This American Life, Accidental Documentaries
...imilar to this, “People with emotional problems don’t know where to turn. I know I should turn to God, but I want human help and so I am telling you, son. I am telling you the negative side of the Davis’ household, which is pretty typical these days.” When the documentarian included this statement, I believe he really showed me the son’s angle – the family sees him as their confidant, the strong one, the one to whom they can take their successes and failure. By presenting the son in this angle, I really began to understand the stress the boy must be feeling in being expected to bear his family’s burdens. When the son received the tapes, I wondered if he thought his mom was over reactive, too intense, too “nagging.” The mother sent the son a reality therapy book – I wondered what the son thought of this. Meanwhile, I wondered if he thought his Dad shallow, constantly concerned with his work, the basement, and putting family problems second. Did the son see this deep into the situation? I saw the mother begging for sympathy or help while the father was soliciting someone to celebrate his successes with him; however the father and mother never seem to meet in the middle of their self-concerns. It is striking how in one document so many contrasting emotions are present – pain, happiness, celebration, complaint, frustration, hopes and wishes, wants, needs – all representative of real people, real situations. I wonder how the son would deal with the flood of emotion he was to receive upon listening to this tape. I believe the use of a recording to show me the son’s dilemma worked well. The use of the individual voices really helped me to “feel” the character, as I had their voice and hum...