In a documentary, does one review the subject or does one review the elements of the film, the production et al?
In this case I'll start with the subject, although that's unfair because given that the filmmaker choice is subjective and thier prowess will prove to make the film interesting or intriguing or whatnot, I've always felt opining on the subject matter is, in a sense pointless - ya know it's either something the viewer is interested in or not
And on a personal level, and I want to emphasize that this is apart and independent of my feelings about Rachel Lee and the so called 'Bling ring' but I am vehemently opposed to all of these criminals (whether they've served thier time and "paid their debt" or not) essentially being rewarded financially by being the subject in thier own documentaries and often being lauded by the public as infamous heroes for lack of better terminology - I believe as a society we need to stop holding them up as legendary individuals worthy of our respect or 'worship' and whilst this isn't necessarily the case with Rachel Lee, it is worth pointing out that her stating that she wished to remain unrecognizable and out of the current collective zeitgeist (again) she IS IN FACT doing this documentary for HBO! So one must ask themselves, is it for a hefty payday to lure them out of semi anonymous safe haven of post incarceration OR does she still seek some of the infamy and attention that drove her to the crimes she admits to? (if it's the former, why are we so fascinated and starved for content, that we permit what is in my opinion ultimately a reward for her actions)
All in all I am, whilst being a male born in LA and raised in Bel Air (even attending a school that had its own continuation school called Indian Springs which we referred to as Indica Springs cause ya know... Right?) and having some empathy in those regards, first hand understanding of that environment of interacting with celebrity yet not being anything extraordinary - and of course merely being a human that was a teenager at some point but ultimately I'm unimpressed
By both the film AND Rachel Lee
// as an afterthought, and this is kinda funny and kinda like.. remember I said I had some empathy but not much sympathy, so get this, when I was still in elementary school, there was a kid on my street that had a bad reputation, I can attest he was a bully and, let's say ne'er-do-well. So for a stretch of time there were burglaries in bel air and eventually my family returned from vacation and the house had been robbed - there was a huge greasy palm print on my bedroom window (I had nightmares for months, I was a kid, gimme a break lol) so anyway it turns out that when the caught the gang of kids that did it, that boy was the main dude right? Turned out he went on to have a fairly successful career as an actor - and cause I don't think anyone will read this far I'll tell you his name (we're already on imdb, check him out, you totally recognize him) David Bowe, his girlfriend and Co. Robbed houses AND the school in bel air hahaha - what a Richard right? Funny stuff! Sorry David, some people don't forget.
