Deborah Scranton's Ted.com Lecture.

The disconnect that Deborah Scranton hopes to bridge is the lack of total understanding between the soldiers and the general public about the extent of the war in Iraq. This is proven evident when many of us watch/listen to a news report about the war. Often what happens is when we hear about what goes on, we think "oh, that's not good" (or something to that effect) and go back to our daily lives. Through her documentary "The War Tapes", Deborah Scranton hopes to give us a better understanding about the war and its effect on the soldiers.

The media as a whole contributes to creating this disconnect by only showing bad news, while rarely showing anything good about the war (eg. those soldiers who went outside the wire to help injured Iraqis). This is because the major news agencies know that after many years of reporting, it is the horrors of war that earn them the top spot in the daily ratings. As such, the increase in ratings will result in a direct increase in ad revenue, giving them more money (the root of all evil as they say). Although it is good for them, this picking and choosing will only serve to further increase the disconnect between the soldiers and the general public.

A documentary like "The War Tapes" helps to remedy and bridge this disconnect by getting closer to the truth than your average CNN report. By giving the soldiers cameras, we are not only able to see the complex sense of fear and uncertainty that they go through on a daily basis, we also see their innermost emotions. For example, right after we see footage of Sgt. Stephen Pink's cleanup of a car bomb attack, we hear him read pages from his diary (proof of trust in the filmmaker). Deborah Scranton also gets a more accurate emotional state by getting another soldier to interview Sgt. Pink as soon as possible. Through clips like these, we gain a greater understanding of the soldiers' predicaments, and are able to better comprehend what goes on while we view the world through a television.

THE END.

THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD.

When it comes to fixing the world, we tend to ask ourselves a lot of questions. In addition to "How can we do it?", another possible thought would be "Can two men with limited financial resources dupe the biggest corporations in the world?". The simple answer to that question is yes, as demonstrated in the 2009 Andy Bichlbaum / Mike Bonanno / Kurt Engfehr documentary "The Yes Men Fix the World". The film chronologically follows the exploits the titular Yes Men (Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno) as they raised awareness to key issues by playing various high profile pranks on the world's largest corporations (Dow Chemical, Exxon Mobil, Haliburton, ect). These pranks help showcase the the theme and message of the film, which is globalization, the influence of the "corporate cult", and what we can do to change things (which is very effectively conveyed by the theme's chronological structure).

This film is an expository documentary with a hint of expository elements (the hidden cameras during their pranks) as seen from the perspective of the Yes Men, with some input from various corporate big wigs seated in front of unflattering green screen photos. Conventions that lead me to this conclusion include the use of archival footage (news clips), a narrator, staged shots during the opening (swimming), and a multitude of interviews with a plethora of friends and foes. Although some may accuse the film of a too heavily favouring toward the perspective of the anti-corporation Yes Men, I did not find the film to be biased in any way.

I enjoyed every aspect of this film as a whole, and I think that the major strength of the film was all of the zany stunts that the Yes Men pull of at these gatherings of Milton Friedman's free market disciples. The stunts range from the scary (Dow's Golden Skeleton), to the gross (Exxon's Vivolium Candles), to the completely silly and absurd (Haliburton Survive-A-Ball). The sheer amount of preparation that goes into these stunts with little financial resources is truly amazing, and the presentations are pulled of with micro precision. They are able to realistically portray a multitude of characters, and never manage to arouse suspicion (except for the Vivolium candles, they were discovered mid-presentation). I also found it kind of interesting how gullible these free marketeers never suspected a thing, and even loved the ideas. That was a complete surprise to me, and it was also surprising to see how much they got away with (including subtly referring to then New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin as a "well dressed lie"). It is also interesting to note that these pranks are also ingenious in the sense that they can make the media work for them, and further spread their cause.

In our nearly globalized world, a film like "The Yes Men Fix the World" holds tremendous value. It is positive in the sense that it raises awareness about what these big companies have done and are doing in order to make more money (eg. intensifying Hurricane Katrina by gradually destroying the New Orleans wetlands, which they called "progress"). The only downside I can think of is that some Joe of the street may decide to replicate these exploits with more disastrous results, or they could become so well known . We may never know for sure, but I'm now certain that after viewing this film, anyone can fix the world.

THE END.