The hot topic on social media this week has been this trailer for the upcoming documentary, American Blogger. Yes, this is a real film and not a Saturday Night Live parody (or Airstream commercial), as JB thought when he caught a glimpse of the video the other night.
The trailer has been receiving criticism from the larger blogging community (#americanblogger) for its hokey narration and self-important vibe, as well as its portrayal of bloggers as predominantly young white women with perfectly un-done hair who live in eclectically designed (and incredibly organized) homes.
I have to say… I understand the backlash. While I respect and admire many of the women interviewed in the film, all 51 of them are friends with the filmmaker’s wife, a successful mommyblogger herself. I would argue that such a limited demographic doesn’t truly represent the “American blogger.” Also, I imagine that most of them earn an income off their blogs — and most of us don’t.
From that perspective, the project feels more like a promotional video (and a pretty darn good excuse to travel the country!) and less like a documentary about a potentially interesting subject matter… though I suppose I should withhold my judgement until I see the entire film. But what do you think?
(image via American Blogger)
I agree that this movie shows no diversity. But name one top minority blogger. Um you can’t because the media doesn’t showcase a diverse range of bloggers. So this guy and his wife probably doesn’t know that there is a wide range of diversity in the blogging community.
Chescaleigh.
Thanks for sharing!
Any filmmaker worth their salt would do research and find that top minority blogger. If they can’t they would ask, hey why aren’t there more high profile bloggers of color? If he calls himself a filmmaker he should act like one and do his due diligence.
I tend to agree with you… However, the more I think about the documentary, the more it becomes apparent that the filmmaker wasn’t necessarily trying to cast a wide net. As a first-time filmmaker, he reached out to his wife’s friends. I’m sure he thought they had a variety of stories to offer… though they probably aren’t varied enough for a broad audience.
I’d imagine that the filmmaker and his wife know that the blogging community is diverse. I mean, right? But perhaps there aren’t minority bloggers in their circle of blogging friends that they chose to interview.
Hi! I’d love to see the film. I think it may be really interesting to listen to the stories these bloggers are going to tell. Many people criticize it because it may not be representative of the whole blogging community in the US, but I think it makes sense to interview people you know, you like, you read. I guess their goal is not to document life in general, but life of specific people they think have a good story to tell, and stories are interesting to me.
I think you hit the nail on the head: Chris and his wife looked to the bloggers they knew and respected for stories to share. Doesn’t make it bad or wrong, but I don’t think you can really call it a documentary about the “American blogger” with such a limited demographic.
Thank you for writing about this. I, personally, read several of the blogs included. And I find all of them to be impactful and full of love and grace. I also follow Casey Wiegand’s blog and I think it’s amazing that these stories are going to be told. Stories of the grief of miscarriage, the love of a child with Down Syndrome, the accomplishment of a small business utilizing bloggers, and so many others. Casey’s response today was also truly genuine and made my heart hurt for them.
I also read Casey’s response and thought it was very heartfelt, too. She and her husband certainly could not have predicted this sort of backlash when they set out to make a film about something so personal to them.
Since I was out of town when this all blew up, I’m just catching up on it all now. Its interesting to me, because this “face” of blogging has sort of become the norm, and I guess I’m just ok with it, but I’m also a white 30 year old in a design field, so maybe I don’t have a right to be upset. I’ll have to think more on it.