Making Documentaries With Misleading Subjects
Our current political era seems characterized by a willingness of large groups of the population to believe fake news supported by “alternative” facts and false narratives. Such an environment can be treacherous because it allows dangerous politicians to rise to power by making almost any claim, no matter how untrue, as long as it strikes an emotional chord. It’s one reason political observers have referred to our present time as the “Post-Truth era.”
The 2019 documentary “The Kingmaker,” an ominously insightful film directed and written by photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield, could be considered a powerful case study of Post-Truth-era politics. That’s because its primary subject is Imelda Marcos, the notorious former first lady of the Philippines and wife of the country’s former dictator, Ferdinand Marcos.
One scene in the film seems particularly symbolic: About three-quarters of the way through the documentary, Greenfield captures a scene where Imelda Marcos sits in a beautifully decorated room wearing a stunning red dress and looking quite regal, almost stately in her demeanor. For the first five seconds of the scene, the viewer sees Marcos simply sitting there silently. She looks out from where she’s seated
