According to Nichols (2001) the observatory documentary is signified by its capturing of real life events. As opposed to the expository documentary a film makers opinion does not skew the production of the documentary, rather a more naturalistic approach is taken to capture genuine events and reveal to the audience human characters in a ordinary setting. Key conventions of this sub genre according to Nicholas is an eschewed voice over commentary and post synchronized dialogue and music, two elements which both My Big Gay Prom and Too Poor for Posh School possess. However, even though the two documentaries I have selected are from the same documentary sub genre I intend to argue throughout the body of my essay that through their use of the communication devices of culture and self concept, they are able to portray different messages about culture, namely gay culture and masshigh culture. Following this, their use of the communication device of self concept is able to evoke similar reactions of reassurance in the viewer and I shall be comparing and contrasting the effectiveness of these communication devices in delivering the intended message to the viewer in my conclusion.
A communication device which both of these television documentaries effectively use, although in contrasting ways, is culture. Within My Big Gay Prom the dominant theme running throughout is gay culture and how this is addressed both in the USA and the United Kingdom. On the other hand, Too Poor for Posh School addresses the issue of class and income in relation to the education a child is given the opportunity to receive, highlighting dichotomy between mass culture and high culture and the bridges which exist between these two extremes.
As Jack Ellis and Betsy McLane argue within A New History of Documentary Film the documentary form has been one of the key ways in which queer cinema has made advances, and gay and lesbian culture has come to be represented more proportionally. It has permitted an underrepresented sub group to make films which addressed their own specific concerns and My Big Gay Prom similarly achieves this as it documents the process of five adolescent homosexuals attempting to create the first British Gay Prom to allow homosexual adolescents to have a similar high school and coming of age experience to that of their straight peers.
As previously mentioned a convention of an expositionary documentary is to present natural events to the audience in an unbiased way, therefore this communication device of culture is informing as opposed to convincing the audience of the message that these individuals believe that gay adolescents deserve to have the same teenage experience as straight adolescents, and for gay adolescents there are more barriers to this happening. I believe this message is communicated through the way in which one adolescent female talks of her experience of secondary school, informing the viewer that she was routinely taunted not only for her sexuality, but also her weight, hair cut and style of dress. This message, as the individual comes across to be upset by her experiences at secondary school, places the viewer in a position whereby they are likely to agree with the idea that gay adolescents should have the opportunity to attend a prom where they wont be singled out and made to feel uncomfortable because of their sexuality.
Conversely, in terms of Too Poor for Posh School and the communication device of culture, the idea which seems to be represented is that children who come from less privileged backgrounds and posses intelligence which means that they are unlikely to achieve their full potential in mainstream schooling deserve the opportunity to be taught in an environment where they can excel. It seems to point out the injustice of extremely intelligent children who would benefit from the standard of education at Harrow being unable to afford the fees to attend a school which would be better able to nurture their intelligence and make the most of their potential. One particular way in which this injustice is communicated is when we see one particular boy and his parent show their disappointment upon hearing the news that he has not received a scholarship. His parent talks of his childs need to try harder in the future to excel, however from the childs dejected body language, he plays with his fingers and looks down whilst his parent talks to the interviewer, his upset and disappointment is evident.
Throughout the documentary we have seen evidence of this particular boys intelligence, as his plays the violin to a high standard, reads books which are far above the expected reading level of an eleven year old and talks with a much more sophisticated vocabulary than a typical boy of his age. Therefore the system whereby only the privileged are able to afford an education a Harrow, where annual fees are 28,000 and the narrator informs us only 3 of the population are able to afford this, is represented as being un democratic and the significant divide between high culture and masspopular culture is critiqued.
The next communication device I will be looking at is self concept. Self concept is what an individual deems himself to be worth and their own opinion of who they are and who they ought to become. In terms of documentary and self concept, the way the characters in the documentary display their own opinion of themselves seems to be a very relevant topic. For example, in My Big Gay Prom the character of Ben displays behaviour which provides evidence that he has unresolved issues in his past relating to his homosexuality which have resulted in a need for attention or to create controversy merely for the sake of doing so. This is evident in the way he refuses to wear a tuxedo to the American Gay Prom they attend, his non attendance and storming out of a press conference he was planned to be interviewed at and his admittance to his enjoyment of creating controversy. Through this characterisation the message appears to be that as a result of his treatment at school he has been left with a chip on his shoulder about who he is and his self worth, giving off an outward attitude of not being concerned with others opinions of him, however under the surface he appears to be extremely insecure with who he is and his sexuality specifically.
To draw on the argument of Erika Suderburg, this representation of self concept from a young homosexual may well resonance amongst other members of this under represented sub group. Through viewing Bens attitude as a young gay male, others of a similar demographic will see a mirror to themselves which receives very little media attention through other modes. In this sense, representing a gay teens sense of self concept as such may very well cause a similar viewer to relate to Bens attitude, they may see themselves in Ben and realise it isnt an adaptive way to live the remainder of your life, or believe themselves to be an antithesis of Ben, seeing the flaws he possesses and the error of his ways and thus becoming more understanding of his predicament. In such a way the communication device of self concept is particularly useful when addressing similar gay youths, it may hold up a mirror to themselves they would not have seen otherwise, or it may result in a them noting the error of Bens ways and understanding why they may see others with a similar attitude, communicating a message of reassurance and understanding.
Similarly, the way in which messages about self concept are displayed in Too Poor for Posh School may well resonate amongst audience members who are similarly unable to afford the school fees at Harrow, which would be 97 of the population. By giving an exclusive look at the goings on within the confines of Harrow, something which does not receive a great deal, if any, media attention bar tabloid scandals (see September 5th 2003 headline from the Daily Mail, Harrow School head boy forced to leave after taking cocaine on Easter holiday) those who may feel that the prestige of Harrow justifies the high entrance fees and see it as being out of the reach of someone ordinary like themselves may well feel reassured about their own self worth.
Whilst the boys spend lots of their free time studying and preparing for their entrance exams to be awarded the scholarship, as one parent tells us, after school she takes her child to a sports class and a trumpet class, and when he returns home he is to sit an exam she herself will mark the following morning, the viewer may regard the time their child spends simply having fun and forming relationships with his peers outside of class as a much more worthwhile use of time. The message communicated is therefore that because someone is not able to make the very high standards set to gain entry into Harrow, they arent necessarily worse off as the children we see in the documentaries lose out on fundamental elements of growing up, playing outside without the goal of getting into Harrow looming over them, similarly to My Big Gay Prom, providing the viewer with a message of reassurance about their own self concept.
In conclusion, the effectiveness of these communication devices varies between both documentaries. Personally, I found it a great deal easier to relate to the messages conveyed within Too Poor for Posh School and the sense of being different to everyone else, and not fitting in with the mainstream as communicated by those in My Big Gay Prom did not resonate as heavily with me as I did not face these issues growing up. In addition, the characterisation of Ben, whilst I was able to empathise with the difficulties he must have faced, the resulting attitude did not elicit a supportive or understanding reaction rather it left me questioning as to why all people who faced problems with bullying at school do not similarly display such acts of attention seeking. In addition, the emotions shown from the young children who were not accepted onto the scholarship were conveyed in a far more empathetic way than the problems of the young homosexuals, as the hard work they had put in to working for their scholarship and the delicate age of the candidates caused a more emotional reaction, resulting in agreement that the private school system is unjust.
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