Director: Nick Broomfield
Running Time: 91 minutes
Certificate: 18
Biographical documentaries can never be unbiased. Nick Broomfield has made a wise choice for his newest project SARAH PALIN: YOU BETCHA! as her supporters are staunch in the face of any critic. Early on, Chuck Heath, in defence of his daughter, refuses to grant Broomfield further time for fear this documentary is a ‘hit piece’, Broomfield denies, but there is no escaping it, this is 91 minutes of Sarah Palin bashing that the Democrats would be proud of.
As always Broomfield narrates, his British, almost patronising tone weaving us through a leviathan of characters waiting to trample Palin’s name through the dirt. Broomfield chooses his targets carefully: former mayor, deputy mayor, and former staff of Palin, but no one has anything nice to say – not one of them.
Beginning with Palin’s parents is a mistake, and the film turns into anti-Palin propaganda from there: her methods, beliefs, and political knowledge are all very questionable, but Broomfield suffocates the viewer with hate. The irony of negatively portraying Palin’s hate for certain things – homosexuality, being nice to people – and fighting them with more hate is evidently lost on him. This doesn’t make YOU BETCHA! a bad piece of fluff, but it is exactly that. The truths shown here in terms of Palin’s barbaric run as Mayor, and her disinterested stint as Governor of Alaska are horrifying: personal vendettas are used, and people threatened by supporters. However, the issue is that most of the negatives shown come from Broomfield’s indifference to her faith. A staunch Christian, Palin is against homosexuality, adultery, and abortion, and whilst Broomfield may disagree with these views he is far too ready to use them against her.
Nick Broomfield is a documentary maker of some distinction, however his approach to SARAH PALIN: YOU BETCHA! does ask the question, Is this for the viewer or for Broomfield himself? Sadly, it appears to be all about him.
SARAH PALIN: YOU BETCHA is available on DVD alone, or as part of the NICK BROOMFIELD DOCUMENTARY COLLECTION from 15th October
