Through the Looking Glass

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Audience Member In his first full length documentary, filmmaker Kevin Bowe takes the audience on a disturbing and at times comical journey through the landscape of presidential campaigning during the last New Hampshire primary. He nicely captures the prelude to a nightmare as it unfolds in real time; a world gone mad with the media's 24/7 coverage of meaningless dramas and distractions that have nothing to do with the real issues facing everyday voters- minor things like the heroin epidemic that is ravaging our communities, and the plight of caregivers for those with Alzheimer's Disease. Interviews with former host of "Face the Nation," Bob Schieffer, and Harvard author of "The End of Big," Nicole Mele, lend chilling substance to the argument that social media is bludgeoning the concept of democracy as we once knew it, and it is time for Americans to rethink what level of responsibility we have in playing into the problem. The documentary ends on a positive note with a depiction of people at the community level still engaging in the process in hopes of bringing about healthy change. I frankly don't share Bowe's optimistic conclusion. I think that the documentary should have ended on a far darker note, with the last part of the interview with Nicole Mele where the scholar conveys a sentiment of profound disillusion and fear. That was a spine tingling moment that left the audience breathless with dread. A few surprises: Chris Christie really is a bully (well, that's not really a surprise....) and believe it or not, Governor Kasich of Ohio is something of a nice guy, and kind of funny, too. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member This is thought provoking documentary that show how critical an intelligent and honest media is to supporting a strong democracy. Through anecdotal stories and data this documentary witnesses the 2016 primary campaign in the state of NH. With 21 major party candidates and a plethora of others running it was an epic in size race. The film builds a story as to how the commercial broadcast media is obsesses with viewer ratings and will compromise their reporting on relevant information to a voter and substitute it with entertaining side bars about the election. All in the name of keeping rating and profits growing. Just one example was an artist giving out free Trump Tattoo's and several major stations had to to his shop and interview him. It was great for his business but how relevant is this to a voter who wants to make a good choice? The film suggests the broadcast media's attention to these entertaining sidebars and lack of time spend on policy issues provided the shocking results that not even they (the media) predicted. This is the first time, at least in modern times, that a candidate won the Presidency who was not endorsed by any major news paper and Was endorsed by the Crusader, the official news paper of the KKK. Ultimately this film puts a critical spot light on the broadcast media and provides a unique look as to why the election played out the way it did. Ask you local theater to run it and bring you kids. They will benefit from the education. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member A critical, honest look at how the media reports on politics and what we all are missing because of that. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Through the Looking Glass

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