Through A Blue Lens Essay

Documentaries are created with the intent of showcasing the truth, however, they influence audiences by using various shots, footage and stills to present a carefully constructed version of reality. The documentary “Through a Blue Lens” (1999), directed by Veronica Mannix, was created to showcase to teen aged students the less romanticised side of drugs, and presents three representations; drug addicts, the police and the down-town east side of Vancouver, known as “skid row”. The main group represented in “Through a Blue Lens” are drug addicts.

In the documentary “Through a Blue Lens”, drug addicts are represented as people who can come from anywhere and lead miserable lives. The documentary shows the viewer that it doesn't matter how you were raised by using a shot of Darlene, one of the addicts, speaking about her life at home. Her mother was addicted to heroin, and her father was abusive, the stereotypical family life of a drug addict. The
It is represented as a run-down slum, and is often referred to as “skid row”. The representation of “skid row” is mainly achieved with long shots and panning shots of the city streets, and people speaking about what it is like. For example, footage of a police officer walking through the streets and talking is used. In the footage, the officer says “This place is ripe with violence. There have been stabbings over things as little as a ten dollar crack deal”. By including this, it is shown how dangerous down-town Vancouver is. There are also long shots of streets lined with homeless people and alleyways full of rubbish. These shots emphasise the representation that east side Vancouver is a run-down slum, and aids the documentary's purpose to deter teenagers from taking drugs, by showing them were they will end up. By using shots and footage showing the terrible side of the streets, the documentary scares and deters the