Documentaries rock

They're the only thing I can watch time and time again, and thank God, they have saved my arse many a time when the only other things to watch on television are those God-awful afternoon soapies (Passions being the worst of a very bad bunch). So I went to see "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Supersize Me" on Friday night. F9/11 was absolutely awesome! The cinema it was being shown at was packed, the first time I've ever seen it that full, and I swear the whole room was getting hotter as people in the audience were getting more fired up (me DEFINITELY included). I think one of my favourite parts was when Michael Moore was asking members of Congress whether they'd like to enlist their sons/daughters into the defence forces. Ooh, that, and all the parts where George W. Bush was looking like an idiot. Some people would no doubt disagree with the viewpoint that Moore put across, probably saying that it was polarised to being anti-Bush, but I think that we're in a better place now that doco was made. I was completely unaware of a lot of what was presented even though I thought I knew a bit about what was going on, and it's made me go and research it on the Internet. As an aside to all this corruption talk, a while back I found a de-classified document which described plans from the early 60's that the then American government had drawn up to make it appear that Cuba had attacked the US. It's a pretty amazing read - I'll put in a link when I find it again.

"Supersize me" was also pretty cool. If you're in Oz you may have seen the manager of McDonald's Australia on TV ads attempting to debunk Supersize Me. Obviously he's trying to save his arse, but I think seeing the ads first and then seeing the doco pointed out how the McDonald's guy was twisting things to save himself. In the doco there was a section in the case where two teenage girls were trying to sue McDonald's. The lawyers stated that the case could only hold water if they could prove that eating only McDonald's caused a deterioration in a person's physical well-being. I don't think there was any such information available at the time. So that's one of the reasons why Supersize Me exists as a doco today - to prove that exact point. Anyone, even wankerchops, know that eating only junk food for a month is going to be pretty unhealthy, but no-one's actually set out to prove that before. Again, in-your-face documentaries like this can only be a good thing I reckon. McDonald's have changed their tune since then, even though they insist it's not a reflex response to Supersize me.