Representation of Aid in documentaries

• 25020161
• Nov 24, 2023
• 1 min read

What we see in documentaries is often constructed reality. Often times documentaries that show people of color getting aid from white people are rooted in exaggeration, dehumanisation and the white saviour complex.

There are a lot of problems with representation in such documentaries. One problem is the dehumanisation of people of color when they are shown in very vulnerable conditions in documentaries. They are documented without consent and treated inhumanly with no regard to whether they are clothed in the clips that are captured or whether they seem stressed out or sad. These things do not

happen to white people. We do not see documentaries of white people being treated like objects when they are documented.

By reducing the people of color into mere objects, the media portrays a one sided aspect to situations where the people of color have no voice and only the white people are their saviours. In such documentaries, the very one sided view of things also create this image of the white people as being super helpful even though the realities are constructed and the videos are biased and exaggerated, showing only what fits the motive of seeing white people in a positive light.

These documentaries are also rooted in racism, when aid is given to conflict areas, the documentaries usually only focus on those areas that constitute of people of color since it is easier to change narratives and portray other people as objects. There is also a lot of mistreatment of women and children and issues of consent that go unchecked.

Let me know what you guys think.