Creating More Ethical Documentaries with Margie Ratliff of “Subject” and “The Staircase”

Eyes Wide Open with Nick Thompson

What similarities are there between how documentary film participants and reality television cast members are treated by production companies and the public? How can we create these forms of media ethically and in a way that protects the dignity and humanity of those involved?

Today on Eyes Wide Open, we are speaking with producer and documentary participant Margie Ratliff to try to answer these questions. Margie first appeared in the public eye as a young person featured in the documentary “The Staircase,” and as a result experienced a lot of trauma from having her and her family’s entire life put on screen for others to see and judge.

What's wonderful about Margie is she turned her experience and her love of filmmaking into becoming an activist for ethical filmmaking in the documentary space. She has recently produced an award-winning film-festival-darling documentary called “Subject,” which follows key participants in “The Staircase,” “Hoop Dreams,” “The Wolfpack,” “Capturing the Friedmans,” and “The Square” to explore how production and public reception affected them.

When I connected with Margie, I was surprised to learn about the parallels documentary production has with reality TV in terms of exploitation. What's unique about “Subject” is the producers worked collaboratively with the participants in order to make sure people were taken care of before, during, and after filming (which is atypical of this industry). Margie and I have a lot in common in terms of how we are solving similar problems in different forms of media, and I wanted to explore that together in this episode.

I hope you enjoy this podcast. If you haven't already, go watch Subject. I hope that watching “Subject” and listening to this podcast helps you view documentary film, reality TV, and entertainment generally with your eyes wide open.

Find “Subject” here:

Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Subject-Margie-Ratliff/dp/B0CKYBQNJB/

AppleTV: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/subject/umc.cmc.6jcylwu9rtti7bbsx0696tzez

VUDU: https://www.vudu.com/content/browse/details/Subject/2594913?cmp=OrganicSearch~Vudu~GoogleWatch

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Subject?id=GE-w09yzR8o.P&hl=en&gl=IE&pli=1

Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/13845688

Find Marjie here:

DPEA Website: https://www.dpealliance.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grandefillepetitevoiture/?hl=en

Find Nick Thompson here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nthompson513/

Website: https://www.engagewithnick.com/

UCAN Foundation: https://www.ucanfoundation.org/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EngageWithNick

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickthompson13/