There's a drug-resistant strain, but it seems like it could be contained/treated earlier or something?!
― Mayor Manuel (La Lechera), Friday, 4 April 2014 21:40 (ten years ago) link
new one on solitary confinement. hell on earth: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/criminal-justice/locked-up-in-america/the-disturbing-sounds-of-solitary-confinement/
― brio, Tuesday, 22 April 2014 20:05 (ten years ago) link
Now only that, but there are two docs (this week and next week) focusing on the corrections obsession in this country -- i'm assuming at least one of them will talk about CCA?
― Mayor Manuel (La Lechera), Tuesday, 22 April 2014 21:16 (ten years ago) link
wow, that preview is harrowing enough.
― smhphony orchestra (crüt), Tuesday, 22 April 2014 21:23 (ten years ago) link
oh god, I don't think I can watch that. Horrifying.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 22 April 2014 21:32 (ten years ago) link
That's why I feel like I have to watch it. If people can survive solitary, I can survive watching this documentary.
― Mayor Manuel (La Lechera), Tuesday, 22 April 2014 22:08 (ten years ago) link
i'm somewhat ashamed to admit i'm at least as interested in the NOVA special about dog cognition that my local PBS affiliate has programmed right after the one about solitary confinement.
― espring (amateurist), Tuesday, 22 April 2014 22:10 (ten years ago) link
i don't even want to watch the frontline tonight but i guess i will
― flatizza (harbl), Wednesday, 23 April 2014 00:23 (ten years ago) link
jk it's on at 10. past my bedtime.
― flatizza (harbl), Wednesday, 23 April 2014 00:25 (ten years ago) link
oof.
― smhphony orchestra (crüt), Wednesday, 23 April 2014 02:53 (ten years ago) link
man this is genuinely hard to watch
― Mayor Manuel (La Lechera), Wednesday, 23 April 2014 03:29 (ten years ago) link
specifically but not exclusively the blood mop segment
― Mayor Manuel (La Lechera), Wednesday, 23 April 2014 03:37 (ten years ago) link
yeah, that was horrifying.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Wednesday, 23 April 2014 03:40 (ten years ago) link
my wife sat down and watched it with me. about 10 times during the broadcast she said, "oh my god, why am i watching this?"
― Daniel, Esq 2, Wednesday, 23 April 2014 03:41 (ten years ago) link
adam's deterioration was really sadi just want him to get his GED
― Mayor Manuel (La Lechera), Wednesday, 23 April 2014 04:20 (ten years ago) link
after some time to think about it, it seems to me that this was pretty front-loaded with shocking footage (the kicking/shouting/howling/blood). there was some of that later, but not quite as much and by that time it was clear why the prisoners were going to such great lengths to get into the psych ward. there's a phone there! i was also not fond of the dramatic music -- the footage is dramatic enough and adding music was gratuitous imo. and there was also nothing about the community they were from -- i guess i would have liked another hour at least of this movie.
my favorite details were the signs the prisoners put on their tiny windows.
the one next week seems to focus on corrections in a much broader context
― Mayor Manuel (La Lechera), Wednesday, 23 April 2014 13:13 (ten years ago) link
oh! and the elaborate way they would send stuff from one cell to another was memorable.i also enjoyed the many scenes of them grooming their facial hair -- how interesting that they're allowed that one dignity of having facial hair groomed to their liking.
― Mayor Manuel (La Lechera), Wednesday, 23 April 2014 13:16 (ten years ago) link
i ended up watching it. i agree it needed another hour. i felt it was hard to watch and at the same time i was thinking, it's maine, it has to be so much worse in other states. that's not the first show i've seen highlighting maine prisons. i guess they're ok with being on tv.
― flatizza (harbl), Wednesday, 23 April 2014 22:07 (ten years ago) link
I have watched first half of Tb ep, don't know if i
― i was like amazeblols (Hunt3r), Thursday, 24 April 2014 02:29 (ten years ago) link
Can watch the rest. All of the stories are so hard, but that little girl...
