Girl 27 (2007)

It’s sort of insane to me, in 2012, what power the music and film industries have over society. Fame is everything. Status is everything. In the 1930s, though, the film industry truly did rule. During the Depression, the film industry was the only industry to record a profit. People actually made money when the whole country was desperate. The biggest of them all was Metro Goldwyn Mayer, or MGM, led by the infamous Louie B. Mayer.

What this film reveals about the industry, and what they so carelessly did to innocent women — specifically Patricia Douglas — and how they just about turned back the clock and made it so the whole thing never happened, and nobody ever even heard about it, is… it’s inconceivable. Louie B. Mayer sent out a fake casting call to 100 young girls… 13 and 14 year old girls. Even sent them to get costumes. But there was no film. Their entire job was to be entertainment for a writer’s convention. Patricia Douglas was raped by an executive of MGM, and she was the only one to come out and fight. And the media ripped her to shreds, sent her into hiding. Her story dropped off the radar. Her attacker was never served, charges never filed, records destroyed. Nobody knew her name or her story by 1939. Until now.

What an incredible story.

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I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)

Date Watched: September 14, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

This film chronicles Jeff Turner, a 50 year old man with Asperger’s Syndrome, and Kelly McCormick, an introsexual man. Both of these people are obsessed with 80s pop star, Tiffany. The beginning of the film kicks off with Jeff stating that they are in love, and then he proceeds to read articles about him stalking her, and showing us the actual restraining order that Tiffany had to have placed against him when she was just 16.

Both of these men have imagined things that have happened between them and Tiffany, such as seven hour phone calls and even whole love affairs. Jeff’s favorite passtime is to tell everyone that Tiffany is his best friend and they have a very close relationship. He even tells this to Kelly McCormick, who travels all the way to Las Vegas to his first actual Tiffany concert with the guarantee from Jeff that he will finally meet his love. He does in fact meet Tiffany, though it has nothing to do with Jeff.

Both of these men are clearly mentally ill. Kelly’s illness isn’t admitted the way Jeff matter-of-factly talks about his Asperger’s. Aside from their Tiffany infatuations, there are other glaring examples of their illnesses. Jeff, for instance, has spent over $20,000 on “devices” that give him telepathy. He uses them to be mentally connected to Tiffany and have mental conversations with her. He is convinced that she speaks to him through these devices. Kelly is obsessed with Bally’s gym, and is delusional about his athletic abilities.

Many reviews on Netflix denounce the makers of this film for exploiting the illnesses of these two individuals. I’m not sure that’s what happened here, though. It appears to me that an unpleasantly factual film was made from the stories of these two people. It doesn’t appear to be mocking them in any way, unless I missed something.

This hits a bit close to home, though. Without divulging too much information, I am a close friend of an actor who has had short stints on TV in addition to his theatre career, and I “worked” for him as a buffer between him and the fans that he made during a specific 5-month TV job. Two women in particular were very similar in a lot of ways to Kelly McCormick and Jeff Turner, and I ended up having to intercept multiple daily emails and do my best to dissuade them from their infatuations with my friend. Maybe not as severe, but definitely just as scary. During a fan event for the show my friend appeared on, I attended as his assistant… my real purpose was to be on the lookout for these two (and one or two others) and to help event staff curtail them to protect my friend. And this was just half a year on a TV show. I can’t even fathom the fear Tiffany felt at the tender age of 16 when she found Jeff Turner on her front lawn.

As much as I feel for Tiffany, I also feel for these men, and I hope that their being on this documentary brought them some desperately needed help.

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The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2009)

Date Watched: September 10, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

Where the heck do I even BEGIN here?

At first glance, you might think this is a racially charged film, but no, “White” is the family’s last name. They allude to being racists but the documentary focuses more on their infamy in Boone County, West Virginia. Had to get that out there.

