FRONTLINE: the pbs documentary series not the flea medicine

i just remembered that i once got approached by a marketing person from a major hollywood studio with an offer of exclusive clips of a highly anticipated film by an acclaimed director in exchange for doing some posts on my tumblr in the week before its broad release

when i wrote the guy back and asked how much money he was offering he was like "oh no this would just be for fun/exclusive clips"

i decided not to do it because it would have broken one of my rules (watching the entire film before posting something from it, not to mention: fuck you pay me) but the whole thing was just such a weird experience

Has anyone watched Rape In the Fields? I watched this last night in tears. I've never heard the term 'Mass Rape' before but it was chilly to hear those two words used together.
No criminal charges have yet been brought against anyone.
No criminal charges have yet been brought against anyone.
No criminal charges have yet been brought against anyone.
No criminal charges have yet been brought against anyone.

I started it, but couldn't handle it tbh. The women reminded me too much of my students, and their stories were too sad. I'm glad it was made though, and I'm glad people are watching it. Disappointing, but not terribly surprising that no charges have been brought against anyone.

did we talk about the lee harvey oswald one

i don't think so -- i listened to the podcast one night while i was falling asleep, so i remember exactly nothing about it

hey, just in time for WORLD TUBERCULOSIS DAY tomorrow!

In 2012, an estimated 8.6 million people developed TB and 1.3 million died from the disease, according to the most recent figures from the World Health Organization. The WHO estimates that about 530,000 children develop TB every year, but the study’s authors used a different methodology to arrive at their total.

The current epicenter of the pandemic is Swaziland, home to highest rate of TB infection in the world. In tomorrow night’s FRONTLINE investigation, TB Silent Killer, filmmaker Jezza Neumann travels there for an unforgettable portrait of lives forever changed by the disease.

Coming in April -- (4/22 and 4/29) -- two docs about the US obsession with incarceration. One about solitary, the other about the PIC, I'm guessing. I hope CCA is fully eviscerated.

I finally started watching the one about TB and I don't even know what to say about it -- the brother and sister they show in the first 5 min segment instantly ripped my heart out and stomped on it. The brother's English was interesting too.
Why are so many people still dying of TB in 2014? I guess I'll have to watch the rest, ha.

I didn't finish it but was wondering the same thing. I thought it was a different strain?

There's a drug-resistant strain, but it seems like it could be contained/treated earlier or something?!

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/

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?

wow, that preview is harrowing enough.

oh god, I don't think I can watch that. Horrifying.

That's why I feel like I have to watch it. If people can survive solitary, I can survive watching this documentary.

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.

i don't even want to watch the frontline tonight but i guess i will

jk it's on at 10. past my bedtime.

oof.

man this is genuinely hard to watch

specifically but not exclusively the blood mop segment

yeah, that was horrifying.

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?"

adam's deterioration was really sad
i just want him to get his GED

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

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.

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.

I have watched first half of Tb ep, don't know if i

Can watch the rest. All of the stories are so hard, but that little girl...

Just watched The Suicide Plan. Wondering if I could ever swing being an Exit Guide.

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--

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.

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.

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/

also i'd like to know if adam ever got his GED

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.

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.

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.

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.

yeah that is a seriously unfortunate trend
i don't like docs like that even when i agree with what they're saying

Yeah, ditto. They feel greasy.

they are greasy!

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.

agree
i 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.

(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.

ah, did not know that! interesting.

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.

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.

yeah i was disappointed in the two incarceration-themed ones so far
disappointed in that they were lost opportunities

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)_/¯