Delayed Reaction: 13th

The Pitch: Why are prisons so black, and why are there so many?

Most documentaries break down into two camps: they either have a question or an agenda. Question docs tend to play like free form writing. They seem to come together as the film progresses. Agenda docs are like term papers. There's a thesis, evidence, and a conclusion that matches the thesis. I normally like the question docs more. Agenda docs often feel like they are hiding something. Like they are dodging topics at the risk of their argument falling apart. Occasionally, an agenda doc is well enough done that I have no problem liking it. 13th is one of those.

I've never doubted that the legal system has been corrupted, intentionally or through willful ignorance of consequences, to target minorities, but I had never seen it all laid out before. DuVernay lays out a compelling argument with a wealth of information. I'd be curious to hear what the counter-argument is to this. I don't need to hear it in 13th though*. They take on enough topics head on, that "devil's advocate" isn't needed.

*One documentary that did need that was Blackfish. You'll notice that I don't have a Reaction for that. That's because I stopped watching before the end. I felt too strongly like information was being strategically withheld to make their point.

Some touches I liked more than others. The use of the cue card saying "Criminal" every time the word was used had a cumulative effect. The rap interludes to move between topics bored me. It felt like they were using them to underline points that were already bolded.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend