Hampe and Born into Brothels

Hampe’s opinions apply to Born into Brothels, because it is important the filmmakers must be conscience of the people they are filming and respect their wishes. The filmmaker has complete control on how a person is portrayed in a film, which gives them the power to depict a person in either a good or bad light. This puts the ethical responsibility on the documentarian to portray the individuals in the most accurate light they can.

It is a filmmaker’s job to present the truth but the viewers must remember what they are seeing is what the filmmakers portray as reality, which may not be the whole truth. There many people filmed in a negative light in the documentary and that was a choice made by Broiski and Kaufmann. The children’s mothers are shown more as mean spirited women that are very hard on their children. As an audience we don’t know if that is how these women act daily or that the film makers caught them at a bad time. We need to be aware of that fact and make sure we aren’t too quick to judge if we aren’t shown the entire truth.

Also as an audience we must remember that every person in the film may have not been asked to give permission to be in the film. In that way, they too may be shown in an uncharacteristically bad light. Though this is unfair and unethical it does occur and the audience must be aware of that fact and form their opinion of each person with that in mind.

Documentaries are made on many different subjects and while some are informational others try to oust the hidden truth. Viewers must be aware that the way people are shown in the film may contrast with their normal characteristics, it is the filmmaker’s perspective and that is something the audience needs to remember.