Anyway, there was a documentary made in 1991 called “The Dancing Outlaw” featuring Jesco White, and so you may have heard of him. But the rest of the family? Ohhhh boy. This reiterates why hillbillies are so scary. One of Jesco’s brothers, “Poney”, actually moved halfway across the country to get away from the stigma that came with the last name “White” in Boone County, citing that you often can’t get a job in the area because of your last name.

Not that it matters much, since the Whites don’t work. They sell drugs, they drink, they rob, they drink some more. It’s a pretty decent sized family, and only two of them – the “founders” Bertie Mae and D. Ray White – weren’t insane.

Among the White family is Jesco, “The Dancing Outlaw”. His older sister is Mamie White, now known as Mamie Warner, since her husband started the fight that killed her father in 1985. She has a daughter named Mousie who is released from prison during the filming of the documentary. She goes in search of her “cheatin’ ex husband” Charlie, finds him living at his pregnant mistress’s house, he leaves with Mousie, and doesn’t return to live with the mistress, though we are informed that he still sleeps with her on occasion.

Then there’s Susan Rae, known as Kirk. She’s the granddaughter of D. Ray and Bertie Mae, daughter of Bernadine “Bo” White. During the filming, she has a baby and then proceeds to snort a few lines off the bedside table in the hospital. When she’s released, the baby is kept for “additional testing”, and when she goes to pick up the baby, she finds out that she’s in protective custody. She goes to court, but her petition is denied and she has to go to rehab. The night before rehab, she goes out partying with her aunt Mamie and aunt Sue “Bob” (another of Bertie Mae and D. Ray’s daughters). Bob, incidentally, has a 19 year old son Brandon who is sentenced to 50 years during filming for attempted murder when he shot his aunt Mamie’s boyfriend in the face three times at point blank range. Bob also says she was a stripper, and mind you, she has a voice deeper than any of the men in the family. Anyway, Bob, Kirk, and Mamie all go out and get stupid drunk, and then the next day, embark on a family trip, hungover, to take Kirk to rehab.

Altogether, Bertie Mae and D. Ray had 13 children, of which only 5 are still alive. One died as an infant. Among the others, two died at age 19, one of which was murdered by an ex husband. One died at 23 by accidentally shooting himself. Another died at 25. Another died at the age of 14 in a car accident. She was pregnant at the time.

This delightfully frightening and sobering family documentary is directed partially by Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame, and is sprinkled with hillbilly songs by Hank Williams III — accompanied by a mountain dancer on a picnic table behind him, in the style of D. Ray and Jesco’s famous dancing.

This is truly an epically horrible and wonderful documentary. You don’t know whether to love them or hate them. But you know you’re of better stock than them, and you inevitably end the movie feeling a bit better about yourself as a human being.

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Columbine: Understanding Why (2007)

Date Watched: September 10, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

Eh, you know… maybe it’s because bullying has been such a hot topic in the past year or two… but this was all full of “duh, obviously” information. Stuff everybody who watches the news knows. Didn’t do so much for me. Too much common sense and not enough new information.

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Mario’s Story (2007)

Date Watched: August 20, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

This is everything that drives me insane about the penal system in this country.

Don’t get me wrong… I think if you murder someone, you should be put to death. Except the problem here is that the justice system is more worried about looking good to the public than actually carrying out justice.

Mario was convicted of a crime based on eyewitness testimony alone. Once other eyewitnesses came forward after his conviction and sentence and years in prison… and they said that Mario couldn’t possibly have murdered anybody because he wasn’t standing where the original witness put him… the courts denied evidence with the same credibility to free him as it had to lock him up. Why? Because the prosecutors, investigators, judge, and jury don’t want the OJ Simpson complex hanging over their heads and their careers. You know what I’m talking about. OJ was guilty but for some reason, he got away with it. Well, that can NEVER happen again because everyone involved with that case looks like a moron and none of them had a good reputation after that. So now they’re going to make it look like the US justice cogs could never, EVER skip a peg and make a mistake ever again. So Mario, locked up for something he legitimately didn’t do… is denied freedom just so these jerks don’t look bad for screwing up.

