Been much busy with apps but not so busy that I've ignored my training routine. So while I stretch lately I've been watching some shows, documentaries, and even movies, and in an effort to get my brain off of grad apps it's refreshing to get another take on (non)fiction and clear my head for things to come. Here's a recent watch.
I felt an immediate kinship with the narrator, and immediate revulsion. The kinship came from a childhood interest in marine biology and sharks in general. I love the ocean and I always thought sharks were cool, especially after Jaws. Dinosaurs also fall into that category. What is it about being a kid that makes you like things that can swallow you whole? We may never know.
The revulsion came from the voice. Rob Stewart (which I kept thinking "Rod Stewart" for most of the watch) is unforgiveably nasal, a trait which imbues revulsion upon me from other media characters such as that one guy from Backstreet Boys who beats women and cries about it, and Seungri from Big Bang. But I can be a little bit lenient on the guy, after all he's a marine photographer and probably hasn't been through Juliard or anything to deal with his diction. Also he's from the Hat of America, which gives his voice an unusual twang that enhances the nasalness (which makes his voice give out at odd instances) but I'm being nitpicky. This is a documentary about sharks after all. I shouldn't be going after the guy who made it.
Except that, it was a lot about the guy who made it. Actually it was extremely tiresome. Complicit to this self-loving scene is the poster that they used to advertise it. There's two versions, and both put Rob Stewart in the foreground as if he was going to present us with the Free Willy of shark documentaries. It's revoltingly narcissistic. And at the end we get the culmination of an ego-trip that has begun as a slow leak from the opening scene of Rob walking across a lonely beach to a scene of a be-speedo'd Canadian filming himself cavorting with sharks, including a scene which apparently is just a shot of him swimming while holding the camera pointing at himself. For like, a really long time.
the goodAll of the director/writer/producer/unnecessary speedo modeler aside, Sharkwater is a really good watch. It does bring to light some of the inequities that sharks have faced in the world at large, though it could use some more scientific backing. Most of its science comes from statistics that are printed in intervals across the length of the movie, dispelling myths about sharks were they believeable. There are very few actual authorities on the topic interviewed, however, and this shortcoming really does overall hurt the film. But as a shark enthusiast and an environmental (in-)activist (I care, but I care about say grad school right now more), I find truth to the purported facts, just presented with a bit too much of idealistic zeal. Also there are some interesting political ramifications concerning the illegal finning operations that are apparently occuring in South America, and the Sea Shepherd campaign in the area. While this becomes central to the documentary's overall timeline, it again does detract a bit from factual backing that they could have provided. But it was exciting, and a good, eye-opening piece of the overall film.
the bad
Rob Stewart, if you ever read this, take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Do that for two hours. That's pretty much what you subjected us to. Well, okay that's hyperbolic but really how are you gonna name the documentary "Sharkwater" when it's really more like "Robwater, feat. Sharks". We get it. You love sharks. We also get that you love yourself. 'Nuff said on that.
A point of contention: I'm slightly offended of the representation of the Asian culture. Sharkwater presents Asians, particularly Taiwan and Hong Kong as anachronistic dilettantes who must indulge in shark fins as status symbols and as panaceas in place of modern medicine, and that, well, simply is not true. Sure, there was that nice lady getting married who said "no shark fin soup in MY house!" but that was more like a fledgling acknowledgement that a balanced perspective when criticizing a culture must be presented. It does nothing to the broad-reaching use of words like "they" and "they're" to generalize Asians in general as robber-barons of the seas.
the final word
You love sharks? It's definitely worth the watch. Some of the ocean cinematography was gorgeous (testament to the filmmaker's true expertise), and broad sweeping melodies really capture the moment alongside within the film's soundtracks (although there are some bleeding heart ballads thrown in for gregarious effect). And while a bit hamfisted, you can believe, with a grain of salt, everything Mr. Stewart has to say about sharks.
You love Rob Stewart? Even better. Except, I didn't care for him at all, so, negative on that.
grade: C
Excellent topic, bad in execution.
