Control
Room (***)
review by Jon
Waterman
“Control Room” tells the story of Al Jazeera,
the Arabian satellite news network. It chronicles the war between
the United States and Iraq, from beginning to shortly after
the take down of the Saddam statue, from their perspective.
If follows the newsroom workers and journalists in their effort
to provide a non-mainstream view of the world’s events.
Sure, the film is about Al Jazeera, because the central cast
of participants comes from that network. However, it’s
more accurately a commentary on news media in general. The
channel has been harshly criticized in the United States for
being overly biased and manipulative. The film shows how the
American media circuit perpetuates this on the other end of
the spectrum. The Al Jazeera reporters ask the hard questions
and we hear the dizzying amount of spin put into the answer.
The movie does a good job of not only showing the skepticism
in the US Government and their responses, but also explaining
why they are skeptical. Key subject Hassan Ibrahim is very
eloquent and outspoken, while being honest and for the most
part objective.
We aren’t just exposed to the Al Jazeera network. We
see shots of reporters from the States and how they handle
similar issues. It gives the audience a great look at the varying
tactics and focus points that various media outlets use. The
bias of Al Jazeera doesn’t really show its face here,
but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. The movie
does a good job of showing how anyone is biased and how no
group can escape subjectivity – including the movie itself.
It does an especially good job of pointing out certain hypocrisies
in the government officials’ sound bites.
It also uses on US spokesman to further explain the multi-faceted
situation presented. Through his interviews (both with the
filmmakers and the various news outlets), Josh Rushing promotes
understanding and thoughtfulness. His personal viewpoints on
the war and coverage of it change. He works as a guide to the
complexity of it all.
The movie is effective in covering and criticizing media and
exposing its flaws, but ultimately doesn’t offer much
of anything new to the table. The concept and perception of
propagandizing news isn’t unusual and in fact seems to
be relatively widely accepted. If anything, it puts a good
face on the Al Jazeera people and puts them in a positive light.
Hopefully, it’ll act as a catalyst for discussion and
for acceptance and respect of others, even if their viewpoints
differ.
respond to jon@filmbrats.com
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