New York Magazine - USA (2020-10-12)

88 newyork| october12–25, 2020

thequalitiesit shareswiththeformare key

towhyit’s sodelicious.

TheVowis just thelatesttotapinto the

surgeofpopularity forthedocuseriesfor-

mat,whichwasspurredbytrue-crime

workslikeTheJinxandMakinga Murderer

(aswellasthepodcastSerial) andthe

cultural-historyseriesO.J.:MadeinAmer-

ica.In recentyears,theformhasflourished.

Incrimeandthrillers,there’sWildWild

Country,TheKeepers,andErrolMorris’s

Wormwood.In fooddocuseries,onNetflix

alone,a proliferation:Chef’s Table,Ugly

Delicious,SaltFatAcidHeat,Cooked,Street

Food.Injust 2020:thewildlypopularsports

seriesCheer,theexcellentmedicaldocu-

seriesLenoxHill,the truecrime–cum–

biographyI’llBeGoneintheDark,Chef’s

Table:BBQ,and,inescapably,TigerKing.

Documentarieshavealwayscarriedwith

themanairoflegitimacyandhighbrow

sheen.Butthearcofthedocuseriesin the

pastfiveyears—theway a showlikeTiger

Kingwasabletoconsumeallthecultural

oxygenthisspring—remindsmeofwhat

happenedtoTVdramasoverthepast two

decades.Thedistinctionbetweena network

dramaandonemadefora premium-cable

outlet(called,variously,“prestigeTV,” “qual-

ityTV,” “TVthat’sactuallya movie,” and“TV

that’sbetterbecauseit’s notreallyTV”)

camedowntonarrowlydefinedspecialness.

Thelatterwasmoreexpensive,itoften

employeddensestorytellingandplayful

cinematography,itdemandedallof the

viewer’sattention,andtherewerefewer epi-

sodes.A similarpatternunderliestheexplo-

sionof thedocuseries,whichemergedfrom

there’sasceneinHBO’s
NXIVM-cultdocuseries,The
Vow,that turnedmy initialidle
curiosity intoabsurd, all-consuming
obsession.Attheendofthefirst episode,
a former cult member named Mark
Vicentegetsemotionalinthemiddleofa
talking-headinterviewashedescribes
howNXIVMdestroyedtheearly, tender
partofhismarriage.“Ifeellikemy life
withBonniewasstolen,” Vicentesays.
“Bonniegottherefirst.”He’sreferringto
herrealizationthat theorganizationthey
haddevotedtheirlivestowasa cult.Then,
withoutanywarning,theshowskipsback
intimetoanearliermomentofrupture
betweenthecouple,whenBonnielaidout
her concernsaboutNXIVMtoMark.
“There’sa lotofthingsI’mstartingtosee
abouttheorganization,” shetellshim,
whileMarktriestotalkheroff theledge:
“C’mon,boo.C’mon,c’mon.”“I thinksome
thingsaregoingtocrumble,” Bonniesays.

Reality TV

Gl owsUp

Docuseriesaretelevision’slatestprestige

offering,butthey’renotsodifferentfromtheir

trashierpredecessors.

ByKathrynVanArendonk

The CULTURE PAGES

Cut to closing credits.

I was so compelled I let my kids’ breakfast

oatmeal congeal in the pot behind me while

I watched. This, I realized, is the way pro-

ducers on The Bachelor would have told this

story. That sounds gross and bad! A

thoughtful docuseries about human vulner-

ability and the search for meaning being

reduced to the megadrama of a reality

dating-competition show? That move,

though—the talking head and the cut to the

scene as it unfurled with no demarcation

between them, followed by the punch of an

episode ending—that’s a reality-TV classic, a

bread-and-butter edit for a Real Housewives

meltdown. In its documentary sensibility,

The Vow is part of a vital, well-established

school of fly-on-the-wall filmmaking. Its

creators, Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim,

are award-winning directors. But in its TV-

ness, in its cliffhanger delights, and in its

sustained intimacy over time, The Vow is

reality TV polished to a prestige shine, and

Illustration by Richard A. Chance

The VH1 reality series Couples Therapy, left, and the Showtime docuseries Couples Therapy.