- 24/12/2022
- Category: Critical Questions
Author: Katya Loviana
Editor: M Perdana Karim
Social Dilemma, Britney vs. Spears, and Tinder Swindler are three of the most memorable movies released during the pandemic, and they are classified as documentaries. Before the streaming era, documentaries might not be as popular or favored, especially among the young generations. However, in the age of streaming, documentaries gained more spotlight. Whether it was the plot, cinematography, ease of reach, or simply the hype, young audience seem to show a positive sentiment for documentaries, as seen in Netflix’s Trending Now section, among others.
A documentary film can be defined as a movie or a television program that provides a factual record or report[I], and its primary purpose is to inform as well as to educate audiences. However, documentaries nowadays serve much more than that: to shed light on specific issues with the hope that awareness in the audience can be raised. With that, this article aims to discuss documentaries’ significance, responses, and credibility.
Q1: Why are documentaries important?
Due to the pandemic, streaming services’ usage rose as cinema and live entertainment shut down[ii]. A survey on American and Australian consumers also found that 82 and 70 percent of respondents have a movie streaming subscription, such as Netflix and Disney+[iii]. Further, watching paid TV/movie services is considered one of the top three digital entertainment activities for Gen Z and Millennials in Australia[iv]. The trend is predicted to be similar for Indonesia as the revenue for the Video-on-Demand industry is predicted to reach US$463m in 2022, which is 26 percent higher than in 2021[v]. This implies that streaming movie is a highly popular option for leisure activity.
On the other hand, there is a growing awareness of social issues among Millennials and Gen Z[vi]. Indonesia is no exception with its rank at 4th in ASEAN based on the Social Progress index, which measures how much a country is aware of its social issue[vii]. With more people watching videos and movies compared to reading, documentaries play a significant part by serving as a tool to raise awareness and spark social change through their creative issue portrayal using first-party data and multiple points of view.
Q2: What are the responses towards documentaries?
Documentaries have been facing a growing demand for the last couple of years. Dogwoof, a UK documentaries producer and distributor whose work includes I Am Greta and Stray, received a 50% increase in transactional video on demand (TVOD) revenues from April 2020—2021. Moreover, various film companies who weren’t offering documentaries 4—5 years ago began offering them now[viii]. In the United States, documentaries have shown a rising demand since 2019, with 7.4 percent, and their rank interestingly placed above Action/Adventure and Horror in Q1 of 2021[ix]. This positive audience sentiment causes the Global Documentary Film and TV Show Market to be projected to grow throughout 2021—2026 with a significant Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), along with the rise in internet penetration and adoption of smartphones[x].
A survey on American Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers in 2019 revealed that while only 15 percent spend most of their time watching documentaries, there are 70 that learned something new from documentaries, and 44 percent felt inspired by documentaries. Ranked first among the three generations, millennials seemed to show an exciting relationship with documentaries as 57 percent of them believes documentaries are life-changing, 77 percent shared what they’ve learned from documentaries, and 51 percent use documentaries as evidence in a discussion[xi]. This implies the significant social impact that documentaries bring to Millennials. Gen Z’s responses towards documentaries might be the same, though different marketing strategies towards them differ. Influencer marketing is one of the most effective for Gen Z as this generation tends to always be on trend[xii]. Thus, social media and influencers play a significant role in creating social impact through documentaries for Gen Z. It might be the case that documentaries are often used as momentum or reference in voicing related issues. For instance, multiple accounts have repeatedly discussed Tinder Swindler in social media as a reference to online dating scam issues.
Aside from audience, documentaries also tend to invite responses from those mentioned within the film, especially the disadvantaged ones. In 2019, Netflix received complaints for the documentary Afflicted about people with chronic illness. The film is sued because it questioned the existence of those illnesses instead of spreading awareness about them[xiii]. More recently, in May 2021, Alan Dershowitz sued Netflix for his portrayal in Filthy Rich as Epstein’s lawyer that was involved with one of Epstein’s victims[xiv]. These cases showed the ethical challenges documentary filmmakers face.
Concerns on ethics and documentary longing issues that roots in the dilemma of making a credible film that intends to educate and make a popular-profitable film that pays well. Filmmakers also often meet original stories with no drama that might motivate them to alter the story to create excitement. The budget also tends to cause ethical challenges, such as limited resources to verify facts[xv]. These ethical challenges then relate to the next discussion of documentaries: credibility.
Q3: Can we trust documentaries?
It is no doubt that we always need to be critical. In the case of documentaries, not all have the intention to provide a neutral point of view with a fair proportion of discussion from the two sides of the issue raised. As discussed, there are cases where disadvantaged figures to sue for false information. Then, even if there is the intention, not all are willing to contribute, such as the case of Boeing, which rejected being involved in Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, a documentary that attacks Boeing. That documentary made a massive impact on society as people began voicing anger at Boeing through social media after the movie was released[xvi]. Though no one is entirely sure whether there is a correlation, Boeing’s stock prices also took a hit on the day of its documentary release [xvii]. These types of documentaries, especially those that raise controversial issues, could potentially create a tunnel vision for the audience, which could be dangerous for viewers that aren’t critical enough to shape an opinion from multiple sources. However, same as any other genre of film, those concerns might not be a priority for documentary filmmakers. Thus, it is within the audience’s responsibility to double-check facts through research after watching any documentary.
