Open in app
Home
Notifications
Lists
Stories

Write
Dainéal MacLean
Dainéal MacLean

Home

May 25

Are Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11" and “Bowling for Columbine” propaganda films? A proper assessment of this claim.

Upon completing my viewings of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine, and pondering the statement stemming from the director’s critics that label him as a propagandist filmmaker, I have to say I had never connected Michael Moore’s films to propaganda previous to reading these claims. Although I can…

Documentary

11 min read

Are Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11" and “Bowling for Columbine” propaganda films?
Are Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11" and “Bowling for Columbine” propaganda films?

Dec 5, 2021

Film Review — Hoop Dreams (1994). How the cinema verité and traditional documentary form collide to create magic.

The direct cinema style of Hoop Dreams uses the camera to provoke and reveal truth by taking aspects of cinema verité and aspects of traditional documentaries and blending the two techniques together to create a middleground as far as capturing reality. The film consists of many cinema verité type shots…

Film Reviews

4 min read

Film Review — Hoop Dreams (1994).
Film Review — Hoop Dreams (1994).

Dec 4, 2021

Film Review — Grey Gardens (1975). An example of cinema verité in its purest form.

The choice in filmmaking technique in which Big and Little Edie Beale’s stories were told through in Grey Gardens was influenced by the style of cinema verité in a number of interesting ways, some of which were quite new to me. An initial example I can point to where this…

Film Reviews

4 min read

Film Review — Grey Gardens (1975). An example of cinema verité in its purest form.
Film Review — Grey Gardens (1975). An example of cinema verité in its purest form.

Nov 15, 2021

What is the Overlap Between the Two Forms of Documentary Scholarship; Historical and Analytical?

When comparing the two forms of documentary scholarship, being historical and analytical, I see plenty of overlap between the two in terms of what they contribute to our understanding of documentaries and our social world. Historical scholarship, to me, appears as though it is the understanding of the historical context…

Academia

3 min read

What is the Overlap Between the Two Forms of Documentary Scholarship; Historical and Analytical?
What is the Overlap Between the Two Forms of Documentary Scholarship; Historical and Analytical?

Nov 13, 2021

Is The Dichotomy Between Documentaries and Fiction Films a False Difference?

Reflecting on the suggestion that the dichotomy between documentaries and fiction films is a false difference, as presented in the question I am addressing, would have led me to think quite differently in response to this idea in the past. I have to admit, that I didn’t quite know anywhere…

Documentary

4 min read

Is The Dichotomy Between Documentaries and Fiction Films a False Difference?
Is The Dichotomy Between Documentaries and Fiction Films a False Difference?

Oct 28, 2021

The Complexity of The Term “Propaganda”.

Watching the two documentaries The Nazis Strike, in Why We Fight and Triumph of the Will in consecutive order made me have a newfound realization of the complex definition of the term “propaganda”. In The Nazis Strike, the documentary I watched first, I began the viewing experience focusing on the…

Propaganda

5 min read

The Complexity of The Term “Propaganda”.
The Complexity of The Term “Propaganda”.

Sep 28, 2021

The Nationalistic Attitudes and Ideological Biases at the Heart of Espionage Films.

The depictions of enemies and adversaries in espionage films is largely and often based on the ideological perspective of the film’s country of origin, and has frequently served as a way to promote nationalistic views of a respective nation or state, and to mete out the world’s “good” and “evil”…

Cinema

9 min read

The Nationalistic Attitudes and Ideological Biases at the Heart of Espionage Films.
The Nationalistic Attitudes and Ideological Biases at the Heart of Espionage Films.

Sep 13, 2021

Are Advocacy Documentaries More Important and/or Valuable Than Biographical/Historical Films?

Following reading chapter two of Patricia Aufderheide’s Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction, and facing the question of whether advocacy documentaries are more important or valuable than other documentary styles or genres, or not, I find myself somewhat unsure of the answer to this and can understand both perspectives. Although…

Cinema

3 min read

Are Advocacy Documentaries More Important and/or Valuable Than Biographical/Historical Films?
Are Advocacy Documentaries More Important and/or Valuable Than Biographical/Historical Films?

Sep 8, 2021

How Oscar Wilde’s Arrogance and Disdain for Bohemia Led to His Downfall.

Oscar Wilde’s Salomé as described by Joseph W. Donohue in the article “Salomé and the Wildean Art of Symbolist Theatre”, has often been considered as something of an oddity, and has certainly been associated with controversy since it was first put on stage. Wilde wasn’t embraced by establishments like the…

Oscar Wilde

7 min read

How Oscar Wilde’s Arrogance and Disdain for Bohemia Led to His Downfall.
How Oscar Wilde’s Arrogance and Disdain for Bohemia Led to His Downfall.

Jul 31, 2021

A Political Reading of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”: An Allegory for Oil Capitalism?

The allegory of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre unless considered before watching the film itself, might seem to be a stretch, however upon reading Chuck Jackson’s article “Blood for Oil” prior to screening the film, this metaphor is certainly not without definite merit. Although the United States is a vast and…

Film

3 min read

A Political Reading of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”: An Allegory for Oil Capitalism?
A Political Reading of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”: An Allegory for Oil Capitalism?
Dainéal MacLean

Dainéal MacLean

Following
  • Terence Shin

    Terence Shin

  • Robert Roy Britt

    Robert Roy Britt

  • Antonello Zanini

    Antonello Zanini

  • Martizaabdel

    Martizaabdel

  • EP McKnight, MEd

    EP McKnight, MEd

Help

Status

Writers

Blog

Careers

Privacy

Terms

About

Knowable