HBO offers backstage pass to Obama campaign
There are three things you should know about the HBO documentary "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama."First, this two-hour film is the document in all likelihood by which the landmark presidential campaign of 2008 will be known to future generations. Think Theodore White's book on the 1960 campaign of John F. Kennedy, "The Making of the President."
Second, the documentary is so skillfully crafted that it will transport many viewers back to Nov. 4, 2008, and they will re-experience what they felt on that emotion-charged election night as the returns came in and it was announced that the nation had elected its first African-American president. I am astonished at the visceral and profound ways in which this film affected me.
And after three decades of parsing campaign documentaries ranging from "Primary" (1960) and "The War Room" (1993), to "Journeys with George" (2002), I thought I was immune.
Third, as skeptical as I am about anything born of an alliance between Hollywood and Washington, especially when it might shape national memory of a landmark event, I believe that producer Edward Norton and filmmakers Alicia Sams and Amy Rice have created a documentary that will stand the test of historical scrutiny.
The film establishes its fly-on-the-wall, cinema verite credibility instantly with an atmospheric backstage opening on Nov. 7, 2006, the night of mid-term elections. Then-Senator Obama arrives in a hotel war room just as CNN's Wolf Blitzer announces on TV that Ben Cardin has been elected senator from Maryland. Obama and aide Robert Gibbs exchange smiles at the news as the senator from Illinois announces his goal of wanting "every candidate" for whom he campaigned to win.
The overture ends with Obama in a moment of joy saying, "I love elections. It's so much fun. It's even more fun when you're not on the ballot."
Quick cut to a snowy Iowa in February, 2007, with Obama on the ballot for president of the United States. Inside the modest campaign headquarters, it's about work, not fun, as viewers meet staffer Ronnie Cho, a twentysomething organizer handling Iowa's Polk County for Obama.
Cho's story is one of the narratives that makes "By the People" soar. Following him on and off all the way to election night in 2008 was a brilliant choice by Rice and Sams. Cho represents so many of the themes of this film and Obama's campaign: hope, youth, change, multiculturalism and unbridled optimism.
And he wears all of his emotions on his sleeve -- calling home to his mother from rental cars and motel rooms on the campaign trail, speaking from his heart about what he feels. One measure of the greatness of this film: When Cho cries, you feel his joy, you feel his pain. On election night, his ecstatic, tearful inability to do anything but sob into the phone is overwhelming.
Being able to reach back to mid-term elections in 2006 and the opening days of the Iowa caucuses contributes greatly to the power of the documentary. It also helps explain why Sams and Rice got access instead of others. Seeing the kind of hardball the Obama administration is now playing with media outlets like Fox News, it is not unreasonable to wonder about what went into them being the filmmakers allowed to get so close to the candidate.
"There was never a very clearly defined proposal and then a blanket acceptance," Norton, the Maryland-born actor, says when asked about access. "It was very much sort of access by stages and slow increments. We never said, 'We want to follow your presidential campaign.' We started talking to them in early 2006 in terms of a long-term political diary of sorts that chronicled his experiences as freshman senator as he confronted the realities of government and politics."
Norton says he and Rice told Obama and his advisers in their first meetings that they thought there was a "trend toward disengagement with politics by younger generations." They attributed that in part to lack of interest and appeal of "political candidates of the baby boomer generation." They said it was their belief that Obama "represented the new face of politics" and that they would like to try and "use him as a vehicle for introducing new generations to the political experience."
That sensibility -- a point of view that looks at the promise of Obama through the eyes of youth -- permeates the film. And it extends well beyond Cho. As the Iowa caucuses heat up, the film catches fire. And it is in part because the cameras of Sams and Rice take us into the trenches with the young campaign workers.
On Christmas Eve, just days before the caucuses themselves, we are in the makeshift Iowa headquarters at night with the staffers and volunteers. Most are far from home and you can sense an uncertainty about the price they are being asked to pay to help get Obama elected. It is faith, hope and mainly volunteer charity that keeps them hitting the phones and the computer keyboards on the candidate's behalf.
