Adventures in the Lives of Others

Recently I have been reading Adventures in the Lives of Others: Ethical Dilemmas in Factual Filmmaking this past week. This book explores the beginning of the documentary genre and the general ethical dilemmas that accompany factual filmmaking. There are portions where James Quinn explores the relationship of trust between a documentary filmmaker and the audience of his or her work. Because these filmmakers are said to be upholding the truth, reconstructions of events that have already happened seem like little lies. the seamless integration of reconstructions has been met by flack from an audience that feels it is being manipulated. Instead filmmakers have chosen to make a large amount of their documentaries observational. However, that in itself creates it's own ethical dilemmas.

One of the major problems I have encountered so far is that when a filmmaker sets out to record someone, their behavior may change to accommodate the fact that they are being recorded. In fact, these subjects may begin to use the format as a soapbox to advance their own agenda. Truthfully recording life-like drama is hard because the mere fact that the subject is being recorded, influences their actions. Because this attention can make normal people into celebrities, much of today's reality television focuses on documenting the lives of already established celebrities.

On the other side of the spectrum, many documentaries are made by observing some kind of tragedy. The content is compelling enough to keep a viewer's attention and usually also controversial enough for the filmmaker to use it as a platform for social change. When recording someone with a mental disorder or a debilitating addiction, what is the responsibility of the filmmaker? Should they step in and help their subjects? Do they have a responsibility to record the events as they happen with no intervention?

Questions like this have arisen as hand held devices and mobile cameras have become standard with everyday people. It's become easier and easier to imagine yourself in the position of these filmmakers and with that documentary filmmaking has faced more scrutiny then ever on maintaining a factual viewpoiint while also remaining human.