What is a documentary in today's dictionary?

A documentary should play the role of the mother by the bedside of her child telling of a time when she was young. It should be a medium to tell the story of a specific person or group of people. A mother experienced her own story, and a producer should do the same through those who lived the story. But how does this story evolve into something the public considers a documentary?

When I think of documentary, my first thought goes to the National Geographic shows of foreign lands or people I had never heard of before. I would still include these programs in my definition along with broadcast news stories, the minuteman program, and the Hmong film. I think in these examples, music wasn’t a key point, but it did help convey the emotion the narrator wanted the viewer to experience. However, I feel that reality television is scripted. Yes, it is showing a story of a real life person that has the interest of its viewers, but what is the point of telling this story? Is it something different that a majority of the viewers need to be informed of because they haven’t experienced it?

I think the role of producers is not to use documentaries as a medium of self-expression but as something more powerful. As Patricia Finneran, director of the SilverDocs documentary film festival said, "The role of the artist is often to challenge the status quo and force us to question our understanding of reality. The best result that can come out of the controversy surrounding 'Fahrenheit 9/11' is for all of us to question the intentions and manipulations of not just documentary filmmakers, but all media makers." It's purpose is initiate thought and inform its viewers.

When reading an article by Eugene Hernandez, many influential people, including Morgan Spurlock, Michael Moore, and Bingham Ray, of the field gave their defitintion of a documentary. I disagree with the idea that if it is non-fiction it is a documentary. I don't think Supersize Me or Jackass should be in the same category as National Geographic. These "documentaries" were created with a specific message to tell, not a story with the purpose to inform. I am be unrealistic in that there is no objective point of view in media, but I don't think it should be propaganda.

In today’s world, a critic must take into account the consumers of documentaries. A producer can create a story, but who will watch it? These stories, often human interest, need to take the attention of those who are willing to purchase their work. As you can see, a consumer can bring their documentaries to their home with a small fee to watch clips of foster care, the prison system, and other stories they the majority have never experienced themselves. To me, the purpose of a documentary isn't to make money for a producer, but to give a lounder voice to an indivdual. Gratification theory finds its home here. This is where I find fault in today's definition. I see a documentary being any story that needs to be told, not just a story that the consumers of media find interesting.

To summarize my thoughts, I would lay down a few criteria to meet to establish a film or story becoming a documentary. First, the story must be informing its viewers of something they are unfamiliar with. If they already know Westminster uses an overabundance of salt on their sidewalks, a documentary doesn’t need to be made entitled “The Day in the Life of the Man who salts Our Sidewalks”. The story should be real and told as unbiased as possible. My personal preference would be to allow the individuals own voice be heard and not some directors interpretation. I want to see raw footage and clips and not some magical directors trick that leads me to believe something other than the truth. I can’t control the gatekeepers, but I think there should not be an individual or agency controlling the story in a documentary. I think it is more than non-fiction, but these finer points expressed by this article seem to be in agreement with my developing idea. I agree that in today's world a documentary is a form of journalism, but I hope not in the terms of The Great Moon Hoax of 1835.