Jesus Camp

This was my second time watching  “Jesus Camp”.  The film left me just as shocked and frightened as when I first saw it.  The directors, Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing cover a single Evangelical congregation.  Their worship seems extreme, focusing on the manipulation of young children as God’s warriors.  In further investigation of the children who are featured in the film I came across this website:

Jesus Camp My Story

This site gives statements from the children of “Jesus Camp” five years after the filming.  Rachel’s statement was particularly interesting to me because she says “As for Jesus Camp, it was funny because for the first several years after it was released, I didn’t understand all the controversy surrounding it. For me I was watching great memories in high definition. Camp with Becky was fun.”   The film was clear slander of the Evangelical church from my point of view, but to Rachel it was just fun memories.  In Tory’s interview she tells the story of a boy who approached her to say how much he admired her faith in the Documentary. Unlike Herzog, the directors of “Jesus Camp” do not voice over their opinion in the film, leaving the interpretation of the footage up to the viewer. As surprising as it is to me, other audiences may find this documentary positive.

The site provided above also has a link to photos of events that were not covered in the film.

Down with the Grizzlies

Placing ones self in a dangerous position for the advancement of knowledge and understanding is an honorable thing. Werner Herzog’s documentary Grizzly Man reveals that not everyone felt this way about Timothy Treadwell’s work.  A particular interview that caught my attention while watching this film was with the man from the museum, Sven Haakanson, standing next to the bear with the stolen paw.  Haakeanson talks about the local ideas around grizzly bears and how Treadwell’s actions are actually disrespectful in his eyes.   A lot of Herzog’s film cuts and interviews explore a side of Treadwell that he would not necessarily have shared with his school children.  It’s an interesting type documentary, mainly composed of Treadwell’s footage.  The clips Herzog chooses, such as Treadwell’s rants, calling himself a "f*cking nut", I do not think Treadwell would have chosen for himself.  He was an odd character and his work was questionable, but he saw himself as a savior to the bears.  Anyone alone for such a time is bound to loose his or her senses.  His only outlet was his camera and his only companions were the animals. As a result, he trusted the bears more than humans. Herzog does a fair job of revealing the lows and highs of the character of Timothy Treadwell and no matter your opinion of his work – he accomplished a beautiful connection with nature.