Defining a Documentary

How would you classify a documentary? Would reality television shows be considered documentaries because they are documenting a person’s daily life? Or, is a documentary a boring film that you are required to watch for a class? I would define a documentary as entertaining as a reality television program but with more substance. I have watched a few documentaries, the latest one being “Super Size Me” where Morgan Spurlock eats at McDonald’s for 30 days and monitors the effects that it has on his body. His documentary was very entertaining, but I also learned something from it. Therefore, maybe a documentary can be used as a learning tool to present information in an enjoyable way. Documentaries should include a main character, or characters that the story follows. The documentation part of the film should be from the point of view of the character(s), but it is also helpful to see the opposite side of the story. In Spurlock’s documentary, we saw his viewpoint of McDonald’s and got other people’s input as well.
Having a narrator helps the audience follow the events that they are watching. In “Super Size Me”, Spurlock was the main character and narrator. A documentary should follow the life of the character(s) but not to the point where the audience is bored. Furthermore, the use of music that is suitable for the documentary may intrigue the audience by adding another pleasurable element.
As Morgan Spurlock says, a documentary is “A work, such as a film or television program, presenting political, social, or historical subject matter in a factual and informative manner and often consisting of actual news films or interviews accompanied by narration.” I believe that Spurlock summed it up quite nicely. Documentaries should be entertaining, informative, and factual. A good documentary is the type that makes the audience want to come back for more.