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The Documentary By Damien Monaco This is one documentary that will surprise you and leave you wanting more...but not in a good way. Everything that would persuade you to see it, whether it be the trailer, the brief write-up featured on the Tribeca website, or even testimony given by other producers at the showing, gives you the impression that this documentary uncovers what it is really like to create a reality TV show or to be on one. The documentary starts out with two struggling writers, Dave Roberts and Gil S. Ripley, pitching ideas to different production companies and TV stations, trying to create the next big hit. Their agent persuades them to pitch reality TV ideas to some of these places with the feeling that these concepts would sell easier. Don't ask me why writers would be pitching scenarios for reality shows since one of the major points of reality TV is that there is no writing involved. Eventually Roberts and Ripley team-up with Kevin Blatt, promoter of the Paris Hilton sex tape. Blatt decides to fund the creation of the reality show, which was an idea created by Ripley showing how ridiculous reality TV has become. After only a few days of filming the pilot for the show, one of the contestants gets injured and the project gets cancelled. For the most part, this documentary is being marketed as a film about creating a reality TV show that is based on cannibalism. Ninety percent of the movie had nothing to do with the creation of the cannibal show though. The beginning was extremely drawn out, apparently to show how hard it can be to get an idea for a show created. So for the first half of the documentary you watch blurbs about other shows being turned down. When Roberts and Ripley finally sell their idea to Blatt, creation of the show is still delayed to show the audience scenes of naked strippers with tampon strings hanging out of them. When they finally start filming the pilot, they crammed six days worth of footage into about ten minutes of the documentary. Then the contestant is hurt, Roberts and Ripley go home and move onto other projects, the end. The impression given to people before seeing the movie is that directors Perry Grebin and Michael Nigro are trying to convey a message that reality TV has gone too far and the quality of programming on TV has declined. A great message indeed, but that message is never actually portrayed by the documentary. Ripley is shown as a person who doesn't like the idea of reality TV, yet goes along with it anyway because he wants to make money. And yes, the film says that reality TV has gone too far, but still they come up with some outlandish idea for a show that actually gets created. The message actually portrayed is that people should keep creating crap because it will never be too over-the-top, you can make money and have strippers dangle their strings for you. This documentary had potential to be a great success, but it didn't quite make it. The whole film was mundane and dull. Nothing exciting ever occurred, leaving one to fall asleep during the showing. There is a fine line between making a documentary and creating a reality TV show. This was more like watching a bad reality TV show about making a bad reality TV show. Instead of showing how reality TV has become too much of a nuisance, it contributed to the nuisance. |
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