Thursday, May 19, 2011

ZEF BASED RE-RE-RE-RE-REEEEMIX REVIEW. AWWWW YEEEEEAAAAHHH.

Brett Gaylor's documentary RiP! : A Remix Manifesto tackles the big corporations and questions their seemingly unjust laws against remixing, copying, and sampling already owned media. He seems to have a very strong opinion and wants to get it across. I think Gaylor probably made this film as a direct attack against the corporations. Although I agree with the message Gaylor is trying to get across, it is only to a certain extent. I think he takes a very extremist side of the argument and has no concern for the opposing side.

The bias stance taken in the movie is rather obvious, little is shown from the corporation's point of view. However with almost any documentary there will always be a bias stance. When you are trying to promote one thing, you don't want the opposing side to have a say in the matter. Documentaries are suppose to document the real situation, but this is rarely the case in them. Taxi To The Dark Side spoke of none of the good that the American soldiers did in Iraq because the movie was trying to convey a point that they were treating the Iraqis unfairly. Similarly, A Remix Manifesto only tells us about what the big bad corporation is doing to the little man for downloading or remixing a few songs. Although I don't necessarily agree with this method, it's the best way to get the point you are trying to make across, so I can understand why Gaylor made his film that way.

I think that there should be a more definite line between what is considered copyrighting. I don't see anything wrong with taking the main ideas (be them physical like music or mental like an essay) and using them to strengthen something of your own imagination. I feel that most artists themselves have probably no problem with people remixing their ideas, but they no longer own their ideas because they have been sold to corporations who want more and more money from anyone they can get it off of. Remixing something can turn anything into something even more powerful, allowing it to reach even more people. However simply taking a picture, a song, or an essay and claiming it to be the sole property of your mind I still see as something that is maybe not illegal, but immoral. I think that so long as you are acknowledging that these ideas were taken from somewhere else and that you are not taking the privilege for granted, then there is nothing wrong with doing so.



Overall, I think that Brett Gaylor has given a powerful message in his film. He is very secure in his argument and his opinion and does very well expressing it. The parts about the Disney corporation very were compelling. But at the same time, I feel that his views were expressed in a too extreme way. He was basically saying "this is how I think it is, so you have to think this way to." If you can get past the very bias nature of the film (which I think everyone can) it is a very enjoying and thought provoking documentary.