I finally got a chance to watch a few documentaries I'd been meaning to see. First there was Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story, a gentle look at the song-poem industry and the people who submit their poetry to be transformed into something resembling music. It's a gentle movie, for better and for worse, allowing you to laugh at the people who wrote some truly embarassing lyrics, without feeling that you're being mean-spirited; the film is equally gentle to those who take their money, trying to avoid the issue of whether these people are serving a market, or are con artists. In fact, after watching the documentary, it's hard to fret over the ridiculous claims of royalties galore in their ads, when it becomes obvious no one sending in their songs really believe they're going to get rich; their actual motive, in absence of financial incentive, isn't always clear, but by-and-large you can see a universal desire to find one's voice at work. And yes, the freak factor here is high (and not just on the submitters side), lots of songs are featured (ranging from the horrid to the hilarious to the absolutely transcendent), and some nice bonus features are included on the DVD. Highly recommended.

Even more highly recommended is How's Your News? I'd heard nothing but good things about this, and I figured it was something I had to see, but I had my qualms. Can sending a group of retarded people cross-country to do man-on-the-street interviews possibly be in good taste? An "as seen on Howard Stern" sticker on the package was hardly comforting. But once you've seen it, questions of it's tastefulness seems to evaporate. Watching the film, one can clearly see the evolution of this project, from films made at Camp Jabberwocky for their personal enjoyment, to a short film shuttled around film festivals, to the finished product. Even with a somewhat larger budget (meaning they got an RV instead of a Volkswagon bus), it still feels like a home movie, and watching it feels, not like an act of voyeurism, but like being admitted into an extended family. I was made uncomfortable at times, when the members of the How's Your News team with the most difficulty communicating vocally are put into awkward interview positions (and it's supposed to make you feel a bit uncomfortable at times, as the liner notes note, "confusion, awkward moments and humor are important parts of living with a disability"). But ultimately, it's clear that they are getting as much enjoyment from the How's Your News experience as anyone, and as Larry takes in the vista of the Grand Canyon or enjoys the dancing of passers-by at Venice Beach, one can't argue this isn't a valuable experience for him.

Ultimately, it's hard to explain what this movie is. But it isn't exploitation, and at the same time, it isn't the Pollyanna-ish, disabled-people-are-just-like-you-and-me message Hollywood likes to package, just in time for Oscar season. As one blogger notes about Camp Jabberwocky, "No one pretends that the campers are just like the rest of us. The campers are who they are. But for much of their lives, they've been treated as less than what they are...." And this film, like the camp, lets them be exactly who they are. And you really, really need to see this film.