Yes to the Yes Men

After finally screening the Yes Men, in class of all places, I was ashamed that I hadn’t seen it or really even heard about it other than a poster in the library. It was under my radar and usually I know all about these types of films before they even get released. But in my defense, the film came out before I was in film school or even thinking about college majors.
The film (or what we viewed in class) was awesome, plain and simple. Much like Borat, the film is a documentary following two pranksters, as well as their friends whom help out, as they pose as the WTO. The premise itself is brilliant and reminds me of similar stuff I did in high school (mock speeches, etc.) but with more guts and cameras rolling the whole time. I really was into the actual speech performances and the lead-up to them as it added suspense, rather than the after-thoughts of what they had just done. The elaborate work put into the pranks is certainly commendable as they were able to pull off their pranks without people calling them out. The speech in Plattsburg(I believe?) in front of college students was especially awesome with their response. I notice in most classes, its tough to get a rise out of college-aged people, but the Yes Men executed their starvation speech(complete with McDonald’s for all!) perfectly to get kids throwing inflatable globes at them and walking out.
This film really gave me hope that hidden camera pranks can be more than TV, or Youtube nowadays, humor and actually be a great premise for a successful documentary. If I wouldn’t have seen Borat before this, I think I would’ve appreciated it more knowing that there was really no predecessor to this other than TV shows basically. In the future or even now, I want to see more films like these being made. Reality TV is only reality because the characters are actual people, when their goals/situations are not. (7 strangers living in a house with cameras, when does this happen in real life?) With cameras hidden, the viewer gets a better sense of reality and how people actually react when they don’t know that cameras are on them. Either way, The Yes Men was a sweet film and I’ve already recommended it to friends.