My concluding remarks in Chapter Three include identifying the thematic content of the analyzed PBS documentaries. Milk was potentially controversial but by the time of the prime- time broadcast of the film on PBS in the fall of 1985, gay rights activism was familiar and had
become a tacitly accepted social movement. Additionally, the film’s Academy Award winner status and use of traditional modes of representation that framed its topic in a historical- biographical context, the film was a safe bet for PBS programmers acutely concerned with negative reactions. Enron also presents a social-issue theme with a diminished potential for controversy due to the latency between the event and the time of broadcast. Additionally, Enron the documentary was based on Enron the best selling book, making it an even safer choice for programmers concerned with negative reactions to a portrayal critical of the American economic system, the book having provided a priori evidence of the actions portrayed in the film. While it did incorporate some expressive conventions, Enron was ultimately more confined with regard to form because of it more contentious topic. For these reasons, both films qualified for prime time broadcast – Milk as a stand-alone independent feature and Enron as an installment in the Independent Lens series, which isolated it from the more distinctive (and scrutinized) public affairs programming such as Frontline.
The PBS strategy of creating series that showcase independent documentaries and strategically placing them outside of the core programming relates to an additional analytic consideration of how a film’s thematic content might impact its presentation style. Institutional mandates regarding a film’s voice – its mode of representation – are vying for legitimacy as determined by audience and authorities.153 A narrative can be controversial by presenting a topic that will polarize opposing factions but it can be acceptable if it conforms to style standards set by the institution and expected by the audience. Within the institutional realm of PBS, credibility in the minds of governing and cultural authorities can be established by adopting conventional methods. The difference is often that between what might be considered a perspective of
a particular text (mode) to a traditional mode of representation may well strengthen its claims.”154
As noted at the end of Chapter Two, The dominant theme of Dear America is a sympathetic portrayal of Vietnam War soldiers as victims of an unjust military action by the United States. HBO included the film in its core programming even though its singular perspective on a contentious event in US history was a deviation from the thematically neutral perspectives of earlier HBO documentaries. This was a significant step in the direction of presenting
controversial topic from a singular perspective - that of the social actors in the narrative –
dramatically voiced by actors interpreting sections of original correspondence selected to support the filmmakers’ claims. Gasland, likewise, promotes a controversial claim harshly critical of corporate enterprise that victimizes the public, and the political-economic system that supports these practices. The various landowners and public functionaries are portrayed as helpless victims or ineffectual authorities and the gas company operatives as either malicious or in denial of the deleterious effects of their actions. The film’s radical departure from traditional
documentary form did not deter the network from broadcasting the film in prime time. The positive response by audiences and critics compelled the network to contract with the filmmaker to produce a sequel – Gasland 2.
This aspect of how a film’s thematic content is related to its style prompts a final
consideration in defining the institutional impact on documentary. Programming practices that designate a particular form as being appropriate (or not) to a film’s topic are indicative of that institution’s perspective on documentary function or purpose. As a thing that is produced for and sold in a marketplace, documentary films are a commodity with varying degrees of use and exchange value.155 With its stated mission of providing education and information, free from the
bias of commercial enterprise, to a democratic society, public broadcasting programs would be considered as having a strong “use value.” Productions are journalistic inquiries and projects of democratic civics with little or no requirement for financial gain. Commercial networks may also define their documentary programs as such but may also characterize them as having alternative perspectives and, especially in the case of subscription networks, function as
diversion or pure entertainment. The use value of these programs would be diminished, offset by their strong “exchange value.” The purveyors of New Documentary works would posit that the form has evolved to incorporate any and all cinematic conventions and still function and still perform journalistic duties of inquiry and exposition. Their expressive modes of representation support a contention that the truth of events and actions are subjective, and often compete with the perspectives of other individuals and groups regarding the same events.156 Pictorial and
sound components that are created and arranged in a pleasurable manner do not necessarily detract from a film’s truthfulness but instead combine with expositional-observational elements to form a “charged real.”157