"You want to have a broad understanding of what you're doing BEFORE you deploy the troops, BEFORE Jessica Lynch goes to Baghdad," says Father Joe Wilson with a straight face in flockumentary "Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War," coming soon to a MoveOn house party near you. Click on image to view video clip. Photoshop montage of Joe Wilson as The Holy Father (Claudio Luffoli/AP)
"To call these films propaganda is also to misunderstand them," writes Steven Zeitchik in "They Report, They Decide," an Opinion Journal critique of the current crop of what he aptly calls "flockumentaries":
The documentary form is serving a political purpose at the moment. (You might even say that a point of view is driving it.) And why not? The form, at least as it is practiced here, is perfect for the task. It favors emotion over logic, helped along by shrewd editing, manipulative music, clever graphics and gonzo stunts. For their creators, such documentaries allow for "reporting" without the messy business of fact-checking or the checks and balances of beat journalism. For the audience, they serve as, well, echo chambers.
They don't seek to convince the unconvinced or herd the untamed. They aim directly at the sheep. Little wonder that the main means of distributing "Outfoxed" is through house parties organized by MoveOn.org, the group whose Bush-bashing is at least as bald-faced as anything on Fox. Call them flockumentaries, movies people attend en masse, to nestle together in easy confirmation of their most cherished beliefs -- to learn, really, what they already know.
The documentary form at its best, writes Zeitchik, is "propelled by a sense of discovery. Neither filmmaker nor viewer knows what he is getting into until he really starts busying himself with it." By contrast:
Movies like "Outfoxed," "Control Room" and "Fahrenheit 911" . . . begin by knowing their thesis -- and their audience -- and operate backward. In the process, artists keen to point up the propagandistic efforts of others show themselves all too willing to take part in such efforts themselves.
A related flockumentary by "Outfoxed" Producer Robert Greenwald, "Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War" -- blogged here -- which was screened at Cannes and is set for release during the Republican National Convention, stars, among others, Scott Ritter, The Honorable Henry Waxman, Rand Beers and -- could anything be more soft and fuzzy? -- Joe Wilson, the recently defrocked priest of The Church of Bush Lied™. We quote once again acolyte Greenwald's gushing appreciation of His Holiness:
Ambassador Joe Wilson is a smart, tough critter. They messed with the wrong guy. He has all the skills of a diplomat and the instincts of a hit man. He knows how the game is played, and he took on Saddam. Now he is taking on the Bushies; he won't bend or cave or run for cover. We are lucky to have him on our side, the side of the true patriots.
Oh, the incestuousness of it all! Dare we mouth the words Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy? Fox-bashing, Bush Lied™, Joe Wilson as "expert" witness and -- if you've been keeping up with developments over at Glenn Reynolds' Wilson Lied™ gloatathon -- "This Restore Honesty" website by the now-discredited Joe Wilson is mostly of comedic value now. But wait, there's more -- scroll to the bottom and you'll see that it's "Paid for by John Kerry for President, Inc."
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