A Fresh View of Documentaries

When, on Monday, I had heard that we would be spending a class learning about documentaries, I was not thrilled.  To my surprise, however, I really enjoyed it!  When discussing television or movies, documentary is not the genre that normally spurs excitement or interest.  Documentaries are thought of as boring, informative films or shows about things such as Civil War or Politics... certainly not on many "must see" lists.  However, today I realized that documentaries can actually be interesting, funny, stories, and that I actually watch documentaries all the time, not realizing that is what they were considered.  I believe that the thought of documentaries being "lame" is outdated and that film makers today have found ways to make documentaries as enjoyable as films of any popular genre.  Watching "Come on Down and Pick Me Up" by Nicholas Corrao, and listening to him talk about his work with documentary films entirely changed my opinion on what I thought of documentaries.  I found learning about Fred and his artwork, as well as his illness to be interesting.  It was intriguing how Fred's artwork has progressed his illness, and at the same time took his mind off of the idea that he was dying.  The way the film was shot and edited, as well as the music choice, really helped to tie it together and tell the story.  Kudos to Professor Corrao!