Last night I was able to watch American Blogger–The First Journey in it’s final and finished product for the first time. As you may [or may not know] there has been quite the buzz around American Blogger since the release of the trailer. A lot of great positive excitement and then a lot of negative, sometimes hurtful criticism. What was intended to be a pure and innocent display of a filmmakers insight on a small part of the blogging community quickly turned into a playground for stereotypes to be formed, the validity of the featured bloggers stories to be questioned, and the intentions of those involved to be judged. Being apart of the film it was hard to see some of the words that were said in regards to what others believed the film to be. Experiencing full out the passion and joy behind Chris Wiegand’s heart and talent last year when filming was one I will never forget. The whole experience was very exciting, complete with raw emotion [so raw that Chris showed up, never informing us what questions would be asked, and filmed exactly what we said the first time around..yes my armpits were sweaty], and the mirror of two people living out their passions [his filming and us bloggers sharing our story through our places on the internet]. The way that he was able to capture our community is not something that was easily achieved but one that I will forever be grateful for. From the outside it is easy to see bloggers as selfish, petty figures who are far too concerned with their outward appearance and popularity rating. American Blogger dispels this theory wholly as tears are shed, laughs are heard, and layers of the bloggers featured are peeled back. Watching the two hour documentary left me with such a gratifying feeling of what we have here in this space. Our words, our pictures, our fears, our celebrations…they all matter. I know that blogging is not for everybody, but I am so glad that it is for me. I don’t know how long I will invest in this space or what the future holds for blogging, but at this point in time I know that it is real, it’s alive, and it’s changing lives.
