The Linguists

Today I joined a William & Mary linguistics class' viewing of The Linguists, a documentary showing "David and Greg [...] circle the planet to hear the last whispers of a dying language." That's the official website's catch-line for the film, and it sounds more theatrical than documentary. It's an apt description, however, because the presentation of the featured languages resembles the Food Network's approach to regional cuisine. I have learned more about a culture and people from Fight Quest than this documentary. This isn't to say that The Linguists should be about people and culture, but if a series about fighting styles around the world can understand the integral role of culture to combat, then it's fair to expect a documentary of this nature to do the same.

Unfortunately, the film does not make up for this glaring omission by giving greater attention to the technical aspects of language documentation, nor the character and nuances of the featured languages. Maybe this comes from an executive decision to produce the film for a general audience. But that seems to both insult and misidentify one's viewers. First, the average viewer can handle greater technical depth than the documentary provides. And second, the "general audience" who watches a documentary film about language extinction isn't the same "general audience" that Hollywood caters to.

The redeeming qualities of The Linguists come from the nature of field of language documentation. That is to say, it's a mediocre presentation of an enthralling subject. I wish it had done more, and maybe I'd be happier with the film if I didn't think that The Linguists could have been so much better.