I'm a Yes Woman

Watching The Yes Men in class last week inspired me in multiple ways. First being that there are such small groups of people doing such big things. These two men got together, and with the help of a few other guys were able to really pull something off, both hilarious, ridiculous, and really meaningful. It makes the famous quote by Margret Meade, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." really hit home. What "The Yes Men" are doing embodies this ideal that we as individuals can make a difference, if we only put our minds to it.

The Yes Men inspired me again in the form of documentary filmmaking. This film was, without a doubt, quite funny. A film that would entertain a good majority of the population, and it really drove home a message. By making their fight into a documentary makes their audience that much larger, and by putting it in a humorous form that many would be willing to watch and recommend to others grows their audience, and therefore their message even more.

I have recently been more and more interested in documentary filmmaking, and I think this film pushed me over the edge to really want to get into it and make a statement that way. It's a great way to get an idea or issue to a mass amount of people, and ever since I decided I wanted to go into filmmaking it was because I knew it was a way that I, personally, could make a difference in the world. Cheesy as it may sound, that's what my ultimate goal in filmmaking is: to make a difference, to open people's minds to new ideas, to broaden horizons, and do "my part".

A huge part of The Yes Men was to expose the evil that lies in major corporations in a humorous way that would make a clear point, and still entertain. We live in a society of these major corporations, and we as the people need to provide some checks and balances in order to keep these conglomerations in order. The sheer size of them makes them all powerful, their resources are so vast it seems as if no one person could bring them down. However that is precisely the point. They need to be taken down one customer at a time. It's like voting. Many people feel that their vote's don't count, so they don't bother, but if no one voted, then we would only let a few choose our leaders. This documentary is a grassroots movement to inform people, and have other individuals act, and the more that are involved, the more these corporations have to answer to their unethical and nasty actions.

Overall, I'm inspired to work hard as an individual, and start a grassroots movement of my own through documentary or other means and do my part to change the world.