An Inconvenient Truth Verses Man On Wire

Both An Inconvenient Truth and Man on Wire are documentaries. However, one holds interest far easier than the other, Man on Wire.  Why is this? It all has to do with the non-diegetic elements, the way the information is presented, and the subject matter.

The first reason that Man on Wire is more entertaining, and keeps interest easier than An Inconvenient Truth is due to the non-diegetic (all sounds besides dialogue) elements. In An Inconvenient Truth, the only sounds that are present are Al Gore’s voice and his audience, which are diegetic. The video below portrays this aspect of Al Gore’s documentary.

No non-diegetic is used. This obviously doesn’t make for an exciting documentary, especially if the viewer doesn’t like Al Gore’s voice, which is pretty much all they hear. However, in Man on Wire there is background music. Police sirens were in the background when they were talking about the police after them, etc. It was a drastic difference, for the better.

The next reason that Man on Wire was more interesting is due to the way that the information gets presented. As mentioned above, in An Inconvenient Truth there is only Al Gore, and there really isn’t a plot to follow. Man on Wire has both a plot to follow, whether or not Phillipe will be caught, and  Phillipe, Jean-Louis, Phillipe’s girlfriend, “the Australian”, his two American accomplices; the list goes on and on of those who talk to the viewer. Some of the people don’t speak English either, so the viewer gets to read subtitles, though it isn’t like watching the movie Hero where the entire film is subtitles. That fact ensures that the viewer pays attention to the screen, making it more interesting.

The final reason that Man on Wire was more entertaining than An Inconvenient Truth is that the subject matter was more interesting. What keeps interest better, global warming or a man tightrope walking between the twin towers? An Inconvenient Truth doesn’t stand a chance.

Man on Wire definitely has much more going for it than An Inconvenient Truth. Thanks to the non-diegetic elements, style, and subject of the documentary, it wins hands down. That doesn’t mean that Al Gore’s documentary is bad, it just needs the viewer to really be interested in what he is saying.

Why are Zombies Popular?

Zombies, mindless animals that think only of eating flesh. What’s the hype with these rotting corpses? Why does everyone seem to be into zombies? There are so many different reasons that zombies get the reaction that they do, from the possibility of zombies being real to people wanting to be able to kill “morally”.

One big thing that makes zombies so popular is the fact that zombies, or a zombocalypse, may be in humanity’s future. When looking at the causes of zombies, they range from radiation (Night of the Living Dead), to a genetic virus (Resident Evil), to Haitian voodoo (White Zombie). While radiation is not viable, as proved by Chernobyl, the other causes are perfectly viable. The fact that they are viable, unlike the scientifically impossible vampires or shape shifters, makes them that much more appealing. 

The other key factor to zombie popularity is the fact that people have the inherent wanting to kill or do violence to others. The only thing that stops us is that it is morally wrong. With zombies however, it is ok. It is not like killing another person, where you will have social repercussions, along with legal ones. The anarchy created by the zombies makes all preconceived rules evaporate. In Night of the Living Dead, the cops go on a killing spree, finishing the “walkers”. They end up shooting the protagonist Ben, an ALIVE human. No repercussions, they don’t even bother checking to see if they messed up and killed someone they shouldn’t have.

Why are the Characters in The Nightmare Before Christmas so Cute?

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare before Christmas has some of the most interesting characters in animation. Tim Burton is known for making the grotesque likable, even to point of down-right adorable. But how does he do this?

The concept in general of the grotesque being made cute and appealing is seen in many different characters in the movie. From Oogie Boogie, being made of a pillow to Jack Skellington who is an extremely tall skeleton, they are made appealing. He has “creepy” characters, like a lake monster and a fat child, but they are not frightening in this film. Even Sally, who can sew herself back together, is one of the major protagonists in the film.

Why do these grotesque figures seem so appealing in this film? Tim Burton made them all very human like, which contributes. They have hopes and dreams presented in the film, the fat child even cries when he thinks that they cannot celebrate Christmas. Their “normal” feelings are only part of the equation though. The other reason why these characters are so appealing is that they are so innocent. The way they think Christmas works, to how they think Santa is “Sandy Claws”, their innocence is like that of a child. Because of that, they are more endearing.

In conclusion, this film does a great job of making preconceived notions about what skeletons and other Halloween monsters are like disappear. These grotesque creatures are made appealing by the fact that they have human-like qualities and portray a childlike ignorance.