Courting Condi

I have not seen many documentaries, but I have seen enough to know that I did not like “Courting Condi.” The documentary had its moments, but I did not like the approach of the filmmaker at all.

When the documentary started out, I knew what to expect because I had seen the preview during class. What I did not know was that by the end of the film, I would receive a very biased and influenced opinion of Condoleezza Rice. I do appreciate the fact that the documentary showed her faults—I have seen stories on Condoleezza Rice before that only make her out to be picture perfect, but this documentary shows more than her perfect image and illustrates her in a negative light—but I did not like the way the documentary went about uncovering her many flaws.

I could not take anything seriously throughout the entire film. Can you blame me? Was this person truly in love with someone they had never met before? Although the storyline was entertaining, I found it hard to believe that he had true feelings for Condoleezza Rice. It did not help that he had acting experience and knew other actors. Actors should not be in documentaries. It definitely lost a lot of credibility when famous actors were shown. The entire time, I felt like I was watching a performance.

The songs during the documentary were weird, to say the least. They were funny, but they were mostly just weird. I also thought that it was creepy that he went to her childhood home and to the hospital where she was born. These are things that people do for celebrities like Elvis or past presidents who are dead now. It was also weird to me that they would question whether or not Condoleezza Rice was still a virgin. It’s not just strange, but disrespectful. Would they be asking these questions directly to Rice herself? I could not take anything seriously after that.

The approach of the documentary was not very competent. I did not like how it was a comedy with such a serious subject. Condoleezza Rice did a lot of terrible things, but I felt like this information was overshadowed by the funny songs and characters. A large portion of the documentary was dedicated to showing what a wonderful and perfect person she is. The point of the film was to expose Condoleezza Rice, but by the time it got to that part, I had lost interest and was slightly annoyed. The documentary could have been more concise, which would have helped keep my attention.

I wish that I could have gone to a different film. I watched so many other previews, and some of them were about things that I find more interesting than Condoleezza Rice. The documentary was somewhat entertaining, but I did not feel that it was a legitimate documentary. It was hard to take in the information when I wasn’t quite sure if it was credible.

Before “Courting Condi,” a short was shown. I cannot remember the name of the short or who it was created by, but I really enjoyed it. It was a story about a dating service and an awkward man. I thought this story was clever and well thought out.