Santa Monica College Bloodsport and Fire Next Time Essay

When I was a college student, seeing a documentary meant finding it in an independent, probably nerdy video store or going to the artsy cinema 15 miles away. Today, the documentary section in Netflix is one of the most popular.

In a 1-2 page response, explain why you believe that real world representation, like true-crime podcasts, documentaries, or reality television, has gained such attention and following in recent years. In order to be successful, you need to go beyond just chatting about your ideas – the response should be analytical, built on logic and applied thinking, and show a connection to the first two texts, “Bloodsport” and “The Fire Next Time” excerpt. Point out how the author may have needed these representations, or why readers may have needed to read them. The response, as always, should follow all MLA guidelines (which can be found here (Links to an external site.)) and the more development, the better – if it’s only one page, it better blow my hair back!

Some questions you might consider as you plan your response (these are just questions to help your thinking, push your brainstorming, and get you developing your response – you don’t need to answer all or even one of them directly):

• Why do we seek out true stories, even if there are real victims within those stories? Does this give us something lacking in fiction?
• Why do we need to add creativity to the “reporting of facts” so to speak? How does this make larger, more universal truths, and sometimes traumas, more digestible, more accessible?
• This rise in popularity charts pretty closely with the rise in social media usage. Do you think there’s a connection there?
• What positive elements do you see in this rise in popularity in terms of what it says about human beings, or more specifically, Americans? What darker or negative elements are there?