293. Web-series Reviews – 126

 

More documentary series reviews…

 

Athlete A – Came out in 2020. Follow the Indianapolis Star reporters that broke the story about USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar's abuse and hear from gymnasts like Maggie Nichols.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

A series of young women across the USA held dreams of competing on the US Olympics Team, determined to go all the way, but were subjected to shattering abuse from their coaches and trainers, under the organisation USA Gymnastics, run by businessman Stephen Penny. But it was one man, Olympic Doctor Larry Nasser, who became the subject of a series of sexual abuse allegations, and following the testimonies of various young women, was sent down, only for his misconduct to reveal a wider, further reaching circle of corruption and silence across the industry.

Within the space of the last ten or so years, the veneer of respectability that covered the seemingly wholesome institutions that we all loved has come crashing down, and we live with a far less blinkered time, with greater awareness of the abuses that go on behind the scenes. It's now widely accepted that abuse and predators lurk within every high profile institution around the world, and this unsettling documentary depicts the goings on in the world of the US Olympics.

There's a depressingly familiar pattern on display here that allows the abuse to happen in settings like this, and for the abusers to get away with it for as long as it does and abuse as many people as they do. A feeling of not being believed, feelings of fear of reporting the abuser, inaction on account of the reputational damage to the body in question, loss of deals and sponsorships (money), people covering their own backs...it's understandable and very sad that people with a desire to follow their dreams will now feel very distrustful and disillusioned with how those in charge behave.

Success, but at what cost? That's the sad, disheartening message at the core of this documentary, a sad tale of lives being destroyed and dreams being shattered through no fault of those it happens to.

My Take – A definitive watch!

 

My Octopus Teacher – Came out in 2020.  After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal's trust and they develop a never before seen bond between human and wild animal.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

"A lot of people say an octopus is like an alien. But the strange thing is, as you get closer to them, you realize that we're very similar in a lot of ways." Craig Foster, Founder of Sea Change Project

A lot of people come to an undersea doc caring mainly for the spectacular cinemaphotography. Not so much here because the Netflix original, My Octopus Teacher, is all about the relationship between an invertebrate and a man--the photography helps rather than dominates.

Herman Melville could have learned a thing or two from narrator and diver Craig Foster, whose gentle delivery draws you in the way his octopus love does. Melville could have minimized most of his delivery, whereas Foster and co-writer James Reed gently tell us about this lovely miniature wonder and her world in the simplest, most lyrical way.

She soothes us with her daily routine (Foster spends almost a year observing her without scuba tank (a year is the lifespan of the Octopus). She coyly draws him in like a lover. If you have your Octopus knowledge only from Jules Verne, you be astonished how small she is and loving-at one point, Foster caresses her, revealing how small she is, and vulnerable. Yet, she trusts him as well she should. See this masterpiece just to witness him lovingly holding her.

Foster adheres to the Star-Trek non-intervention mandate and watches how his beloved aqua woman is pursued by a hungry shark. Drama ensues with a slow-burning suspense most horror films would love to have.

You are likely to experience the mental cleansing the narrator did as he lost his depression, connected with his son, and found his place in the natural world, and thus the human world, while he became more intimate with her and her small world:

"What she taught me was to feel... that you're part of this place, not a visitor. That's a huge difference." Foster

My Take – A definitive watch!

 

13^th – Came out in 2016.  The film begins with the idea that 25 percent of the people in the world who are incarcerated are incarcerated in the U.S. Although the U.S. has just 5% of the world's population. "13th" charts the explosive growth in America's prison population; in 1970, there were about 200,000 prisoners; today, the prison population is more than 2 million. The documentary touches on chattel slavery; D. W. Griffith's film "The Birth of a Nation"; Emmett Till; the civil rights movement; the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Richard M. Nixon; and Ronald Reagan's declaration of the war on drugs and much more.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

This documentary shines a very bright light on two fundamental issues going on in our country. The power of money and it's influence on profitable incarceration and ultimately perpetual slavery. I think it did a fabulous job of being virtually opinion free and making a point to stay focused on facts. That said, I think you have to be open to the information. By that, whether you lean right or left, it's best to digest this documentary with an open mind free of your own political thoughts and opinions.

It's foundation is about slavery and how it plays a role in modern events. It suggests that slavery never went away, it merely reinvented itself to "keep up with the times", always having financial gain being the catalyst for it's continued existence. It really shines when it presents it's case on how mass incarceration is today's slavery. The direct correlation between labor based slavery of yesteryear and labor based incarceration of today is frightening in regards to similarity. You can deny it if you choose to, but if you continue to do so after seeing this presentation, then it's simply because you deny fact.

When Colin Kaepernick protested the flag, though I'm a black man, I was offended by his stance. After watching this documentary however, I look at his point of view with a different lens. I don't entirely agree with his approach, but I have to admit that oppression in this country is still very alive and well. I think too many people look at oppression in traditional views like slavery and the holocaust. But in my opinion, you have to appreciate oppression as the complexity that it is, in order to acknowledge it's existence. Again this documentary does an excellent job of making that case. I won't delve too deep into why, I would just simply recommend watching it.

Word of caution however. This documentary doesn't pull it's punches. It's very dark, very disconcerting regarding politics and if it hits you right, it will make you angry and sad all at once. My two children stayed in the forefront of my mind while watching this, and my heart bled for them throughout, seeing what kind of world that awaits them. I tried to be optimistic about light being brought to this issue in such a well put together way, but I believe that we as a country, still have a ways to go, seeing that someone like Trump could get so close to being President.

Overall, this documentary is very important and should be seen by everyone able. Whether you lean right or left, you cannot deny some of the dirty deals made by politicians to keep their pockets lined via profitable incarceration. Real change needs to happen without question, but this documentary drives home the point that as long as "the almighty dollar" rules, don't expect much change anytime soon.

My Take – Worth a watch!

Cheers till next time😊!!