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[tourmaline]

If you've seen my Tweets this evening, you may have noted I'm not too impressed with some of the documentary films. Or maybe one in particular: Fern Cotton visited a hospital in Uganda which treats children suffering from malaria. The solution here is simple: prevention comes from mosquito nets, which cost practically nothing to us donators. Pocket change. But they save lives. And malaria can be treated with drugs readily available in the West. The hospital was full of very sick children, whose illnesses could be treated if the hospital had the drugs and resources to do so. And could have been prevented if all the families had been given mosquito nets in the first place. The film was maybe five minutes long, and maybe 45 seconds of it (ie almost 20%) was concerned with the fact that she was overwhelmed with what she saw and fainted. This is 45 seconds we could have been hearing from a doctor at the hospital about his/her perspective on the issue, or a support worker (we heard from a nurse onscreen).

The issue is, these films are - or should be - about the issues, the need for contributions and where the money goes. They're not there for the presenters to appear onscreen so we can see how much they care or how sensitive they are. We know they care, they wouldn't be there otherwise. I was fourteen when the first Red Nose Day appeared in 1988; I remember the late 1980s-1990s films from Africa fronted by Lenny Henry and Billy Connolly (among others). They were about the issues, the people, how Comic Relief money will help, how simple it is to help to make things better. They were straightforward, informative, memorable, sad, touching, funny and hopeful. At the time, I read interviews with Lenny Henry about his experiences of visiting Africa to make the films, and the effect it had on him. About how he felt angry and heartbroken and inspired and hopeful and determined to make a commitment to do what he can.

I'm not denying Fern Cotton's distress, but I don't think the documentary films are the place for these emotions to be expressed. The purpose of the films is to inform people; to encourage people to donate to the charity. I'm sure there's a magazine or online publication who are happy to interview her about her experiences in Uganda and how it affected her. It would be a win all round, and the documentaries can concentrate on the issues they are reporting.

I hope this doesn't put anyone off supporting the charity. It doesn't appear to be doing so right now, as a total just in states over £54 million has so far been raised tonight. And if you see past the celebrities who try to push themselves in front of the real issue of the night, you'll see what a difference this £54 million can make. From the simple stuff like a pocket-change mosquito net to the large-scale investment of time, expertise and large-scale match-funded grants of bigger projects - supporting children of alcoholic parents and helping them to live a life they can enjoy, training midwives and providing them with transport and medicine so that women in remote African communities can give birth safely, it can and does make a difference.

Comments

[luna-argentea.livejournal.com]

I didn't see the offending film. However, I can imagine it was extremely annoying. It looks to me as if the British media in general seem to be heading in this direction: everything has to be manipulated into some kind of reality show featuring inane, self-centred, histronic behaviour. Even Gordon Brown has started to get in on the act, making trivial comments about things hyped by the media, no doubt in a cynical attempt to increase his popularity. Have you seen that he has just described the Kilimanjaro-climbing celebrities as "nine heroes"? I don't know what's the matter with everyone.

Incidentally, do we know which route the celebrities took up the mountain and how much fuss they made about it? I wonder if it was the Marango route. This is the "tourist route" that over 70% of climbers take. It lasts five or six days and there are camps along the way selling beer, chocolates, Coca-Cola and mineral water, etc. The only hard physical exertion is in the final summit attempt.

It's wonderful so much money has been raised already but I agree with you about celebrities drawing too much attention to their own "suffering" when it's supposed to be all about helping other people, who really need help.

[tourmaline1973.livejournal.com]

The only coverage of the climb I saw was the little film in last night's show; I was expecting something more rather than a sub-five minute thing. I guess there's been a separate programme made.

I don't know who most of the climbers are; one is in Take That, one is Fern Cotton (IDK what she does when she's not in Africa), and one is Chris Moyles, I know he's on Radio 1 cos my friend like his show. Unfortunately he resembles Gary Bushell too closely which makes me want to run away screaming in terror.

[tourmaline1973.livejournal.com]

There was some Twitter discussion about this last night; Robert Llewellyn (bobbyllew on Twitter) was expressing similar sentiments about the content of the documentary films and it seems that some people took this to mean he was criticising the charity when he clearly was not. I made a point about the quality of the films over the years which he replied to and then kindly retweeted:

(http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b313/Tourmaline1973/Miscellaneous/?action=view&current=Twitter13Mar09RND.jpg)

I feel similarly re Children In Need; with the exception of recent QI CIN episodes I haven't watched the CIN telethon for many years as there never seems to be anything I want to watch, and the documentaries I see feel rather headpatting than empowering. So I generally avoid BBC1 that night. But, I've seen and read about the projects CIN money supports, fantastic projects which do work and do make a positive difference to children's lives (and their families). So while you may not find me watching CIN, you won't find me refusing to contribute to the fundraising.

[luna-argentea.livejournal.com]

some people took this to mean he was criticising the charity when he clearly was not

*eyeroll*

I like Robert Llewellyn. He was great as Kryten and I like his enthusiasm on How Do They Do It? on five.

I don't watch Children in Need either but I'm glad it's so popular and inspires so many fundraising activities.