A short time later, it is easy to get caught up in the film's celebration of Obama's surprise victory, because through our identification with the young staffers and volunteers, we see it as much as a vindication of their belief in American politics as we do a victory for the candidate.
Understand that "By the People" is ultimately a celebration of Obama. And given the intense involvement in the lives of a candidate and campaign that such a documentary requires, it at least raises the question of how objective the filmmakers were able to remain after two years of traveling alongside Team Obama as it battled to win the White House.
"I never worried about, like, Stockholm Syndrome with the directors," Norton says in direct answer to that question. "Amy and Alicia had a pretty firm commitment to verite filmmaking from the beginning. They were never going to be Michael Moores imposing themselves or questions and points of view on the film. They were both clearly inclined -- both in their influences and references and personalities -- to be true documentarians."
Norton says their goal was "to absorb as much as possible with the cameras." As a result, he believes, "The objectivity of the film is very clear when you watch it."
That "objectivity" is rooted in what the filmmakers termed "man on the street" marching orders from Norton and his producing partners, Stuart Blumberg and Bill Migliore.
"We always kind of held onto the notion that Barack was going to be a prism through which the country would reveal itself -- that his candidacy would reverberate through the country in a way that would reflect where we are," Norton says, explaining the directive given Sams and Rice to constantly record reaction to Obama along parade roots, on front porches, on the press plane, and up and down Main Streets across the country.
"So, almost in a classical sense, what you would have is the notion of a Greek chorus," Norton says. "You would have intimacy with Barack, but then, you would also have the film stepping out to see how he's being received by the country. ... We all felt that if we were also studying the way people were reacting to him, then we were doing something that was an objective piece of documentary history."
On TV: "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama" airs 9 p.m. Tuesday on HBO.
The overture ends with Obama in a moment of joy saying, "I love elections. It's so much fun. It's even more fun when you're not on the ballot."
Quick cut to a snowy Iowa in February, 2007, with Obama on the ballot for president of the United States. Inside the modest campaign headquarters, it's about work, not fun, as viewers meet staffer Ronnie Cho, a twentysomething organizer handling Iowa's Polk County for Obama.
Cho's story is one of the narratives that makes "By the People" soar. Following him on and off all the way to election night in 2008 was a brilliant choice by Rice and Sams. Cho represents so many of the themes of this film and Obama's campaign: hope, youth, change, multiculturalism and unbridled optimism.
And he wears all of his emotions on his sleeve -- calling home to his mother from rental cars and motel rooms on the campaign trail, speaking from his heart about what he feels. One measure of the greatness of this film: When Cho cries, you feel his joy, you feel his pain. On election night, his ecstatic, tearful inability to do anything but sob into the phone is overwhelming.
Being able to reach back to mid-term elections in 2006 and the opening days of the Iowa caucuses contributes greatly to the power of the documentary. It also helps explain why Sams and Rice got access instead of others. Seeing the kind of hardball the Obama administration is now playing with media outlets like Fox News, it is not unreasonable to wonder about what went into them being the filmmakers allowed to get so close to the candidate.
"There was never a very clearly defined proposal and then a blanket acceptance," Norton, the Maryland-born actor, says when asked about access. "It was very much sort of access by stages and slow increments. We never said, 'We want to follow your presidential campaign.' We started talking to them in early 2006 in terms of a long-term political diary of sorts that chronicled his experiences as freshman senator as he confronted the realities of government and politics."
Norton says he and Rice told Obama and his advisers in their first meetings that they thought there was a "trend toward disengagement with politics by younger generations." They attributed that in part to lack of interest and appeal of "political candidates of the baby boomer generation." They said it was their belief that Obama "represented the new face of politics" and that they would like to try and "use him as a vehicle for introducing new generations to the political experience."
That sensibility -- a point of view that looks at the promise of Obama through the eyes of youth -- permeates the film. And it extends well beyond Cho. As the Iowa caucuses heat up, the film catches fire. And it is in part because the cameras of Sams and Rice take us into the trenches with the young campaign workers.
On Christmas Eve, just days before the caucuses themselves, we are in the makeshift Iowa headquarters at night with the staffers and volunteers. Most are far from home and you can sense an uncertainty about the price they are being asked to pay to help get Obama elected. It is faith, hope and mainly volunteer charity that keeps them hitting the phones and the computer keyboards on the candidate's behalf.
A short time later, it is easy to get caught up in the film's celebration of Obama's surprise victory, because through our identification with the young staffers and volunteers, we see it as much as a vindication of their belief in American politics as we do a victory for the candidate.
Understand that "By the People" is ultimately a celebration of Obama. And given the intense involvement in the lives of a candidate and campaign that such a documentary requires, it at least raises the question of how objective the filmmakers were able to remain after two years of traveling alongside Team Obama as it battled to win the White House.
"I never worried about, like, Stockholm Syndrome with the directors," Norton says in direct answer to that question. "Amy and Alicia had a pretty firm commitment to verite filmmaking from the beginning. They were never going to be Michael Moores imposing themselves or questions and points of view on the film. They were both clearly inclined -- both in their influences and references and personalities -- to be true documentarians."
Norton says their goal was "to absorb as much as possible with the cameras." As a result, he believes, "The objectivity of the film is very clear when you watch it."
That "objectivity" is rooted in what the filmmakers termed "man on the street" marching orders from Norton and his producing partners, Stuart Blumberg and Bill Migliore.
"We always kind of held onto the notion that Barack was going to be a prism through which the country would reveal itself -- that his candidacy would reverberate through the country in a way that would reflect where we are," Norton says, explaining the directive given Sams and Rice to constantly record reaction to Obama along parade roots, on front porches, on the press plane, and up and down Main Streets across the country.
"So, almost in a classical sense, what you would have is the notion of a Greek chorus," Norton says. "You would have intimacy with Barack, but then, you would also have the film stepping out to see how he's being received by the country. ... We all felt that if we were also studying the way people were reacting to him, then we were doing something that was an objective piece of documentary history."
On TV: "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama" airs 9 p.m. Tuesday on HBO.
Comments
I think it is great that there is this historical documentation of our first African American Presisdent. It sounds like the film makers were truly able to keep their objectivity and were committed to capturing the honesty of President Obamas rise from the senator who represented Illnois to President of the United States.
I really do feel that because he was young there was a great draw to him by the younger college age voters. This is an interesting study in itself.
Thanks for this interesting article. Now I have a lot of reading to do. I want to learn more about this. Really upset that I don't get HBO. I hope I can find this somewhere else.
I really enjoyed Obama's War. Wow I want to see this.
Z, I can't see the links in the article though.
Posted by: Sherry T. | November 3, 2009 4:33 PM
Last year people may have had an interest in te film but Obamas appeal has dwindled quite a bit
No doubt Obama had intended to have this film out and performed for the cameras as always
Now if they itend to show his bashing of the lintons and his wifes involvement in decisions people may find that interesting but Obama himself- I think we have sen enough of hm
I feel bad for Ed Norton as he is a very talented man but I am sure he has counted on this film to do well without realizing nobody really wants to see any more of the Obamas let alone sit through an entire movie knowing that Obama had it scripted all along
Hi betty, Thanks for the comment. I think the public attitudes have shifted some -- as you say. But it is still a good thing to have chronicle of that election from within the Obama camp. Z
Posted by: Betty | November 3, 2009 6:38 PM
I think I got it those highlighted words are not links. Christmas Eve, what would that link to. Geez. Although my attitude has shifted about the President since the election, I would still like to see this documentary.
Posted by: Sherry T. | November 3, 2009 7:32 PM
I want to see this although I do not have HBO. I think it will be good. I am just so tuckered out from the other fiasco going on in the world of TV right this second.
Posted by: Irene | November 3, 2009 8:15 PM
Z.,
Once again your eloquence, clarity, insight and most informative critical skills shine thru in the above piece, synopsizing tonight's HBO "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama". With this article, you remind me why I continue to participate in this, for me, unique, very special, on-line blogging 'experience', and why,for the most part, I find your fair and often sensitive, sometimes personal perspective on 'all things considered', so refreshing, satisfying, entertaining, challenging, and thought-provoking.
