it away in hopes that it would go away. It took someone else exposing it for them to finally face the situation and move past it. That's great for the storyline, but unfortunately things hardly ever work out that cleanly. Saying "it's not your fault" over and over doesn't resolve the situation, it only drags it from its hiding place and brings it to the surface. Exposing an issue is only the first step to making a change. The question often becomes, do we even want it brought up in the first place? Is it just easier to leave things undisturbed?
