Resolved

 

Story:

With competition as fierce as that of any sport, debate teams are a way for high school students to develop techniques of persuasion and reason. They're also, according to this searing documentary by Greg Whiteley, a hotbed of racial and class bias. Up-and-coming debaters from racially diverse schools challenge the traditional debate method by replacing the impartial, straightforward style with arguments born of personal experience. (Netflix)

Review:

Resolved brings the viewer into a world where people speak incomprehensibly, at the rate of about 400 words per minute.  They barely even get the time to breathe, and when they do, they gulp in air in quick gasps.  This is the current world of high school debate.  As explained early in the film, debate teams now use a technique called "the spread" (short for speed reading), where debaters speak as quickly as possible in order to fit as much information and arguments into their speech in the time allotted.    Information, academic research, and jargon trumped long, eloquent, persuasive speeches in importance and debate has been this way ever since. 
   

Just like its subject, this documentary is fast-paced, and gives a very thorough explanation of the subject at hand.  The film uses a combination of narration, text, and animation to break down debate for the viewer.  We are taken through some history, the rules, and the procedure for debates.  A student frankly explains that in most debates, no matter what the subject, the goal is to create a set of linkages that end either in nuclear war or genocide, and then the other team must negate it.  Filmmaker Greg Whiteley does an excellent job in really carrying the viewer through the whole process, and this helps flesh out the story and bring the audience up to speed, literally, with the story at hand.  
   

The story follows two pairs of high school debaters.  The first pair is from Highland Park High School in Texas, a high achieving, highly competitive school, with a mostly Caucasian student body.  Matt, a rising star, got on the varsity team as a Freshman, strives to prove himself as an excellent debater to his older, and perhaps skeptical teammates.  Sam is a laid-back senior with shaggy hair, and perpetually always wearing a hoody and Birkenstocks.  As his coach puts it, Sam "is better at debate than he is at life."  Sam and Matt work well together as a pair, and we get to follow them through several different tournaments, including the TOC, Tournament of Champions, in Lexington, Kentucky.
The second pair is from Long Beach Jordan High School, racially diverse inner city school in California.  Richard is an intense, motivated student, who says he sees debate as a way out for himself.  Louis is more reserved and quiet initially, he says he debates because it gives him a platform for a cause.
   

The story really picks up when Richard and Louis make a decision to debate the issue of debate.  Their mission is to persuade the debate community that the current "spread" techinique is actually discriminatory, and they make a case to return to the original form of debated  They argue that the current framework of debate actually re-entrenches racism, and that debate must be made personal, and not elitist and exclusive.  From here, the pair gives impassioned speeches, much to the surprise of may judges and competitors.  The reactions to Richard's and Louis's crusade are equally interesting.  No matter what the outcome, it is inspiring to see young people continuing to take a stand and demand change in issues they believe are important.  Even more inspiring is to see that it is truly the power of words that can create these changes.

Reviewed by Mona Yeh for Documentary Film Online on July 12, 2008

In Conclusion: