#bethgage

[hgrace15-blog]

                                                 SILENT BIDDER

Tim DeChristopher was a protester a Utah BLM Oil and Gas lease auction.  He pretended to be a bidder to safeguard thousands of miles of land in Utah.  The protest was nonviolent, but DeChrisopher was still  indicted on two federal felonies with penalties of up to 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.  The film Bidder 70, directed by Beth Gage and George Gage, is raising awareness of not only DeChristopher’s story, but also of the environmental crisis that we are in. 

Bidder 70 does more than just raise awareness, it also gets the viewer involved and passionate about the topic.   While watching this film I felt as thought I was one of DeChristophers friends or fellow protesters.  At one point in the film they used footage of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi, comparing DeChristopher to them in the sense that they were peaceful protesters who were arrested.  The film also conveys its message in the music it played.  In times of “danger” they would play intense nerve racking music.  In times of easy or excitement they would play upbeat music.  I enjoyed a lot at the point where DeChristopher was in the court room being sentenced and they had the cartoon of what was going on inside.  If I were the director I think I would keep it the same.  I really liked the style choice and i thought the music they played was appropriate for scenes.

[cedwards13unity]

Out Bid

"Bidder 70 centers on an extraordinary, ingenious and effective act of civil disobedience demanding government and industry accountability. In 2008, University of Utah economics student Tim DeChristopher committed an act which would redefine patriotism in our time, igniting a spirit of civil disobedience in the name of climate justice."

Watching this film was not only exciting, but also inspiring.  It is extremely rare to see anyone stand up to any sort of authoritative figure and Tim does exactly that. A famous quote by Albert Einstein is very fitting to this film, it goes "If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." Tim knew that what he was about to do was considered illegal. However at the same time he felt as if in the end it was the right thing to do. Watching this film really opens your eyes to how obedient people have become to a powerful figure then themselves. It reminds you that we have the ability to stand up for what we believe is right no matter how many say it is wrong.  

[slongo11]

Would You Bid On Our Future?

Would you risk your life just to make a point? What if you know you would go to jail for it but it would have a big impact on what you are advocating for. This is exactly the risk college student and environmental activist, Tim DeChristopher took. The documentary Bidder 70 by Beth and George Gage follows his journey, through the act, the wait period, and the conviction. 

The films call to action was to empower people to take and stand and make change. Tim DeChristopher made huge strides as an activist because he was willing to take a real stand. I enjoyed the part of the film where they discuss people in history who went to jail for something they fought for. Peaceful civil disobedience can make huge waves in a movement and is in our history a way that real change has been brought about. 

As someone who is studying environmental policy and law, I have always found the idea of civil disobedience interesting. I know it shows that people are interested and willing to take a stand, but I don't know if it actually does anything important to a movement in creating change. I think that Tim DeChristopher's act of civil disobedience was enlightening to what the issue was and what was going on, but also something that made headlines for 3 years after the fact, and helped build a stronger movement, creating real change. 

I really enjoyed the way the documentary was filmed. I think it was really important to start from the beginning of the story, to even what Tim DeChristopher was thinking before he stepped foot in the auction. I also really enjoyed the beautiful footage of the state of Utah. This helped me connect to the beauty of the area and why it was so important for people to fight to preserve it. The film has got me thinking about the role that I want to play in the environmental movement. 

[clathrop2616]

Environmental Justice for Utah

This week at the Unity College Centre for Performing Arts we watched the documentary film, Bidder 70. This film was about a young gentleman named Tim DeChristopher who made a distinguished act that changed his life. DeChristopher attended an illegal auction that was being held to sell off parcels of land surrounding the Canyonlands National Park in Utah. The buyers of this land, BLM oil companies. They wanted to buy the land and then turn it into oil drilling facilities that would wreck the Canyonlands. So what did Tim DeChristopher do? As he was sitting there watching all the parcels being sold off he started to bid, buying up pieces of land and racking up 22,000 acres of land that was worth $1.7 million dollars. In my personal opinion DeChristopher did all of us a favor, not just those in Utah but anyone who has ever dreamed of seeing the canyons and rock plateaus of the west. After the auction DeChristopher had to go through a trial that kept getting put off and put off over a span of two years. SPOILER ALERT, the trial resulted in Tim being found guilty and sentenced two years in jail with 750,000 worth of fines. Through the two years of the trial DeChristopher founded Peaceful Uprising, a group that empowers and defends the American people through non-violent actions. Because the auction wasn’t legal in the first place Tim DeChristopher should never have faced prison time rather fines and a hefty amount of community service project that helped the environment. I think that the purpose of this film was to get the awareness out of the truth behind the story and also get others thinking about how we need to start standing up against these big industries that think it is okay to take what isn’t theirs and just destroy it for future users. Though I can honestly say, I didn’t really like this film. Compared to the other documentaries we have seen this semester I couldn’t fathom why you needed to stretch the story so long to take up 73 minutes. It seemed to drag on much longer than needed. Not to mention there wasn’t a real good plot. I mean yes it was basically a biography of this kids actions but it just didn’t get anyone interested enough. We were interested and moved, but not enough. I think if I were the film maker I would definitely shorten it up some, and maybe get a little more of the court story, add the oil companies plans and story? Perhaps interview some folks that were there at the auction. But overall personal opinions aside the film was about a 6.

[eroderick10]

A Bidder Pill to Swallow

     Bidder 70 was a very interesting and moving documentary. The main character, Tim DeChirtopher, was a young man who happened across a protest for a land auction wherein land was being sold to oil companies for drilling. This land was also very close to national park lands. Tim simply walked past and into the auction, signed up ans sat down. After a time he decided he needed to do something to stop what was happening so he began winning parcels of land, two million dollars worth of land. He did not have the money to pay this off and what he did was a crime, but he did it to stop the oil drilling in these areas. Tim DeChristopher faced a maximum of ten years in prison and a $750,000 fine.

     The documentary followed the events leading up to Tim's trial, in this time Tim took a strong stand in environmental activism assisting in everything he could in attempts to make a difference. Furthermore, as all of this is happening in the documentary Tim refuses every offer made to him and insists that he must go to trial on his own terms. He essentially turned down all the bribes that would help the trial discourage other people from standing up against the government like he did. I felt that sent a very powerful message and I found it very touching and amazing that this man would sacrifice so much for what he believed in.

     This documentary was structured in a way that is more appealing to me. I tend to lean more towards documentaries what have one main character throughout the duration of the film. I feel that if there is a singular character who is likable and knows what they are doing the point of the documentary gets across easier. Furthermore, throughout the whole film there were short, dramatic cutaways wherein pictures would be shown or short clips of landscapes; I feel like this effect is used in many documentaries but it was done very well in this one. These cutaways where relevant to what was being discussed and they assisted with getting the point across very well. Along with these cutaways there was music, personally I feel the music that was chosen fits very well. There were many songs from a band called Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, I know this band well and it fits the circumstances very well. All in all I enjoyed this documentary, it was stylistically beautiful, it was meaningful and it was touching.