Documentaries Are Bullshit

But I guess I’m ok with that

I feel like I just found out that Santa isn't real. I was recently at a shoot for a documentary series my buddy is being featured in. I was brought in for a single scene. I thought they wanted me to be included since I played a major role in my buddy’s story. Nope not at all. I was simply brought in to play a fictional character.

The character I played was conceivably a real person. And actually not too far from the person I really am. However, my story and the lines I was fed were 90% untrue. Yes, I was fed lines the entire time. They would give me a topic to speak on and the first part would actually be my opinion. Then they would say “ok now say that you have done this or you struggle with this situation.” In every case the personal or first hand accounts were completely untrue. I remember at one point saying “so this happened to me? not a friend?” I was just clarifying that the director wanted me to blatantly lie. Confirmed.

We also brought along another buddy who played an even more ridiculous fictional character. He is a 26-year-old dude who works in sales. He played a 42-year-old veteran of an industry he is not in, or even solidly understands. His character was 100% untrue. His lines were even more scripted than mine (like word-for-word scripted). And since my buddy does not look like he is 42 they are going to blur his face for the final product, and say he wished to remain anonymous.

So the two of us were brought in to play minor roles, and we may have made up a few stories and fibbed a bit about our current situations. But you would think my buddy who was actually being featured would tell a more truth-based story? Well not exactly. His story (from what I understand) is about 50% true. It is based on a factual story but many of the details, timeline and events are either embellished or completely untrue.

Finding out that the stories depicted in documentaries are not necessarily true, has not ruined documentaries for me though. Instead, it has changed my perspective on the genre. Maybe I was ignorant to think documentaries were closer to raw reality. What I have learned is that documentaries are not simply a point on the fiction to non-fiction spectrum. They are instead a style of storytelling.

I realize now that documentaries do not need to be 100% true in order to accomplish their real purpose. While documentaries are meant to bring light to a cause or injustice, to reveal a hidden truth or to simply entertain, they should not be looked at as genuine, factual resources. Instead, documentaries should be viewed as the starting points for larger societal discussions and further research.