Conclusion
Looking at the demand and responses, documentaries have the power to spark social change, especially in the younger generations, with the help of streaming services and social media. People are becoming more socially aware and brave in voicing their stance. Documentaries’ ability to bring together unscripted multiple points of view can serve as a strong tool or reference in voicing those stances. Its impact has also been proven to be significant in many cases. However, like any other source of information, being critical of documentaries is still needed to avoid opinion shaping based on narrow perspectives.
[i] In: Cambridge Dictionary. n.d. Documentary. [online] Available at: <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/documentary> [Accessed 12 March 2022].
[ii] PwC, 2021. After a boom year in video streaming, what comes next?. Consumer Intelligence Series. [online] PwC. Available at: <https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/library/consumer-intelligence-series/consumer-video-streaming-behavior.html> [Accessed 12 March 2022].
[iii] Westcott, K., Arbanas, J., Downs, K., Arkenberg, C. and Jarvis, D., 2021. Courting the consumer in a world of choice. Digital media trends. [online] Deloitte. Available at: <https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/technology/digital-media-trends-consumption-habits-survey/summary.html> [Accessed 12 March 2022].
[iv] Deloitte, 2021. Media Consumer Survey 2021. 2021 in brief. [online] Deloitte. Available at: <https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Images/infographics/deloitte-au-tmt-media-consumer-survey-2021-infographic-160921.pdf> [Accessed 12 March 2022].
[v] Statista. 2022. Video-on-Demand – Indonesia | Statista Market Forecast. [online] Available at: <https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/digital-media/video-on-demand/indonesia#revenue> [Accessed 12 March 2022].
[vi] Deloitte, 2021. The Deloitte Global 2021 Millennial and Gen Z Survey. [online] Deloitte. Available at: <https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html> [Accessed 12 March 2022].
[vii] Social Progress Imperative, 2021. 2021 Social Progress Index: Executive Summary. [online] Social Progress Imperative. Available at: <https://www.socialprogress.org/static/9e62d6c031f30344f34683259839760d/2021%20Social%20Progress%20Index%20Executive%20Summary-compressed_0.pdf> [Accessed 12 March 2022].
[viii] Dams, T., 2021. Audience Demand for Documentary Features Grows Across Platforms – Variety. [online] Variety.com. Available at: <https://variety.com/2021/film/festivals/documentary-features-1234955518/> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
[ix] Parrot Analytics. 2021. Documentary Demand Trends. [online] Available at: <https://www.parrotanalytics.com/insights/us-documentary-trends-q1-2021/#:~:text=Documentary%20series%20have%20carved%20out,shown%20strong%20growth%20since%202019> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
[x] MarketWatch. 2022. Documentary Film and TV Show Market Share Analysis with Demand Status 2021 | Industry Trends, Competitive Landscape, Explosive Factors of Revenue by Key Vendors Size Forecast Analysis 2030. [online] Available at: <https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/documentary-film-and-tv-show-market-share-analysis-with-demand-status-2021-industry-trends-competitive-landscape-explosive-factors-of-revenue-by-key-vendors-size-forecast-analysis-2030-2022-01-25?tesla=y> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
[xi] Lauzun, J., 2019. Survey of Americans’ Documentary Watching Habits Might Surprise You. [online] Magellantv.com. Available at: <https://www.magellantv.com/articles/survey-of-americans-documentary-watching-habits-might-surprise-you> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
[xii] Taylor, R., 2020. How Gen Z and Millennials Watch Video Content & What That Means for Production Teams. [online] Rev.com. Available at: <https://www.rev.com/blog/how-gen-z-and-millennials-consume-video-content-what-that-means-for-production-teams> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
[xiii] Pedersen, E., 2019. Netflix Sued For Defamation By ‘Afflicted’ Subjects Who Say Docuseries Painted Them As – Deadline. [online] Deadline.com. Available at: <https://deadline.com/2019/08/netflix-sued-affliction-documentary-defamation-fraud-1202664068/> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
[xiv] The Associated Press, 2021. Attorney Dershowitz sues Netflix for $80M over Epstein show. [online] abcnews.go.com. Available at: <https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/attorney-dershowitz-sues-netflix-80m-epstein-show-77926516> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
[xv] Aufderheide, P., Jaszi, P. and Chandra, M., 2009. Honest Truths: Documentary Filmmakers on Ethical Challenges in Their Work. [online] Center for Social Media. Available at: <https://cmsimpact.org/resource/honest-truths-documentary-filmmakers-on-ethical-challenges-in-their-work/> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
[xvi] Mayer, E., 2022. Internet slams Boeing after Netflix doc connects company to plane crashes. [online] Newsweek.com. Available at: <https://www.newsweek.com/internet-slams-boeing-after-netflix-doc-connects-company-plane-crashes-1681498> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
[xvii] Pagad, A., 2022. Downfall The Case Against Boeing is a Netflix doc you should not see before a flight. [online] Dailyo.in. Available at: <https://www.dailyo.in/variety/downfall-the-case-against-boeing-review-netflix/story/1/35443.html> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
