Mockumentaries

Expository Writing

Woody Allen as Zelig

I can't wait to hear what the class thinks of Zelig. It's such an unusual movie, although not as unusual as it seemed when it opened back in 1983. Its fake-documentary (or "mockumentary") format wasn't as common then as it is today. This Is Spinal Tap opened the next year, followed by similar movies like Best in Show from essentially the same group of people who made Spinal Tap. And now, of course, we have TV shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation and Modern Family that are presented as mockumentaries. Still, Zelig remains its own particular thing because Woody Allen, who made it, is his own particular thing.