Robert J. Flaherty
4
Audio Transcript Auto-generated
- 00:01 - 00:03
So today I'm going to be speaking about robert J.
- 00:04 - 00:05
Flattery and Nanook of the North.
- 00:07 - 00:09
I'm gonna be more speaking about the ethical issues that
- 00:10 - 00:12
I think were raised in the filming of this.
- 00:12 - 00:15
But however, I'm going to tell you some background information
- 00:16 - 00:17
on robert J.
- 00:17 - 00:18
Flat free.
- 00:19 - 00:22
So Nanook of the North was the first commercially successful
- 00:23 - 00:27
documentary, full length documentary that flattery released.
- 00:29 - 00:30
So this is why it's so significant.
- 00:31 - 00:34
However, while I think even more important is what the
- 00:35 - 00:38
ethical issues were raised during the production.
- 00:41 - 00:43
So he produced many other documentaries.
- 00:44 - 00:46
One of the main ones which I'm sure you would
- 00:46 - 00:48
have heard of was Mona.
- 00:50 - 00:51
So there's actually a Disney film.
- 00:52 - 00:55
Well, I think you would have heard of what was
- 00:56 - 00:58
filmed on her nor she got like the elephant man
- 00:59 - 01:01
and a few other ones.
- 01:01 - 01:04
But today we're going to just speak about Nanook of
- 01:04 - 01:04
the North.
- 01:06 - 01:07
Yes. Mhm.
- 01:09 - 01:13
So no new cover north what ethical issues were raised.
- 01:15 - 01:19
So during the filming of the Inuit people, he filmed
- 01:19 - 01:23
them not actually how they were at the time, as
- 01:24 - 01:26
in he portrayed them in the ways as if maybe
- 01:27 - 01:30
they were a couple of generations back still hunting with
- 01:30 - 01:35
spears when now as everyone solve as you know in
- 01:35 - 01:38
the time period to it's about 1850, but was born
- 01:39 - 01:43
1850. So past that time people moved around the globe.
- 01:44 - 01:47
So they traded for guns and other weapons.
- 01:48 - 01:51
So he's portraying them in the way of which really
- 01:51 - 01:52
they weren't living.
- 01:53 - 01:56
And one of the scenes, even it's sort of, I
- 01:56 - 01:59
feel like it messes with the reality of the situation
- 02:00 - 02:02
as it showed them building igloos.
- 02:03 - 02:07
However, with the igloos they filmed in a half open
- 02:07 - 02:09
month to get the video of them inside.
- 02:10 - 02:15
Also be used flower trees, wife as no nukes wife.
- 02:16 - 02:17
So it's another little lie.
- 02:18 - 02:21
However, I can understand how he's trying to do this
- 02:21 - 02:24
to show the history of Inuit people, but I just
- 02:24 - 02:29
don't think it's the correct representation as if anything, it's
- 02:29 - 02:32
almost like a dramatic ized Documentary.
- 02:33 - 02:33
one More.
- 02:33 - 02:37
You might see a recreation of today but saying that
- 02:37 - 02:41
it was the first successful full length documentary.
- 02:42 - 02:45
So you I'm going to give him some slack for
- 02:45 - 02:47
that. As I do think he's done a great job
- 02:48 - 02:48
with his videography.
- 02:49 - 02:53
And even though they do know hunt with guns, they
- 02:53 - 02:55
still managed to show how they still know how to
- 02:55 - 02:56
hunt using spears.
- 02:57 - 03:00
Such as there's a scene where they were hunting fish
- 03:00 - 03:03
with spears and they can still do it.
- 03:04 - 03:07
So even though for the time period technically is not
- 03:07 - 03:12
correct. I feel about the documentary is still showing half
- 03:13 - 03:18
decent representation of Inuit life, but ethically it's probably not
- 03:18 - 03:18
fair