Historical text analysis - Task 3

Tracking Down Maggie - 1994

• How is it similar/different to your main text and how does this show how the genre/society/issue has changed?

I have chosen this documentary from channel 4 as my historical text as it was one of channel 4's first documentaries and I think in the political aspect of the programme it can be related to my main text, Benefits Street. 

Comparisons can clearly be made. In my opinion I feel that this documentary is far more educational than recent documentaries by channel 4 such as benefits street, My big fat gypsie wedding, etc, which solely focus on creating stereotypes to attract viewers. I feel however that this documentary, genuinely tries to investigate Margaret Thatcher and gain an insight into her life. It uses a wide range of interviews from different people, offering different opinions on her. I think this perhaps suggests that in society today views are seen as more important to the institution than actual content. A stereotype of Thatcher could have easily been created if the film-maker chose to, presenting her as a cold hearted woman with no remorse for the poor, but it doesn't.

The aspect of reality tv that has become more and more prevailent in recent documentaries is also not present in this one. I personally think that is a reflection of societies preferences in programming, with modern society preferring to watch reality tv, as shown by the popularity of programmes such as The only way is Essex, Made in Chelsea, Geordie  Shore, etc; however this was not the case in the 90's, and therefore was not integrated into the documentary.

The documentary does however follow a lot of common conventions of documentary that are still followed today. Common conventions of a documentary: 

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• Multi strand narratives 
• Voice over/Narrator 
• Use of background/non diegetic music 
• Informative/Educational 

This documentary clearly uses a narrator and non diegetic music, although differing in the use of their narrators. This documentary, like most educational ones, has some diegetic narration too with the narrator playing an active role throughout, whereas in programmes such as benefits street and other modern documentaries the narrator is never seen. However where I feel the contrast and evolution in society has affected documentaries is in the other two conventions: Informative/Educational and Multi strand narratives. I think that previously documentaries, like this one were predominantly educational and therefore avoided multi strand narratives common in soaps and reality tv. Now however, with societies television habits and preferences changing reality tv is becoming one of the most popular genres and as a result it is being integrated into documentaries, following narratives of various characters on benefits for example. 

Another clear and significant contrast in the societal values then and now. In minutes 18:10 - 18:45, Thatcher clearly states and encourages women in Britain that they should stay at home if they want to, and not feel guilty for not having a job. They should instead focus on being a house wife and bringing up their children. This in today's society would be seen as astounding. With the liberation and equality in modern society today the idea of a 'house wife' has become almost non existent. However house wives today would be certainly looked bad upon as lazy, scrounging off of their husband and classed as a 'gold digger'. This shows the clear contrast in values during her period in power from 1979 - 1990.

Certain stereotypes are present in this documentary too however, but are not the main focus of the programme. Minutes 44:00 to 44:30 the narrator and investigator Nick Broomfield enters a taxi with an Indian taxi driver, with Indian music playing in the background - a clear stereotype portrayed. It can be argued the director could have asked for the music to be turned off but perhaps it was left on to conform to the stereotype of Indian drivers.

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