At this point, it would be optimistic to think that it is household knowledge in the U.S. that the world population has hit exceedingly high numbers, and has gone from 2 billion to 7 billion in 90 years. Yet, when broken down country by country, this growth isn’t even across the board. In some countries, the population continues to multiply rapidly, but in others (like Russia, as seen in the film briefly) the government is doing everything they can to encourage people to have more children because its population is declining! Indeed, our world is diverse and complex and no blanket solution can work for all parties involved. Here ends my stump speech and begins my review of “Misconception.” Rather than focusing on the big picture as one would expect from a world population documentary, Jessica Yu and Participant Media instead focus on three individuals, each with their own dilemma directly affected by the flux of human population.
First is a 29-year-old man named Bao who lives in China. Due to the unprecedentedly effective one-child policy (which was just lifted this year), he is one of many single, “leftover” men who realizes that finding a spouse is extremely difficult and competitive. Plus, he faces increased pressure from his parents since he is their only child. Next is Denise, a pro-life advocate in Canada who travels to the UN in New York to lobby for countries to end family planning and women’s health programs. Even now, she sees the repercussions of Canada’s declining population. Last is Gladys in Uganda, who is a social worker who helps countless children who had been abandoned by their families due to poverty (and the average woman in Uganda currently gives birth to six children). These three separate stories across the globe are intercut with famous population speaker Hans Rosling who ties together some more of the large picture facts and figures in an engaging way.
The fact that it took me this long to explain the characters and situations of the documentary points out the film’s biggest strengths and weaknesses. Rather than attempting to take the concept in broad strokes as would have likely been the easier initial approach, Yu succeeds in finding three specific, unique stories that each represent well the implications of larger, sociological problems. With these stories, however, come some limitations. Because the characters never interact, and once we’re done with one we never return to them, the documentary makes little attempt to connect the dots, and Rosling’s intellectually sound comments end up being great on their own but don’t need these stories to convey the message. These protagonists humanize the problem, but unfortunately, none of them change as individuals so we get nothing beyond their initial standpoints. Bao ends up exactly where he started by the end, and for the two women, their stories appear to be busy as usual for each of them. The Canadian and Ugandan storylines are nicely juxtaposed opposites, but I was left wanting to see the characters engage in meaningful conversation about their radically different viewpoints instead of just watching them speak what they already think to be true. And, as charming as the Chinese storyline is, it ends up being more about the culture and Bao’s circumstances with dating than a sociological discussion.
The film succeeds in showing us unique characters and situations but fails in tying them together as a feature film and displaying how they represent the issue at hand. Perhaps each would have been stronger as short vignettes? Unfortunately, a few nuggets of sincere intrigue don’t add up to a fully formed, masterfully executed feature documentary that I would have loved to see on a subject this important.
“Misconception” is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including some sexual references. Opening at the Laemmle ‘s Music Hall 3 on Friday, 6/24.
