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November 9, 2004
Teaching Journeys with George
I'm still recovering from post-election malaise and dealing with mounds of work, so I've decided to show a film this week in order to shift gears a bit. After quite a bit of wavering (i.e., staring at a shelf full of DVD cases at my local video store), I decided to show Alexandra Pelosi's Journeys with George, which focuses on then-Governor Bush's 2000 election campaign (I reviewed the film here a few months ago).
I haven't had the chance to talk at length with my students about the film, but I am impressed by the way that it holds up on a second (and third and fourth, I hope) screening. One of the interesting aspects of the film is its "home movie" quality (Pelosi herself describes her film in these terms), a phrasing I'm not sure I gave enough attention to in my earlier review. The film also captures the extent to which the press bubble becomes a kind of alternate family and we see the degree to which this group of reporters becomes separated from their "real" families (two of the reporeters talk at some length about their separation from their families). At any rate, I'm anticipating that the doc will provide us with a lot to talk about on Thursday.
Posted by chuck at November 9, 2004 1:11 PM
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Comments
Boy, I feel that election malaise as well. It's been hard for me to do anything but write torturous blog entries, which I realize go on far too long, but I can't seem to help myself.
And haven't you just found it really difficult to get up the energy to stand in front of the class? I know I have.
jwb
Posted by: Jimbo at November 9, 2004 2:43 PM
One of my favorite parts of 'Journeys' was the little psuedo-relationship that Alexandria (whom I love, by the way) develops with one of her fellow reporters, and then it slowly fades away. It is like a Washington Power version of summer camp.
If only they'd shown the footage of Bush and Alexandria doing the trust fall and the ropes course!
Posted by: Dylan at November 9, 2004 2:55 PM
To some extent, I anticipated that I'd feel this way regardless of the outcome of the election, which is why I planned to show a doc this week all along.
Because I haven't had any full class sessions since then (I've been collecting papers, holding short discussions, etc), I've managed to avoid having to gain a lot of energy. Traveling to the conference last weekend was also very theraputic.
Posted by: chuck at November 9, 2004 3:01 PM
Dylan, missed your comment before--Pelosi's relationship with the reporter is interesting. I notcied tonight that one shot of him is clearly out of sequence, showing him in front of a Bush-Cheney banner "before" the South Carolina primary.
But yeah, there's definitely a summer camp or "road trip" quality to the film.
Posted by: chuck at November 9, 2004 5:28 PM