Blindsided by These Docs

Today’s class really caught me off guard. When I heard that we were covering documentaries, I somewhat let my guard down. Though I have heard of the influencing power of documentaries, rarely have I seen it in the ones I have watched. However, today’s films were exceptions. First off, the documentary on the Jewish photographer spoke to me in several ways. It showed the power that human attention can have. This photographer was making these poor people feel like they were actually worth something. Then, just the lives these poor people were living made me realize that there is an entire world that I don’t comprehend. Though I like to think I have a heart for the urban poor, I have not experienced what they have.

Then, the documentary made entirely in CG really affected me, and it was because of one particularly disturbing image. When the colored strands, representing an artist’s self doubt, wrapped themselves around the different artists’ heads, it really freaked me out. It made me realize that I probably will come into contact with this level of doubt at some point in my life. I don’t want to be like these artists and get choked by my doubting of my ability. If anything though, this fear has caused me to always hold value in myself. It is when we devalue our abilities that we run into problems.