{"id":4851,"date":"2014-04-18T00:00:30","date_gmt":"2014-04-18T04:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smugfilm.com\/?p=4851"},"modified":"2014-04-19T02:27:31","modified_gmt":"2014-04-19T06:27:31","slug":"the-final-member","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/the-final-member\/","title":{"rendered":"The Final Member: A Documentary About Penises, And On A Deeper Level, About Documentaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"finalmember\"
\n

\nThe Final Member<\/a> (Completed in 2012, Released in 2014)
\n<\/b>Directed by Zach Math and Jonah Bekhor
\n90 min.<\/p>\n

Spoiler-free.<\/i><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a scene in this delightful film about a penis museum and the men who want their members to be immortalized in it that is so important that I shouldn\u2019t even talk about it, but I have to, because it unintentionally has a lot to say about documentaries. Don\u2019t worry\u2014I\u2019ve figured out a way to discuss it without spoiling anything.
\n
\nIt\u2019s a scene where a man is describing an object he is holding, but the cameraman doesn\u2019t make the shot about the object\u2014he makes it about the man.\u00a0 The vibe is as though suddenly, as the moment was being captured, there occurred an impromptu, telepathic, silent agreement between the cameraman and his subject about where he ought to point the lens\u2014the shot and the expressions on the man\u2019s face speak volumes\u2014yet, they completely contradict the words he\u2019s saying about the object, and what it looks like, in the few glimpses we get of it.<\/p>\n

Because of this, the scene almost feels as though two realities are taking place on top of each other\u2014in one, the object is how the man says it is, and in another, it\u2019s how his face<\/i> says it is. Because we are aware of both\u2014and they<\/i> are aware that we\u2019re aware of both\u2014the scene remains completely honest, despite itself. \u00a0And the result is one of the most emotionally layered, powerful moments I have ever seen captured on film. It singlehandedly defines, in my opinion, what it is to be a great documentary.<\/p>\n

Great documentaries are, above all else, honest\u2014but what makes an honest documentary?\u00a0 At first glance, one might say that the scene I described seems dishonest, like the people involved were trying to hide something.\u00a0 The instinct to feel this way is understandable, because there are many counterfeit documentaries out there that try to hide details from us so that we come to their own biased conclusion.\u00a0 They do this through their camerawork, editing, presentation of facts, and the way they interact with their subjects. Real documentaries like this one choose what they include and exclude in a sincere way, to create an accurate-yet-poignant result, like any other good film would.\u00a0 The difference between these two styles of doc can often be seen in whether or not a palpable trust exists between cameraman and subject\u2014an unmistakable vibe of realness.<\/p>\n

For instance, Cody\u2019s film Rehearsals<\/a> is a documentary, yet it chooses to represent its subjects solely in a visually flattering manner\u2014if shots were unappealing, they were excluded, for the sake of the subjects and the vibe of the art.\u00a0 In this way, the subjects are actually being showcased more accurately\u2014as their true, beautiful selves, through his eyes.\u00a0 As I have said before<\/a>, this accuracy would not be possible were it not for the closeness he has to them, through knowing them intimately, and the trust that comes with that.<\/p>\n

On the other end of the spectrum, Michael Moore\u2019s films, even if you agree with their message, have a vibe of distrust.\u00a0 Many of the subjects seem to shrink away from his camera\u2014an aspect that he exploits to suggest they\u2019re either suspicious people up to no good, or traumatized victims worthy of sympathy.\u00a0 The people in counterfeit documentaries always remind me of women who\u2019ve been told to undress under skeevy lighting in an unnatural environment\u2014\u201cYou wanna be a star, don\u2019tcha, baby?\u201d.<\/p>\n

The difference between real documentaries and counterfeit ones is the difference between a portrait and a cadaver, and dare I say even, the difference between an erect penis, full of life, and a dead, flaccid one. The men of The Final Member are immortalized by this film more so than their favorite body part floating in formaldehyde ever could. That is the true power of documentaries, when they’re created with trust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"finalmember\"
\n

\nThe Final Member<\/a> (Completed in 2012, Released in 2014)
\n<\/b>Directed by Zach Math and Jonah Bekhor
\n90 min.<\/p>\n

Spoiler-free.<\/i><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a scene in this delightful film about a penis museum and the men who want their members to be immortalized in it that is so important that I shouldn\u2019t even talk about it, but I have to, because it unintentionally has a lot to say about documentaries. Don\u2019t worry\u2014I\u2019ve figured out a way to discuss it without spoiling anything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,3606],"tags":[3272,32,1471,3880,1462,3881,3884,2864,3269,104,185,3878,3883,3882,3879],"class_list":["post-4851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allposts","category-chloes-essays","tag-chloe-pelletier","tag-cody-clarke","tag-cody-clarke-rehearsals","tag-jonah-bekhor","tag-michael-moore","tag-penis-museum","tag-penis-museum-movie","tag-rehearsals-film","tag-rehearsals-movie","tag-smug-film-2","tag-smugfilm","tag-the-final-member","tag-the-final-member-movie","tag-the-final-member-review","tag-zack-math"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4851"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4859,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4851\/revisions\/4859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}