its revelations are truly scary.
Two things happened to me while I was watching this movie.
First, I wanted to walk out several times. Not because the movie was bad, but because what I was watching was so extreme. The indoctrination the children were being put through, the religious fundamentalism being displayed, it was very nearly too much.
Second, after the movie finally ended, I felt like I really needed a shower.
Make no mistake, this is an excellent documentary on a side of America that I think a large group of people know little about. Everyone should see this.
The documentary starts out by showing days-in-the-lives of a couple of the kids who go on to attend the summer camp. Then it shows snippets of some of the activities held at the camp. All the interviewees speak freely about their points of view, no leading questions are asked, there is no fancy editing to show just the "juicy" bits, and there's no Michael Moore-esquire narrative voice to tell you what the documentary is trying to tell you. No judgements are made, and balance is provided by a radio talk show host, who presents a single negative, opposing voice to the positive praises of the rest of the people in the documentary.
Some consider this to be more propaganda than documentary. I do not think it is propaganda. No single virtue is being extolled over all else, and dissenting opinions are not being excluded or discounted. This film simply shows a slice of life for a segment of America as it is. It aims to inform, and generate debate, exactly what a documentary should do. Regardless of one's reaction to the subject matter itself, I think it cannot be denied that as a documentary, "Jesus Camp" is a commendable effort.
Two things happened to me while I was watching this movie.
First, I wanted to walk out several times. Not because the movie was bad, but because what I was watching was so extreme. The indoctrination the children were being put through, the religious fundamentalism being displayed, it was very nearly too much.
Second, after the movie finally ended, I felt like I really needed a shower.
Make no mistake, this is an excellent documentary on a side of America that I think a large group of people know little about. Everyone should see this.
The documentary starts out by showing days-in-the-lives of a couple of the kids who go on to attend the summer camp. Then it shows snippets of some of the activities held at the camp. All the interviewees speak freely about their points of view, no leading questions are asked, there is no fancy editing to show just the "juicy" bits, and there's no Michael Moore-esquire narrative voice to tell you what the documentary is trying to tell you. No judgements are made, and balance is provided by a radio talk show host, who presents a single negative, opposing voice to the positive praises of the rest of the people in the documentary.
Some consider this to be more propaganda than documentary. I do not think it is propaganda. No single virtue is being extolled over all else, and dissenting opinions are not being excluded or discounted. This film simply shows a slice of life for a segment of America as it is. It aims to inform, and generate debate, exactly what a documentary should do. Regardless of one's reaction to the subject matter itself, I think it cannot be denied that as a documentary, "Jesus Camp" is a commendable effort.
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