Objective by Proxy

 When looking back on the opening chapters of Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier's From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods, the authors argue that there is no way to separate the historian and the biases that come with them from history. Person influence seeps into everything we do and affects the history continued on by us. However, sometimes it's easier to see these influences. When sources are especially opinionated, it can be easier to tell where the biases begin and end. 

But what do you do when the opinion is less obvious to see? When watching National Geographic's documentary, Jerusalem, I couldn't stop thinking about its objectivity. The documentary follows three different women from three different quarters of Jerusalem. It shows the girl's thoughts and opinions about living in Jerusalem for equal amounts of time, creating a sense of fairness. However, we know that "every historian occupies a social place that influences not only how the world is seen but even what is seen" (Howell and Prevenier 2001, Page 146), and this documentary is no exception. 

National Geographic's Jerusalem, provides a specific viewpoint about Jerusalem's history and future and includes information to benefit their view. The documentary begins with the discussion of Jerusalem as a holy land of the three Abrahamic religions and the origins of these religions in this specific space. The documentary does a good job of including information that makes the beginnings seem homogenous. I believe the beginning of the documentary serves as the aspirational point and at the end of the movie we are supposed to be inspired to get back there. 

The documentary makes several claims regarding the interactions of the quarters and the different residents living there. However, these claims are shown through the opinions of the women living in the different quarters. As they show these women, the audience can see time and again their similarities. They are all the same age with similar hair colors and lengths. The documentary furthers this point even by having a Muslim woman who only wears her headscarf at the temple, so visibly, the women look even more similar. The documentary makes efforts to show the similarities of the girls as a bigger example of the similarities of the quarters of Jerusalem. 

So since these quarters are more similar than they are different, what is to stop the homogenization of Jerusalem? The documentary argues that Jerusalem can return to unity through knowledge and understanding because of these religions' shared history, not despite it. National Geographic's Jerusalem uses the views of the women as substitutes for their own, preserving their objectivity through the obvious opinions of the women being featured. The documentary chose women who fit the ultimate message of peace through understanding.