WHAT. THE. HECK.

Ugh. Uggggggh!

Obviously this isn’t a post about Mario as much as it is about the film made about his story, but like I’ve said a million times: if a documentary evokes any substantial level of emotion, it’s a good film. It did its job.

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Awful Normal (2004)

Date Watched: July 25, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

This is a film about two sisters who were molested as little girls by their father’s best friend, who, with his wife, frequently vacationed with the family. Now, as adults, they are confronting their molester face-to-face. Along for the confrontation is the girls’ mother, who feels responsible for what happened. Their father has passed away several years ago. One sister didn’t get it as bad, and so she has a husband and children. The younger sister got it much worse, and now can’t trust men and is significantly more screwed up because of what happened. They start by meeting with the ex-wife and daughters of their attacker, who never knew what happened, and after they’re filled in, they support the endeavor. Then, the two sisters and mother have a therapy session to ready them. They write letters, choose a day, and go to his apartment. He’s not there, so they wait, and wait, go home, call him, and when he answers, they simply hang up and go back to the apartment. They confront him, words are exchanged, and then they leave, and it’s done. That’s the gist of it.

I don’t care a whole lot about spoilers in documentaries, which is good because documentaries are informational and therefore I have SOME OPINIONS ON SOME THINGS.

First: If you are going to confront the man who molested you as a child, who obviously has a sexual attraction to children, why in sweet mercy would you meet with him WEARING PIGTAILS?! Especially when you are the one who was abused the most? What are you doing, trying to bait him to do it again by making yourself look childish? IDIOT.

Second: I get that you were molested, and I get that it’s extremely traumatizing. But if you’re going to make a documentary about this whole confrontational, therapeutic process, try REALLY HARD to edit out most of your crying and whining. Watching the younger sister was very akin to being in a grocery store near a screaming, wailing child. Now, I am not downplaying what she’s going through. But we, the viewers, don’t need that. All it did was make her extremely annoying. Then she wore the pigtails to confront the guy and it was very hard to sympathize with her.

Third: Very early on in the film, the younger sister describes how everyone walked around naked in their house… which is not all that strange. Lots of families do that. Then, she says they showered with their father as little girls. Okay… that’s a little more strange, but I’m sure there are a bunch of families who are okay with that practice too. THEN, she ever so casually includes that they used to play with their father’s penis. Wait… what?? You… played with your father’s penis as a child? AND NOBODY THINKS THAT’S WRONG OR ABUSIVE?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

Fourth: How in the love of bacon are you (here’s the completely moronic younger sister again) going to sit there, having a pleasant conversation with your attacker, then gang up on him with your sister and mother and rip him to shreds, ultimately asking him questions that really aren’t any of your business (like if there were others), and then stay by yourself again and finish off with more pleasant talk, laughing, and a HUG?? A FREAKIN’ HUG!! Really? REALLY??

Fifth: And after the pleasant talk, laughing, and the EVER-LOVING HUG, you proceed to go outside and wail again. For, like, minutes. Great… I get that. But EDIT. IT. OUT.

You know, I really have to say… if they had just made the documentary about the older sister, this would have been a heart-wrenching, empowering film. But because of the younger sister, it’s very hard to even care about what she’s going through. I’m not a calloused person, by any means. But you really need to know what you’re doing when you make a film like this. Excessive whining/crying/wailing and WEARING PIGTAILS and HUGGING YOUR ATTACKER.. gah!! It’s enough to make you want to throttle her through the screen.

Aaaaagh!

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For The Bible Tells Me So (2007)

Date Watched: July 25, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

I hate that these people exist.

If God wants to judge someone for being gay, that’s his prerogative… NOT YOURS. Especially your own child.

