Tuesday 3 August 2010

You've gotta love a documentary!

I've always had a soft spot for documentaries.

Nature, human interest, science, historical, the list goes on. I'm a firm believer that education (be it institutionalised or self-taught) should never be taken for granted and the moment a person loses the will to learn, life loses its spark. Luckily education is widely and freely available in this country (although some doubt its effectiveness) and there is an abundance of TV channels which feature some amazing documentaries, so literally anyone can learn without being lectured.


I happen to be quite a fan of conspiracy theories & natural disasters, even a geek, you may say.

The last few days have treated me with a shedload of documentaries on my two favourite subjects, including the Bermuda triangle, and the 2004 Tsunami. I particularly find interest in natural disasters which affect people on a massive scale, and the documentary on Channel 4 showed the Tsunami from the points of view of various nationalities, social classes and family types.

Footage showing the deaths of an elderly couple and children being swept away by the current struck a chord with me, as the thought of a parent losing a child sounds horrific and I really welled up. The parents were describing the moment they were separated from their child & the ongoing battle to find the body, eventually bursting into tears on camera. In the 4 years since the tsunami struck, the couple had a second child and formed a charity to improve the lives of the children affected by the tsunami in Sri Lanka, the country they got to know so well in the search for their daughter.

The Bermuda Triangle is a subject which has always interested me, I like to explore the blurred line between fact & fiction and I like to ask questions: not everything is as it seems. A lot of theories were thrown up about time-space continuums and vortexes as well as the more common tectonic plate theories. My general opinions lie somewhere between the tectonic plates and the magnetic crusts causing ships and aeroplanes to lose use of their navigational equipment and communication. Despite my own theories, It gave a very balanced overview and offered a lot of alternative reasons as well as the ones most commonly believed, and all the theories were backed by evidence (some more reliable than others).

Documentaries provide me with an education I wouldn't receive in school on a range of topics, and rouse a wider interest to the point I often research the topics further.

I look forward to seeing what the networks pull out of their sleeves over the next few months.




1 comment:

  1. I love documentaries, they're geektastic. Have you ever seen Roger and me by Michael Moore, its getting a bit old now but it's a great example of a documentary film. Other than that you can't go far wrong with the World at War DVD boxset narrated by none other than Sir Lawrence Olivier.

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