Yesterday was Documentary Day for me.

In the morning, I watched Fahrenheit 9/11 for History class. After that, we were shown Spellbound in Feature Writing class. Then in the afternoon, I hit the mall with my roommie and we watched Imelda. I was dizzy at the end of the day with that visual overload but I enjoyed it. The three were all really good documentaries. They were very interesting. I didn't think they were a waste of time at all.

Fahrenheit 9/11 is about the September 11 bombing of the World Trade Center, the event that has shocked the world and has changed many lives. It was kind of radical actually. The very smart and I must say very brave director who was obviously anti-Bush suggested that the entire 9/11 thing and the U.S. war against Iraq is actually a ploy designed by George W. Bush and his allies to gain profits for their military equipment company. It showed the life of soldiers, of the victims, of Bush, etc. It was very enlightening. Watching the film made the event very real and it makes one think. That vision of the planes crashing into the building, debris everywhere, people in chaos is such a haunting sight! To think that it was actually planned by people just for power and money is truly disheartening.

Spellbound took an otherwise boring story such as a Spelling Bee and transformed it into an interesting tale of human drama by going into the lives of eight young spelling whiz kids. Spelling is more than words for these kids and their families. Spelling for them was a goal, a discipline, a way of pleasing their family, a way of fitting in, a way of excelling and making something out of themselves. It was very cute and captivating. And the words!!! The words they gave at the spelling bee were truly odd words. It's very educational watching. You'll learn a lot of new words.

Imelda was of course about the former First Lady, wife of the late dictator, Mrs. Imelda Romualdez Marcos. It gave an insight into the mind and the life of this very very interesting woman. I must say, Imelda is quite a piece of work! More than the fabulous clothes and the hundreds (maybe thousands) of expensive shoes, the thing that grabbed me about Imelda is the way she views reality. Talk about a truly twisted sense of understanding beauty, vanity, power, and service. She's so smart and good-natured and all that but she is too simplistic and wrapped up in her own little world. What a drama queen! I'm not sure whether to hate her or pity her or admire her. What a woman!

I love the line that goes, "There's a little Imelda in all of us." It's frightening to think about that since it may imply something more than a craving for shoes. Whoa!

All the three documentaries I've watched revolve around the lives of people. Actually, it is true, people are the most interesting subjects. There's always something to say about a person even if we may think at first that they are boring or just oh-so-ordinary. People have quirks. People have dreams. People have oddities. People have experiences. People have emotions. People have ideas. Different people have different ways of putting pieces of the jigsaw that is reality together and it's always interesting to see how each one does it. We are a collective puzzle.

I like people. I like talking to them, relating to them, writing about them, watching them, etc. There's always something to learn. People are special. People are people.