After my many years of true crime consumption, with 2 years in social work, there’s very little that triggers me when it comes to watching a documentary. What’s the wildest documentary you’ve seen? Can be true crime or others. I need MIND BLOWING recs. Thank you all!!
I just watched Netflix's Unabomber. I have seen many documentaries and biopics on this series of events. This left a bad taste in my mouth because of Netflix's decision to switch the gender of the protagonist, the real forensic linguist named James R. Fitzgerald.
I don't have a problem with creative liberties in a biopic. Obviously, you can't fit an entire investigation or someone's life into a two-hour movie. But there's a big difference between condensing events and changing who actually did something.
In the Unabomber case, the real forensic linguist was James R. Fitzgerald, a man who played an important role in the investigation. Netflix instead created a fictional female FBI agent and gave her much of the investigative work associated with Fitzgerald. That wasn't necessary to tell the story, and viewers who don't know the history can easily come away believing that fictional character actually existed and did those things.
My concern isn't that the character is a woman. It's that when movies and series presented as being based on true events repeatedly alter the identities and accomplishments of real people, they can eventually distort the public's understanding of history.
There's nothing wrong with representation, but I don't think representation should come at the expense of historical accuracy—especially when the real people and their contributions are interesting enough to tell the story honestly in the first place.
Hello,
We recently watched The Keepers and we loved it! We are looking for something of a similar quality based on Epstein with in depth research. Current stuff that we have watched and absolutely loved:
Tower (2016)
The Keepers
O.J.: Made in America
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy
Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror
Don't F**K with Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer
Tiger King (Season 1)
Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (Its good, but not amazing exactly)
Fahrenheit 9/11 & Bowling for Columbine (Lots of Micheal Moores Stuff is actually quite good to watch honestly.)
It doesnt need to be about some specific topic, just very well made. But we feel there must be some extremely good, to the point, Epstein related series somewhere, please let me know what you guys might recommend.
If you guys can think of something other than Epstein as well, please recommend it as well.
I watched Ruby Ridge | American Experience for the first time today. Going into it I already had a good deal of knowledge on the history of what occurred, but am fascinated by ruby ridge so wanted to watch a doc.
By the end of it in my head I was going “Wow, they really tried to be neutral to a fault and let the government incompetence off easy.”
Then I remembered the doc was made by PBS, and realized this was a propaganda piece from the government. Many omits from the doc starting coming back to my mind.
Moral of the story in documentaries/movies/news: know who is writing the story and know who is funding it.
I've heard about the world at war (1973-4), what are your opinions on this? any later documentaries that are more accurate and engaging?
I don't mind if it's long and obtuse, I prefer it be exhaustive and talk about the war beyond the obvious maneuvers and military conquests, but rather about changes in society and progression of civilization throughout these 6 years. Anything featuring archival footage or real life interviews is absolutely incredible, and would be preferred. I would prefer there be no actor's recreation of any scenes, and stuck to archival footage. Also, I'd love to learn about the entire war rather than a single incident, however I'm open to reccs otherwise as well. Thanks :)
Just finished watching *Lorne* and I’m curious what others thought of the documentary. What stood out to you most? I’d love to hear different perspectives on its themes, the people involved, and what you think the documentary ultimately says about one of the greatest television series!
sat down to watch it with low expectations. thought it was going to be one of those documentaries that tells you exactly what it thinks and then shows you evidence that agrees with that thought. that is basically what happened. my roommate said everyone who watches this already decided what they think before the credits roll and i thought she was being cynical but she is not. everyone already knows. we know orcas are too big and too smart and too wild to be kept in a tank. the movie does not convince you of anything. it just gives you the facts and lets you sit with how sad and obvious all of it is. the part where the trainer talks about how the orca bumped into her on purpose. that was the moment. not because it was shoking but because it confirmed something i already felt. we should not be keeping those animals. everybody knows that. the documentary just makes you admit it out loud. i sat in the dark after it ended and did not move for like ten minutes. my roommate asked if i wanted popcorn and i said no because i was still thinking. she said everybody always says that and they they get up and eat chips anyway. she was right about that too. i got the chips and she was right about most things.
Best fact-checked/decolonized documentaries
I love a good BBC or National Geographic documentary, but they can be a bit out-dated, or clouded by subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) agendas. I'm looking to populate my library with as much truly accurate ones as possible.
What are some good quality, fact-checked documentaries you love? History, nature, science.. any subject that isn't a propaganda or anti-something take. All political spectrum and cultures are guilty of it, whether they are aware of it or not.. but some documentaries really stand out as having really done the deep research to just provide straight real facts.
I especially love history documentaries that tell the stories as we've recently uncovered truths behind them, since the longer time goes on, the more we discover about histories where truths were hidden to follow certain agendas of their time.
New science documentaries where we've found new info about animals, or show that the scientific discoveries weren't the only info, and that the local peoples living with the animals or locations also have valuable knowledge glossed over by the older scientific societies..
Things like that :D