On Appearances, Spin and Reality (or What's Below the Media Radar)

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Robert K. Pappas, Director of "Orwell Rolls in his Grave"

Orwell Rolls in his Grave is my first feature length documentary. Never an activist, I trained as a fictional filmmaker at NYU Grad Film and directed a couple of features (attempts at humorous love stories). However, my lack of formal journalist experience might actually have been a strength. The following are a few images from the making of Orwell.

April 2001, Washington: I'm staking out the TV studios on North Capital Street that house CNN, MSNBC and FOX, waiting to importune people like Mathews, Hume, Fred Barnes or whoever might emerge from one of those cable news talk shows. I'm alone, with a DV camera on my hip that could easily be mistaken for a weapon. A car pulls up and out pops Senator Kerry. He walks inside, apparently on his way to an interview, while his driver waits in the car. 20 to 30 minutes later Kerry comes out of the building. By this time my attempt to appear unobtrusive is actually making me look more unsavory -- I'm disheveled, with my shirt and hair sticking out. Maybe Kerry had been warned by his driver, if not he should have been. He looks over at me, some thirty feet away, camera still brandished at my side. Kerry stops, turns, looks at me and then approaches, a half smile on his face that's a bit wary. Here's what's goes through my mind: "This dude is big and tough, and he's decided to confront this guy who may want to do him harm." Half way to me he speaks: "What the hell are you doing?" he inquires without malice. By now he's in front of and is as tall as me. "I'm trying to nail pundits coming out of the building -- too bad you're not a pundit," I blurt only semi-coherently. Kerry cracks up, starts laughing. "Go for it." My next thought is: "What a charming ballsy person." He looks at me, "Good luck, take it easy," and walks to his car before I realize that maybe I should have asked him about the media. The point of this story is that elements of the press keep saying that he's charmless, mannered -- a typical politician. As someone who often tries to size up actors in auditions during which time they're often trying to fool you about who they are, Kerry seemed the opposite of the way pundits try to spin him. My impression was that he is incredibly charming, spontaneous, and brave.

September 2002, Washington: I'm taping a news conference near the Capital. There's war in the air. But at this news conference, families of 9/11 victims are emotionally pleading against us invading Iraq, their argument being that such a war will increase hatred of the US among certain groups, and actually help foment terrorism. Plus, they say, their families were collateral damage in the 9/11 attack -- what about Iraqi families? Very moving. What strikes me about the news conference though is that out of perhaps a dozen camera crews on hand, not one is from an American network. They're all foreign.

Early February 2003: I call a guy I know who works at FOX in New York. Earlier on I had asked him for an on-camera interview, but he wouldn't do it. "How's it going at FOX" I ask. He replies simply: "It's the super bowl." "It's the super bowl?" I repeat. "Yeah, it's the super bowl." Then, I get it.

September 2002, Washington: I'm filming in the hallways of the Congressional Office Building, maybe 8 or 9 in the morning. There's a line of perhaps 30 guys who look like the people who line up near Tompkins Square in New York City at a local soup kitchen. They're mostly black. "What is this?" I ask my guide. "They're place-holders" she responds, "They get paid to save spaces reserved for the public in Committee hearing rooms, just before the hearing begins, lobbyists take their place." I think to myself, "What a simple image yet what a perfect example of what goes on behind closed doors in our government." For some reason though, you'll never see this on TV.

Robert K. Pappas

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

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