There has already been much said on Our War as being a very powerful and mainly unbiased film, and for very good reason. The documentary is unquestionably very powerful, as it openly depicts the dangers and horrors of war without providing much gruesome and gory imagery. Rather, Our War focuses on the human elements of war in a manner that is not intended to shock and awe the viewer, but to rather expose the pain and suffering of those who are involved. And by “those who are involved,” the film is clearly implying that everyone is involved by the war, because everyone is touched or affected in some way. The title itself is evidence enough of this message.
Although the documentary was a British production and featured British soldiers and families, I too, as an American whose country is involved in the very same conflict, felt just as connected to the film as if it was an American production. So, as did most people who saw the film, I began to question what it was, if anything that was different about Our War and an American documentary on the same war. I do agree that Our War does not have a very strong political undertone. Instead, its focus is on the tragedy and hardship that war brings, and how we as people cope with the horrible happenings that accompany such devastation. So where is the American equivalent?
Some people have stated that you cannot find an American equivalent because there will not exist a U.S. documentary on Iraq or Afghanistan that will not carry some political spin. I have to admit, I have not previously embarked on a thorough investigation to see all of the American documentaries on the war in the Middle East. Sure, there are the TV specials that exist, but that’s exactly what they are—specials; they already have a preconceived message and thus really are inherently different from unbiased, pure documentary (I emphasize pure because once editing is involved there truly can be no such thing as pure documentary, but in regards to this discussion pure documentary can be classified as mainly unbiased). Therefore, it appears that there is no American substitute for Our War.
I think the problem is two-fold: first that the United States has significantly stricter censorship and broadcast regulation than does the UK, and secondly that the U.S. has a more polarized political landscape on TV than does the UK. The latter can be attributed to the fact that Our War was produced by the BBC, which is a station aimed at serving the entirety of the British population, while there is no such equivalent in the United States (although the U.S. has PBS, its minute ratings render it incomparable to the BBC). Additionally, the former makes it almost impossible to create a similar documentary because it is highly likely that the increased censorship would dilute the content, and thus the emotional power, of the film. With both of these differences factoring into programming decisions, it becomes much harder to create a successful and neutral documentary on such a polarizing political issue
Thus, it is most likely that in order to find an unbiased American documentary of the war in Iraq/Afghanistan, one would have to locate it outside of the realm of TV. However, the problem here is that it is unlikely that the film will attract as high viewership and therefore achieve as strong of an impact if only available as an independent film. Hence, I question whether Our War could truly ever be ours, in an American sense. Although we clearly possess both the financial capability in producing such a profound and breathtaking film or mini-series as well as the broadcasting capabilities to reach millions of viewers, I doubt that in this day and age we will be seeing one anytime soon. Although I maintain some of my reservations about the public nature of the BBC, and of British broadcasting in general, Our War is a clear example of why the BBC has endured through the years and why British broadcasting can at times produce unique, quality broadcast television that is nonexistent in the United States.
I think you bring up a good point that due to elements like censorship and our increasingly polarized political climate, a documentary like Our War would never appear on an American television channel. However, I think you also touched upon another reason why something like Our War is unique to British television. Even without censorship and political issues, where would a documentary like Our War go on American television? You bring up that there are sometimes specials, and sometimes there are also segments on news shows like 60 Minutes, but I wonder if a similar documentary would be able to get the exposure it has received in England. The only channels that I can think of that would give a documentary like Our War the attention it deserves are the premium channels like HBO or Showtime, and more and more I’m starting to see connections between those channels and the BBC.
I think it’s difficult to say whether or not we could have something like “Our War” in the U.S., because our culture seems to be more driven toward controversial and opinionated filmmakers like Michael Moore rather than specials like “60 Minutes” that try to contain unbiased facts. For example, try to find a news station that doesn’t sway things one way or another. I agree that there is certainly a place for a doc like “Our War” on Showtime or HBO.
The problem is that as a filmmaker it is extremely difficult to keep your own personal ideas out of your story, but I think that “Our War” actually did it extremely well, despite my original skepticism. At the point in the doc when it came out that the British government had lied, I nearly rolled my eyes, expecting it to take a turn for the conspiracy theory and start blaming the British government for all sorts of things. Because I honestly believe that had this documentary been made in the U.S., that’s the way things would have gone. But it kept to the facts, and didn’t even elaborate on the issue, which I think is incredible.
I agree with your point and the comments above about the difficulty to have such hot-button issues presented in an unbiased fashion. Our War did a great job of focusing on the soldiers, their emotions and thoughts seemingly unfiltered, though as you disclosed, “pure” intention is nearly impossible. Audrey built off this point by suggesting HBO or Showtime, finding a possible audience due to interest in Michael Moore films, steaming with controversy. It stuck to the facts, didn’t exaggerate, and stuck with the footage and resulting events.
As for translation to America, I couldn’t help by repeatedly think “Oscar Bait”. Perhaps it’s my shallow view of Hollywood, but there is no way footage from our military, fighting the never-ending battles, would escape national view…a feature to pull at our heartstrings and cause audible “gasps” from packed theaters. Such a unique and interesting concept would never escape the award circuit, at least not while Harvey Weinstein has any pull. Avoiding an obvious political agenda would be the difficulty.