Image Ethics: The Moral Rights of Subjects in Photographs, Film, and TelevisionLarry P. Gross, John Stuart Katz, Jay Ruby This pathbreaking collection of thirteen original essays examines the moral rights of the subjects of documentary film, photography, and television. Image makers--photographers and filmmakers--are coming under increasing criticism for presenting images of people that are considered intrusive and embarrassing to the subject. Portraying subjects in a "false light," appropriating their images, and failing to secure "informed consent" are all practices that intensify the debate between advocates of the right to privacy and the public's right to know. Discussing these questions from a variety of perspectives, the authors here explore such issues as informed consent, the "right" of individuals and minority groups to be represented fairly and accurately, the right of individuals to profit from their own image, and the peculiar moral obligations of minorities who image themselves and the producers of autobiographical documentaries. The book includes a series of provocative case studies on: the documentaries of Frederick Wiseman, particularly Titicut Follies; British documentaries of the 1930s; the libel suit of General Westmoreland against CBS News; the film Witness and its portrayal of the Amish; the film The Gods Must be Crazy and its portrayal of the San people of southern Africa; and the treatment of Arabs and gays on television. The first book to explore the moral issues peculiar to the production of visual images, Image Ethics will interest a wide range of general readers and students and specialists in film and television production, photography, communications, media, and the social sciences. |
Contents
A Moral Pause | 3 |
2 The Tradition of the Victim in Griersonian Documentary | 34 |
The Case of Titicut Follies | 58 |
4 Access and Consent in Public Photography | 91 |
5 Ethics and Professionalism in Documentary Filmmaking | 108 |
6 Ethics and the Perception of Ethics in Autobiographical Film | 119 |
7 Images as Property | 135 |
8 A Study in Multiple Forms of Bias | 163 |
9 The Ethics of Misrepresentation | 188 |
10 Perspectives on the Television Arab | 203 |
11 Hollywood Markets the Amish | 220 |
The Gods Must Be Crazy | 236 |
Minority SelfImaging Oppositional Film Practice and the Question of Image Ethics | 248 |
Selected Annotated Bibliography | 273 |
List of Contributors | 381 |
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Common terms and phrases
action Amendment American Amish Arab artistic audience autobiographical film Bridgewater broadcast Bushmen camera censorship cinéma vérité claim context Court crew CRILE critical cultural Danny Graham decision direct cinema disclosure discussion docu docudrama documentary film documentary film-makers Dracula dramatic Elvis example exploitation fact fictional film-maker's film-makers Frederick Wiseman Gaughan Gavin Grey Gardens Homosexual image makers individual informed consent interview issues Jamie Uys Journal journalistic Law Review lesbian lesbian and gay lesbian/gay libel Lugosi mainstream mass media MEACHAM ment minority moral movie N!Xau objectivity participants photographers picture plaintiff political portrayals Press problems produced professional protection question responsibility right of publicity right to privacy role sexual shooting social society stereotypes story subjects tape television tion Titicut Follies traditional Tshumkwi Uncounted Enemy University videotape viewers Village Voice visual Westmoreland Wiseman York