I might add that your vivid, and insightful encapsulations of most HBO, or ShowTime airings, makes me regret NOT being a subscriber to these two very popular Cable 'venues'.(My innate Scottish thrift has gotten the best of me, I guess. What can I say? it's got to be a genetic thing, no? Hmmm... wasn't that first artificially cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, from Scotland. Talk about a cheap sheep shot!)
Z., I regret not being able to see this, what sounds like , a very compelling, well-crafted and essentially authentic, 'political-verite' documentary film.
It sounds like the filmmakers really homed in on the contribution of the thousands of engaged young, grassroots, inspired staffers and selfless volunteers, who poured their collective minds, hearts, and souls, over the long and grueling election run, into making Obama's victory a bordering-on-miraculous triumph.
Obviously, Obama saw the efficacy and enormous potential in getting the youthful, wired-generation intrinsically involved in the fundamental, in-the-trenches, electoral process, well aware of how the speed, immediacy, ubiquity, and sheer intrinsic power of the Internet could serve as such a vital tool, (essentially a new, fresh, yet-proven communications paradigm), for rallying the troops, reaching both the committed and undecided voter, and solidifying the Party base.
Hopefully, the millions of folks who aren't as cheap (so I said it) as yours truly, and have the opportunity to view this Obama documentary, will come away from this filmic 'celebration' w/ a kind of renewed vigor, and faith in Obama, hoping that in the coming months ahead he can rekindle, and recapture that promise and resolve of those halcyon election days, from not that long ago.
Sadly, most who watch will likely be the loyal Obama 'choir', and any diehard GOPers who may tune in, will I'm sure come away w/ a cynical "I told you so"-type refrain, arguing that Obama and his minions have not, so far, lived up to that earlier promise of real change and transformational, bipartisan political discourse.
Frankly Z., your thorough description and solid critique of this 'doc', makes me feel like I've seen it already.(I actually saved a few bucks. HA!)
Oh, and thanks for taking "one for the Gipper" last night w/ the Kate G./ Morales sideshow. Man, beats me how you can handle all that late-night Java. I have one mug of
coffee after, say 5:00 PM, and forget about getting a full night's sleep. But you've been through this burning-the-midnight-oil routine for years now (part of the job description, no doubt), so I imagine you've figured it out by now? (Or you are always majorly sleep deprived.)
At least your cranium is still in tact, and you obviously didn't fall victim to that strange paranormal phenomenon - spontaneous combustion...... just a smoldering pile of carbon ash strewn on, and around a scorched Lazy-Boy sofa. (Ugh! ) That's all we need is you Z., (or at least you charred mortal remains), being featured on TLC's new block-buster hit, "Strange Self-Immolations---The Untold Story". Z. do you like your KFC extra crispy. HA!
(Sorry for all this sudden ghoulishness at your expense, Z.. I think it's all my latent, pent-up Halloween gruesomeness finally coming to the surface, and that full harvest-moon last night. Actually, I didn't want you to get too swelled-headed from my earlier laudatory remarks. HA!)
Keep up the fine work, and thanks for being such a good sport.
ALEX
HI ALEX: Thanks for the ikind words. I'll take them now, because I know you won't be shy about taking me to task in the not too distant future (ha). Thanks. Z
Posted by: ALEX MCCRAE | November 3, 2009 8:28 PM
Z,
I actually clicked on the hightlighted words. I hope you are laughing with me. I only tried the first couple. I see now that Christmas Eve and WH are not links. And, I think you usually do say "read it here" when you link to another article, site. Sorry that seemed like a really stupid question in my first post. Wow.
No, those are confusing, because I pasted the copy in from the story I wrote in Sunday Sun, and the editors put in some of those links. I should have checked them, but I wanted to get that up before the premiere tonight so some of the blog visitors who have access to HBo might catch the film. Not your fault, it's mine. Z
Posted by: Sherry T. | November 3, 2009 8:41 PM
Z,
I'm glad you are not laughing at me. I want to watch this so bad, but we don't get HBO. :( Will this run anywhere else besides HBO??