― i was like amazeblols (Hunt3r), Thursday, 24 April 2014 02:31 (ten years ago) link
Just watched The Suicide Plan. Wondering if I could ever swing being an Exit Guide.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Thursday, 24 April 2014 04:13 (ten years ago) link
i did not like the doc on solitary confinement all that much. i don't think i learned a lot, except the specific sorts of self-harm prisoners will endure in order to gain either access to the psych ward or some kind of momentary symbolic victory over their oppressors. the doc lacked a broader perspective, or maybe it just wanted the audience to fill in the blanks.
i kept thinking of foucault's discipline and punish. esp. when suicide attempts were shown to be punishable acts that result in being sent back to solitary for even longer that result in more suicide attempts that result in--
― espring (amateurist), Thursday, 24 April 2014 07:46 (ten years ago) link
and all this despite the guards, other inmates, warden etc. who claim (i think sincerely) that they understand the prisoners' plight and are working to make the system more humane. shows how decent people can perpetuate a system of brutal repression.
― espring (amateurist), Thursday, 24 April 2014 07:49 (ten years ago) link
i kept wanting the film to hit these kind of points, even obliquely. but it seemed so devoted to the spectacle, which no doubt needs to be seen, but doesn't really make an argument in itself.
― espring (amateurist), Thursday, 24 April 2014 07:50 (ten years ago) link
i mostly agree, esp about the guards and their sincere effort to make life better for the inmates but it was pretty disappointing as a portrait of solitary confinement as an institutional mainstay. if it had been generally more wiseman-like i'd have accepted that generalization but it wasn't (in style, i mean). it's called "solitary nation" and it was one hour about one prison -- that's kinda lame imo.
however, the supplemental material they have on the frontline website about the background of solitary confinement was really educational and interesting. this specifically http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/criminal-justice/locked-up-in-america/lock-it-down-how-solitary-started-in-the-u-s/
― Mayor Manuel (La Lechera), Friday, 25 April 2014 13:49 (ten years ago) link
also i'd like to know if adam ever got his GED
― Mayor Manuel (La Lechera), Friday, 25 April 2014 13:50 (ten years ago) link
yeah, i entirely agree. that the movie inspired thoughts doesn't necessarily mean i thought it was well-made or did a good job of explaining the larger context of the phenomenon of solitary confinement. also IIRC didn't even mention supermax prisons.
― espring (amateurist), Friday, 25 April 2014 16:30 (ten years ago) link
has anyone watched PRISON STATE? there is a faint undercurrent that rubs me the wrong way but i think it might be the music. it makes me feel like i'm being emotionally manipulated, and i hate that. especially with a topic like this one.
i LOVE christel's mom though. she is such an excellent straight talker and reminds me of my students. i haven't watched the whole thing yet though. speaking of students, they're writing their frontline papers right now. i'm pretty proud of them.
― funch dressing (La Lechera), Friday, 9 May 2014 15:16 (ten years ago) link
There are a ton of "documentaries" on Netflix streaming that are just propaganda films disguised as documentaries (Morgan Spurlock has a lot to answer for) but they seem to be wildly popular. I wonder if the use of manipulative music in a Frontline doc is an attempt to ride that trend. It's gross, though, and they shouldn't do it.
― carl agatha, Friday, 9 May 2014 15:30 (ten years ago) link
yeah that is a seriously unfortunate trendi don't like docs like that even when i agree with what they're saying
― funch dressing (La Lechera), Friday, 9 May 2014 16:14 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, ditto. They feel greasy.
― carl agatha, Friday, 9 May 2014 16:16 (ten years ago) link
they are greasy!
― funch dressing (La Lechera), Friday, 9 May 2014 16:17 (ten years ago) link
I started Prison State, but lost interest. Given its length, it felt like there was way more they could do with the topic. The personal interest side of the story has merit, but I would've preferred more focus on the big picture.
― nitro-burning funny car (Moodles), Friday, 9 May 2014 16:41 (ten years ago) link
agreei think we are encountering more films like these two (small picture vs big picture) because, i'm guessing, frontline acquires films the same way that other doc series do? by purchasing broadcasting rights from movies that have already been made? i'm guessing that the films covering the big picture are much more expensive to make (requiring travel, etc) and these films can be done on a much smaller budget. therefore there are more of these films to choose from, and the other ones just aren't getting made like they used to, at least not without larger institutional support. just a thought.
― funch dressing (La Lechera), Friday, 9 May 2014 16:44 (ten years ago) link
(other PBS doc series like independent lens, for example)
Frontline draws from a roster of producers who pitch them stories...my understanding is that the show commissions original work.
― Hadrian VIII, Friday, 9 May 2014 16:49 (ten years ago) link
ah, did not know that! interesting.
