About 3 weeks ago I went to a retirement home and offered to work there as a voluntary worker and they told me that they would get back to me. Today I got tired of waiting, went down there and they told me that they couldn't let me work there because of a BBC documentary on abuse of the elderly in elder care. In other words they suspected me of having a hidden camera on me. To me the reason they gave me seemed odd, I'm not accusing them of anything but I think it is sad that people are distrusting because of what happens on tv. I am not saying that documentaries are bad, I think they are very important but I think that they do have negative consequences. Which brings me to my question, do you think that documentaries like that are at all damaging to society and our faith in each other?
I think that well done documentaries that have a goal of enlightening something that shouldn't stay ignored have their right place in our world, as long as the people watching it are staying open and critic. Without said documentaries on elderly abuse, there would continue to be said abuse in masses instead of being an exception. It is also my opinion that an elderly home should be proud and open to reporters if they have nothing to hide. Them being careful about who they let in speaks loudly, and I think you should alert the authorities about it.
I would agree. If they aren't doing anything wrong, they shouldn't be so paranoid they're turning down free help. Something must be amiss in that facility.
I also agree, that is incredibly suspicious. I hope nothing is wrong. I like documentaries I guess, opening the world up to the truth.
To answer your question: No, documentaries are not damaging to society. People are damaging to the society. Is people who is ignorant enough to not try to understand what documentaries say, and just stick with a couple phrases they've heard and generalize. The same with the news, and practically any other mass media affairs coverage. And I also think you should report that retirement home to the authorities, they are hidding something.
I was going to report them because it seemed very suspicious at first but then I thought that if that was what they were worried about then I don't think that they would have mentioned it and just told me that they weren't interested. I did really want to find out if you found it suspicious too, but I was afraid of saying something that would have been out of line. These days you have to be careful what you post online as it might get blown out of proportion
My thoughts; they would have just refused you if they only wanted to keep you away from it for any reason (including possibly keeping documentary makers at bay for suspicious causes). But explaining it to you like that, while it makes them seem suspicious, also had you consider to judge documentaries badly, which might have been a second goal of theirs; make people dislike documentaries and discourage their makers in the process. Once again, why would they want to discourage documentary makers if they have nothing to hide..?