Like ALEX said from your article I almost feel like I have seen it. Almost.
Posted by: Sherry T. | November 3, 2009 9:10 PM
It would be interesting if the makers of this film documenting President Obamas run for the presidency could do a follow-up of where he is now. The prism may had changed some, but it would be interesting if they still had access. Somehow I doubt that this would happen. Now the administration seems much more reserved about giving this kind of access. Too bad, I think it would be an interesting contrast and the prism may change again who knows.
Yes, I believe it has changed. But I don't think this team will come back around agian. They spent a lot making this, and it took three years. Maybe in the next presidential race. Z
Posted by: Sherry T. | November 4, 2009 7:27 AM
Z,
I hope the filmmakers do the next predidential race. I can only imagine the time and money that must go into a documentary like this. It is an important piece of history though, there will never be another FIRST African-American president and that is monumental historically in its own right. I love all the historical documentation about this Kennedy family, good, bad and in between. It is fascinating. I always liked to read about Jackie O too. Followed that a lot when I was younger. I am so glad that you wrote this article. I hope this will run on a channel I get sometime. I caught your "Take on Television" on this documentary. Keep putting those out, I like listening. A nice diversion from the Jon and Kate, which I can't take much more of right now. I hope some of the other commenters who have to much to offer will come over to these articles. I would love to discuss something else. The other commenters are so knowlegable.
Keep the other articles coming - thanks Z. I will check the new post on J&K, recluctantly. Thanks again.
Posted by: Sherry T. | November 4, 2009 8:12 AM
I watched this documentary last night, IT WAS FABULOUS!!! this documentary was not so much about his policies (although I think he is doing a fine job), as it was about the well oiled machine that was his campaign and put a very human face on all involved. This is great film and SHOULD NOT BE MISSED!
Posted by: rational | November 4, 2009 8:21 AM
WARNING! 'Starting to watch this documentary will mean 'finishing' watching it.
I came across it last night at 10:30 while making one last surf after the local news before hitting the rack when I came across this one.
Then, at midnight, I went to bed.
A pretty excellent treatment of how the campaign was being run at critical points along the way. Very revealing also.
Posted by: MT Guy | November 4, 2009 11:49 AM
Surprisingly a good documentary that came alive as Obama's campaign came alive. A fantastic historic recording of a ground breaking election of a candidate that will change the USA for the better...
Providing everyone stops expecting miracles in a first year of an administrations that inherited a mess... But thats the US Electorate for you, short-term memories and want it now mentalities.
Thanks. Nick. I enjoyed it too. Z
Posted by: Nick Davis | November 4, 2009 3:42 PM
Thanks for the article. I also heard you on the radio, I think it was NPR?...anyway it is indeed a very fine piece of Film making. As for Obamas dwindling popularity, we need to remember we are still in the first year of his term, it will be really intesting to see how this pans out. Some how I don't think it will be as bad as the previous eight years.
Posted by: Ray Barcia | November 4, 2009 8:22 PM
I'm sorry I missed this. Will it air again?
Yes, it will air several times on the various HBO channels. If you go to hbo.com, you will fins all the replay dates. Thanks. Z
Posted by: Gloria | November 5, 2009 8:00 PM
The economy ate my HBO, so I can't watch this just yet. One thing I loved about Obama's campaign (and hope the film documents) was the way it moved away from big corporate money and focused on individuals. My friends and I nicknamed it the $5 campaign. That's all you had to give to feel involved. I think that's why so many people who wouldn't normally vote did last year. His campaign should be a roadmap for any politician who lacks big money from special interest groups and corporations. Grassroots rules these days, and I look forward to seeing this captured on film.
Posted by: me | November 8, 2009 12:53 AM
I have seen it twice. Plan to see it again
what does that make me? Happy!
Posted by: Chery irvin | November 8, 2009 8:57 PM