― funch dressing (La Lechera), Friday, 9 May 2014 16:51 (ten years ago) link
That's just anecdotal...I have a friend who did one last year and is just beginning work on another. Maybe they do buy finished stuff occasionally, but I would think that because of the show's distinctive pacing and narration they'd need entirely new edits.
― Hadrian VIII, Friday, 9 May 2014 16:56 (ten years ago) link
Big picture is so important, especially with docs about the prison industrial complex. Individual stories bring it home, but there are connections (connections maaaaaannnn) that need to be explored/highlighted to really convey the depth and breadth of the problem.
― carl agatha, Friday, 9 May 2014 17:10 (ten years ago) link
yeah i was disappointed in the two incarceration-themed ones so fardisappointed in that they were lost opportunities
― funch dressing (La Lechera), Friday, 9 May 2014 19:00 (ten years ago) link
most episodes are original commissioned work but not all, for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Interrupters
also i like stirring music in my docs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
― °ㅇ๐ْ ° (gr8080), Friday, 9 May 2014 22:47 (ten years ago) link
i haven't watched frontline in a while but this is good news http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/pressroom/press-release-frontline-wins-major-funding-to-expand-investigative-reporting/
Largest gift from an individual in FRONTLINE’s history and two-year Ford Foundation grant will support the series’ digital transformationIn a media environment where original broadcast journalism is under siege, PBS’ flagship investigative series FRONTLINE – produced by WGBH in Boston – is the recipient of two new major grants to expand its original investigative reporting.Longtime WGBH supporters Jon and Jo Ann Hagler have made the single largest gift by an individual to FRONTLINE in its 30-year history: $5 million, with the majority going towards a new endowment for continuing journalism. In addition, the Ford Foundation is making a two-year, $800,000 grant towards a new cross-platform Enterprise Journalism Group within FRONTLINE that will deepen the series’ in-house investigative bench.
In a media environment where original broadcast journalism is under siege, PBS’ flagship investigative series FRONTLINE – produced by WGBH in Boston – is the recipient of two new major grants to expand its original investigative reporting.
Longtime WGBH supporters Jon and Jo Ann Hagler have made the single largest gift by an individual to FRONTLINE in its 30-year history: $5 million, with the majority going towards a new endowment for continuing journalism. In addition, the Ford Foundation is making a two-year, $800,000 grant towards a new cross-platform Enterprise Journalism Group within FRONTLINE that will deepen the series’ in-house investigative bench.
― La Lechera, Wednesday, 25 June 2014 21:55 (nine years ago) link
In to recommend Merchants of Cool, apologies if it has been discussed (hard to determine on phone).
― building a desert (art), Wednesday, 25 June 2014 21:58 (nine years ago) link
I enjoyed United States of Secrets. Learned a lot tbh as I hadn't really studied the whole affair.
― yall gonna make me HOOS my STEEN (rip van wanko), Wednesday, 25 June 2014 22:29 (nine years ago) link
i couldn't make it through the one about losing iraq
― cross over the mushroom circle (La Lechera), Tuesday, 5 August 2014 19:11 (nine years ago) link
too dry or too bleak?
― before you die you see the rink (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 5 August 2014 19:25 (nine years ago) link
a little of bothit was a huuuuuuuuge bummer to go back to the bush years and seeing their stupid faces again
― cross over the mushroom circle (La Lechera), Tuesday, 5 August 2014 19:27 (nine years ago) link
i still remember vividly how I felt the day they invaded. Incredulous. up to the last minute I was convinced it was all gonna be brinksmanship and they wouldn't really do it. because it was so blisteringly obvious it was the worst fucking idea in history.
― before you die you see the rink (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 5 August 2014 19:49 (nine years ago) link
yeah it's the combo of realizing how much time has passed on a global and personal level and realizing how little anything has improved. huuuuuuuuuge bummer. seeing the accumulated damage was a bit much for me it's important to know/show but man
― cross over the mushroom circle (La Lechera), Tuesday, 5 August 2014 19:55 (nine years ago) link
yeah i never was and never will be a 911 conspiracy adherent but i don't need to be to feel the dizzying horror of the neocons. still a little stunned tbh that a coven of radicals used a legit atrocity as their chance to hijack the nation, ruin the economy and a sizeable portion of the world, & c & c. fuck those guys forever in hell.
― before you die you see the rink (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 5 August 2014 20:00 (nine years ago) link