Before I even began the process of writing “Borat: Controversial Ethics for Make Better the Future of Documentary Filmmaking,” I knew that Sacha Baron Cohen, creator of Borat, had received much negative criticism for the documentary. Yet, I had thoroughly enjoyed watching the film each time, appreciating Cohen’s satire despite its often offensive nature. When I began researching, I found a lack of consensus about the standards on which much of the negative criticism was established.
For my essay, I explored the ethical expectations often applied to documentaries and how Cohen’s documentary fit (or rather, didn’t fit) into such ideas. I found it a simple task to argue that Borat was, by the aforementioned expectations, an unethical film—it was far more difficult to develop the idea that these expectations are unnecessarily restrictive, and that we should allow filmmakers more freedom in creating their works. I ultimately aimed to expand upon and challenge the ideas I had learned in class, and to suggest beneficial alternatives to the regulation of documentary filmmaking.
HANNAH PANGRCIC is a sophomore majoring in Earth Science in Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences. Originally from San Diego, Hannah, lives in The Middle of Nowhere, Illinois, when not in Boston, and she plans to trek from city to city. Hannah won several writing awards throughout high school and aims to continue to improve her writing long after it must fit into ten pages, double-spaced. She would like to dedicate this essay to professors Theodora Goss and Marisa Milanese, both of whom provided valuable advice for her papers.