According to their definition, documentaries seek to document and retell a story with video, interview, a narrator, and other facts. Some have brought an issue into the public eye (“An Inconvenient Truth”), some follow a character (“Hoop Dreams” and “Invisible City”), and others have a political viewpoint (“Bowling for Columbine”). Many lie somewhere in between. Paying five dollars at the Bloor Cinema does not ensure the unbiased truth; it is incumbent upon the viewer to decide what is real and who is telling the truth.
Crude: The Real Price of Oil debates Chevron-Texaco’s (in partnership with the government of Ecuador) drilling in the Amazon. The natives of that region, who are experiencing high rates of cancer and skin diseases, have launched a class action suit against the international conglomerate and the documentary follows both sides of the trial. Coverage is even-handed and both parties are given significant time to make their case. Each side is supported by lawyers and environmentalists, all seeming to offer equally informed and educated viewpoints.
It is evident that the health of those living near the drilling sites – including hundreds of kilometers of pipelines and waste pits – has worsened in recent years. But why?
As discussed by Malcolm Gladwell’s introduction in his book Outliers, an unhealthy and polluted environment does not guarantee illness or high death rates. But, given the name of the book, which suggests an unusual success, Roseto, Pennsylvania and its nearby quarry are not the model that most industrial areas follow. The seepage of by-products into the soil and effluents in the water supply are most likely to blame.
Chevron-Texaco argues that it is because when Petro-Ecuador (which is owned by the government and would be called a crown corporation in Canada) took over the operation in 1992, safety standards plummeted. In their view, any human casualties were caused by a government selling the health of their citizens to make money.
The plaintiffs disagree, claiming that the Amazon River has been obviously polluted since the project’s inception. Joe Berlinger creates a compelling tale by combining emotional moments such as a visit to a public health clinic with the technical details of the legal proceedings.
A sordid web is weaved; we learn that one of the lawyers has been indicted for fraud committed during the case. A Chevron environmentalist makes several absurd statements questioning the obvious pollution and vowing to resign if her employer ever damaged the environment.
What personally irks me is the lack of integrity shown by Chevron. First, they advocated that the lawsuit should be tried in Ecuador instead of the United States where it was originally filed. After a judgment was made against the company, Chevron disputed the validity of the Ecuadorian justice system and is now asking for “international mediation.” The case has dragged on for fifteen years and is expected to last for another ten. Binders of case filings consume an entire room of a court house.
If an issue is past, we could have Googled the truth; if an issue is present, either recent or ongoing, we are not told the truth because each side is biased, provides spurious arguments, or seems completely deluded about what really took place.
Why has the popularity of documentaries increased? It is not because we are learning more about the world but we are seeking to entertainment. Documentaries have evolved from ten hour mini-series on P.B.S. to highly publicized media events, following a path similar to reality television. Many of these films are as fictional as the latest blockbuster. **½