I was recently invited to attend a screening of the 56 minute cut of Steve Cowan's documentary "Pricele$$" (to be known from here on as "Priceless" in this review so IMDb doesn't keep flagging it as a misspelling) at a Universalist Church in Binghamton, New York.
I am not deeply political due to a developmental disability I have, which makes it hard for me to grasp and understand certain concepts. But I understand the difference between wrong and right, and know that the government is deeply flawed and full of antiquated ideas.
"Priceless" essentially explores the concepts of how lobbyists, special interests and big corporations run the country, predominately through campaign contributions to politicians who are then morally (and financially) obligated to act in the interest of said corporations/lobbyists/special interests for the sake of getting future contributions... whether or not these corporations and whatnot are ultimately for the better of the world.
The cut of the documentary I saw focused mainly on two large parts of America- the food industry and energy, and how both are deeply flawed and impact the world negatively as they currently stand. And how big corporations essentially buying out politicians makes it hard to change these things for the better.
The documentary also focuses on how publicly-funded elections, free from the bonds of large corporate sponsorships and lobbyists, would allow for more freedom for our elected leaders to make decisions to help the nation.
For what it is worth, the documentary is extremely funny, despite the troubling subject matter. Several times it cuts to a classroom of children who are interviewed about these topics, and it is extremely upsetting-yet-uproariously-funny that the children have more logic, reason and intelligence than any of the lobbyists or Republicans interviewed. Although this film clearly isn't trying to single-out Republicans, but rather point out this problem on both sides, it's just a fact that the Republicans interviewed seem like a far greater threat and problem than any of the Deomocrats interviewed, which doesn't surprise me in the least as someone with enormous problems with the Republicans and conservatives.
This is a flawed documentary at times, however. It is a big underwhelming in terms of production, which is where it looses a few points. It felt like the documentary needed to be longer, but at the same time, it did drag. It could use some more editing to make it snappier and more enjoyable. It was intriguing and I will likely purchase it if I get a chance, but it's not something I could watch more than a few times, it's just not "entertaining" enough, which may turn some people off before they can even get the messages it presents. It could use a new cut, and perhaps more footage.
But all-in-all, it is worth seeing, and I am totally for public-funded elections/politicians and against corporations and lobbyists who sway our "leaders" (aka, puppets) to make poor choices for the world.
If you can attend a screening of this, please do, and support its cause. It's time for the real Americans to stand up to the bullying puppet- masters and money that control the world. It's time to once again make this country free and pure. I give this documentary an 8 out of 10.
