Right America: Feeling Wronged (2009)

Another road trip with documentarian Alexandra Pelosi focuses on people in and around McCain/Palin rallies during the 2008 presidential election. As Pelosi even informs us in a title card near the beginning of this documentary, the people here presented are not necessarily representative of the majority of McCain/Palin supports, though most of them are McCain/Palin supporters. This of course raises the obvious question about a documentary on this subjected, released by HBO, and helmed by the daughter of the Democratic Speaker of the House, is it a hit job? Honestly, I'm not sure. Considered pragmatically these people are among the base of GOP supporters in the 2008 election and thus a legitimate subject of investigation and documentation for a documentary about (some) voters in a presidential election. Or considered another way, why shouldn't they be covered? I can see no reason other then it may make some people feel embarrassed and uncomfortable, but that's not really a good reason. I guess you could say the doc might skew the perception of McCain/Palin supporters, but Pelosi admits as much. These are real Americans, and most of them here presented are not so much pro-McCain as they are anti-Obama. You get largely what you might expect from this film, unusually forward racists, people very religiously motivated, conspiracy theorists, and a few mainstreamy types thrown in so as not to seem too mean spirited. Look I have no doubt Pelosi sought out, and decided to include a lot of the people in this film because they come off kind of extreme, and thus are interesting to watch, but do I think this fringe represents the average McCain/Palin voter, probably not, though they were there all the same. A similar film could no doubt have been made about the other end of the socio-political spectrum and Obama/Biden supporters. So in the end I don't know what to make of this film as a representative sample of McCain/Palin voters (though I do love the way John McCain looks more then vaguely uncomfortable around some of his more colorful supporters), but its certainly a slice of life from the campaign and thus constitutes a legitimate insight into a not unsizeable group of Americans. Verdict: Somewhat intersting but just kind of okay as a work of documentary film.