Debate Team

Debate Team

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GRE1931DEB01

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Description:

Debate Team is a documentary exploring the weird subculture of competitive college debate. Competitors battle at 360 words per minute, hauling around mountains of evidence called "cards" and nearly every debate ends in global nuclear annihilation. In 2005, some 200 teams converged on San Francisco State to compete in the National Championship. The documentary follows four teams, from Michigan State, Harvard, West Georgia, and Berkeley in their quest for the national title. As the 2005 championship progresses and the competitors are slowly eliminated, we are left wondering who will find themselves inheriting Miller's legacy. What emerges is not simply a chronicle of the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, but a more disturbing examination into the nature of competition itself and the American fetish with championships and champions.

Product Details:

Actors:	William Shanahan, Joe Koehle, David Strauss, Greta Stahl
Director:	Douglas Robbins
Format:	DVD, Full length, Color
Studio:	Green Lamp Pictures
Run Time:	90 minutes
Average Customer Rating:	based on 1 reviews

Customer Reviews:

Average Customer Review: 5.0

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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

The vacuosity of debate, and the difference between success and happiness! Jan 31, 2009
An excellent independent documentary! Expertly filmed and edited! A great movie to learn about the tie between youth and the obsession with winning.

Robbins only briefly introduces the viewer to the complex concept of the outwardly absurd Policy (or CEDA) Debate competition in the college circuit, introducing champion teams from Harvard, Berkeley, Michigan, and Dartmouth. Yet, through an intense sequence of interviews with high school, college, and veteran debaters - he challenges them to invoke their feelings and aspirations, giving the audience a perspective on their humanity. He shows how brilliance, and youth is absorbed into the pursuit of victory; later reflecting on post-graduate retrospective regrets and personal growth.

Like any person experiencing their first CEDA debate, arguably the most contentious form of competition debate styles, the process can seem foreign. The camera crawls towards a debator "spreading", literally spewing his argument negating or affirming government policy change at 350+ words per minute, reading evidence off of cards. Later rounds, they "cross-examine" the evidence, opposing teams speaking over one another viciously. Robbins doesn't break down the intricacies of the process, but rather opens the question of its purpose, and its effect on the lives of those involved.

Is debate the search for truth? Should government policy always be determined by what delays the end of the world? Is it a casual sport or game, like basketball or soccer? Robbins delves into these quandaries showing how these individuals discover their own values and sometimes -- themselves.

For a concise explanation of Policy Debate (what cross-examination is, scoring) as well as tournaments and how the Copeland Award is determined, there is a decent explanation on Wiki

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