Sherman's March

Another strange, and slightly awkward, documentary was the 1986 film Sherman's March. It was an interactive and reflective documentary. This means that whoever the subject of the film happens to be is receiving some form of interaction with whoever is behind the camera. This being the case, the entire movie was the cameraman/director interacting with whoever, mostly ladies, he chooses. The purpose of his film was originally do document the damage and destruction left behind by the Union General Sherman. It eventually came to be a search for love as the director kept on the hunt for a companion. He came across several different women along the way, but the one that seemed to draw the most attention was Pat. Personally I believe that she was simply using the camera to increase her fame. Simply put, she was an actress looking for a big break and may have been using the director, Ross McElwee, for this her own personal gain. There was one comical scene where Pat was doing her anti-cellulite exercises. Would someone actually do that, or was it for the attention? It is left to speculation, but I believe she's nothing but a Hollywood wannabe.
Throughout the film there seemed to be five big topics that Ross kept coming back and talking about. They are: Sherman's conquest, Ross' personal romantic conquest, the camera, his car and nuclear warfare. There is one thing tied into all of these and that is phallic. All of these things could be viewed as the male's way of showing dominance. For instance, when Ross is riding on the train you see one young blond woman. Shying away from his view, yet he keeps the camera trained on her for a good amount of time. The car showed a masculinity aspect because it was a nice muscle car and they were attempting to fix it up. Lastly nuclear warfare showed the masculinity trait. Warfare around this time had been strictly for men, and only men could kill with such an atrocious weapon.
You can argue that Ross was using that camera as a facade for his true self. He used it as a conversation starter, a protective barrier, and for his job all at once.