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Why have documentaries become so much more popular in recent years?

posted 3 years ago by PrimeMinisterX (8800)
74 replies | jump to latest

Have you ever stopped to think about how much more prominent documentaries have become in the last 25 years?

I remember pre-2000 documentaries just weren't a big thing at all. Few people would seek them out, they very rarely became part of the pop cultural conversation, and they were widely thought of as just boring educational entertainment.

Now documentaries are everywhere and OFTEN break out into popular culture. They are today just a regular part of the film/TV landscape.

I think this is one of the few ways that things have gotten BETTER in terms of the state of film and the film industry as time has gone on. But I have to ask: What is it that precipitated this change?

[–] BillHicksFan (10647) 3 years ago

My favorite documentaries are all pre-2000 with the exception of "Listen To Me, Marlon"

-Seven-Up (started in 1964, and one has been made every 7 years since)
-Place de la republique (its on archives.org)
-Chronicles of a Summer
-Harland County USA
-Whoever Says The Truth Shall Die - Pier Paolo Pasolini Documentary
-Billy Wilder Speaks
-Man Of Iron
-Mort Sahl: The Loyal Opposition
-Salesman (its on YouTube... door-to-door bible salesman from the 60s)

[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

Easier access to them from streaming channels. I always loved a good doc but they were hard to find and I rarely, if ever 🤔, went to a cinema to see one. So I had to wait for them to run on PBS or cable, record them, or rent them from Blockbuster 😂😂😂

[–] db20db (17334) 3 years ago

"Easier access to them from streaming channels."

I was thinking along this line earlier today and agree completely. I have about a half a dozen streaming apps and each one has a documentary channel. PlutoTV is the one I pay the most attention to because it comes up so conveniently. Often the title, if it's intriguing enough, or the brief synopsis, will compel me to click on it. Having become so readily available definitely plays a part.

[–] snepts (11123) 3 years ago

I think it's more people have figured out they can create content w/o being part of a Company.
Ballsy, and a risk, but it's an avenue to explore.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

I watch a few DW documentaries, theyre German but dubbed in many languages.

I can't stand David Attenborough documentaries because he peddles the lie of evolution as though it's a proven fact.

[–] snepts (11123) 3 years ago

I'm not huge on Docs but occasionally one will catch my fancy.
The PBS stuff often is top notch. I see things about Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald and they are wonderful.
Once I saw a silly look at Polka Culture in Pennsylvania, but it was played completely straight, very polite young ladies wearing Coke Bottle glasses waiting for a polite young man to ask for a dance. over-weight men playing accordions with big smiles on their faces and a cigarette stuck in their maw. And BEER ! What a fun and innocent time.

[–] Freddy (1325) 3 years ago

its all about money that is why they have on cheap to produce stuff and why younger audience goes on line for good shows

[–] TimMC (9143) 3 years ago

Off the top of my head I would say it's the presence of actual independent film makers in the business. This brings the bar out of the mud and into the real world.

Having said that, I am sure that there is still plenty of dumb BS in the doc world.

[–] degray9 (1126) 3 years ago

I would say it was the advent of films by Michael Moore, Al Gore, and films that raised environmental awareness such as March of the Penguins and Grizzly Man that led to the explosion of documentary’s popularity in the 2000s. And don’t forget ‘Supersize Me.’

[–] McQualude (4231) 3 years ago

Because millennials don't watch network television, which usually panders to the lowest common denominator; but documentaries have been popular for longer than most of us have been alive.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8800) 3 years ago

Documentaries were not very popular in the 90s. Not sure how old you are or how old you think the rest of us are.

[–] McQualude (4231) 3 years ago

I was a young man chasing life in the late 80s-early 2000s, no time for television, rarely watched movies. But I watched a lot of documentaries in the 70s and 80s. Documentaries have been a thing since the 40s.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8800) 3 years ago

We must define "big" in different ways.

[–] McQualude (4231) 3 years ago

You haven't defined it at all so it is just your impression they were no big deal. My point was that maybe you were busy with real life like me and didn't notice. Maybe you now have a greater appreciation for documentaries and notice them more, like when you buy a red car and suddenly see red cars everywhere.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8800) 3 years ago

I mean, c'mon, would you not bet every penny that you have that not only are more documentaries produced today (say, in a year) than in the 90s but also that the average person today watches more documentaries the average person did in the 90s?

Even if you just read through the thread, no one is disputing that documentaries have gained prominence and popularity in recent years as compared to decades ago.

[–] McQualude (4231) 3 years ago

Quick and dirty advance imdb search, English titles only:
1990-2000
13,176 feature films
12,066 documentaries
7,971 docs at least 25m runtime (60% as many as feature films)

2010-2020
56,485 feature films
92,0009 documentaries
45,407 docs at least 25m runtime (80% as many as feature films)

So I agree that more documentaries were made, but I can't agree they "weren't a big thing," in the 90s. The why is because there are more people, consumer level video cameras have become higher quality, and new generations aren't watching network television. That's my theory at least.