There were two different stories here that stick in my mind. One was a family who, when their son came out… while they were disappointed and maybe ashamed at first, they did everything they could to learn, including speaking with several psychologists… all the while, still loving their son. Now, they’re activists for gay rights, and they’re still firm in their faith. They just took the time to study long enough to learn that the typical Leviticus arguments are garbage and selectively read and exploited to justify hatemongers.

The other story was a mother whose daughter was so terrified to come out to her, she wrote a letter while away at college. Her mother then wrote her a letter back saying how disappointed she was, how hurt… and of course, Bible references. Typical… selectively read Leviticus. You know it’s just as big a sin, according to scripture, to wear linen and cotton at the same time? Anyway, this girl never spoke to her mother again, and she hung herself in her closet. Her mother basically caused the death of her daughter. Only after this happened did the mother bother to learn anything. She ran her mouth first, and then took the effort to know her daughter after her death. Now she’s an activist of some sort trying to prevent other parents having to go through the same thing. DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED. Other parents? How about the kids who end their lives? The parents aren’t the ones suffering. Honestly, if your own ignorance causes you suffering, I have no sympathy. It’s self-inflicted suffering. You did it, you deserve it. If you can’t be bothered to learn and try and form EDUCATED opinions, rather than relying on so-called “Christian” radical rhetoric, then you deserve every shard of pain you feel.

All this to say what I think I’ve already gotten across here… this was a very emotional documentary. A very well-made film. The angrier, the sadder, the more emotional you get, the bigger the proof that the filmmaker did what he/she set out to do. This is no exception.

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Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005)

Date Watched: May 21, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

So of course I don’t want to shop at Wal-Mart anymore.

Except I feel like I can justify it if I know I’m buying an American-made product.

And then I think about the one person I know who works at Wal-Mart, and how she’s been there for 10 years, and how some of this information seems kinda inaccurate.

But I still don’t really want to shop there anymore. Not because of the people who work in the stores, but for the people who work in China. Go figure. My theory is that the people who work in the stores choose to work there, because I am an American and I know that there are skillions of craptastic jobs you could choose before lowering yourself to work at Wal-Mart. Unless you’re disabled. Which, I might add, was not addressed in the slightest during the film. So I’m guessing that the one set of laws Wal-Mart DOES follow includes the ones about employing the handicapped and such.

But I still don’t really want to shop there anymore.

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The Parking Lot Movie (2010)

Date Watched: February 14, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

The parking lot attendants of a non-chain lot near a college campus are pretty much the types of people I expected them to be.

The patrons of a non-chain lot near a college campus are pretty much the types of patrons I expected them to be.

This whole film was pretty much what I expected it to be.

And yet, it was rather enjoyable.

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Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997)

Date Watched: February 12, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

I’m half ashamed to admit that I ultimately had no idea what the whole Waco thing was about. It happened in 1993, and I was only 10. I guess that’s old enough to have heard about it, and to know a building was on fire, but that’s sort of it. Even later in life, I thought it was about the cult itself, but it turns out that the huge deal with Waco wasn’t the Branch Davidians, but our own law enforcement.

Basically, the Branch Davidians were accused of having illegal weapons, and the ATF/FBI had a 51 day siege, with the cult members holed up in their enormous church compound, and the ATF surrounding them. The ATF claims they never fired a shot before the Davidians, but there’s evidence collected and analyzed by our own government (namely infrared recordings from an aerial camera) that was allegedly hidden to protect the powers-that-be. Apparently, there were a lot of women and children basically tortured and massacred during the siege; tanks with sprayers attached to their turrets “poked” holes in the building and sprayed tear gas, which is actually a powder mixed with another gas. The gas they used was supposed to be near fatal if sprayed directly onto someone, and also if someone wasn’t wearing a gas mask. Of course, there weren’t any gas masks for babies… so… you figure that one out.

But this isn’t about who did what. I watched this because I wanted to learn about what happened in Waco, and now I feel like I have a pretty good grip on the subject. I learned something. And I wasn’t bored while doing it. So that makes this a quality documentary.

fin.

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