Apple TV+ review: 'Dear...' a surprisingly shallow documentary series

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited June 2020
The series, premiering June 5, explores, with limited depth, how famous people like Spike Lee, Oprah and Lin-Manuel Miranda inspired others.

Spike Lee in
Spike Lee in "Dear," premiering June 5 on Apple TV+.


Dear..., a ten-part documentary series that debuts in its entirety on June 5, has something of an odd conceit. Each of the episodes concerns a very famous person, and functions as something of a career retrospective of them, complete with interviews, archival footage, and stories of how they inspired others.

The show was executive produced by R.J. Cutler, the documentarian best known for the 1993 Clinton campaign documentary The War Room, with various different directors credited for the episodes. We've watched seven of the ten.

The "Dear..." part comes from everyday people writing letters to the subject, about how that person's work inspired them in life, often through difficult or tragic circumstances, after which the letters are read by the celebrities. It's all told in the sort of syrupy, inspirational register that's very familiar from human interest stories one would find on the local news, Olympics telecasts, and even episodes of American Ninja Warrior.

It might have better if Dear... had chosen either traditional biography or all inspiration. These subjects have all had long and accomplished careers that simply can't adequately be explored within the confines of a 30-minute episode, especially when so much time is spent on the people writing the letters.

Apple managed to line up some A-listers for this, and has clearly spared no expense in clearing all of the relevant movie and music clips. But not only do none of the episodes really go much beyond what's widely known about these very famous people and their biographies, but several of them have already been the subject of previous documentaries that told their stories much more completely.

Not only that, but the format requires the episodes to canonize these people and stay away, for the most part, from anything that's negative or controversial.

It's as though the producers and Apple pitched the subjects by telling them "we're going to make a short documentary about you, in which we talk about how great you are, and then have you read letters from people, who also tell you how great you are." I can understand why the celebrities said yes, but it doesn't exactly make for illuminating television.

"I got it, I'm gone"

The first episode is about filmmaker Spike Lee. It goes into stories about some of Lee's most famous films, like Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X and He Got Game, while admirers share what those films meant to them.





The Lee installment shows, right off the bat, what a missed opportunity this project was. With their financial resources and access to Lee, Apple could have produced a two-hour documentary about Spike Lee's life and career, including in-depth examinations of all of his films and the many controversies he's been part of over the course of his more than 30 years as a filmmaker.

Lee is a fascinating figure, one who frequently says surprising and illuminating things when he's interviewed. But Dear... rushes through Lee's filmography, spending a couple of minutes on the more-relevant-then-ever Do the Right Thing, while Lee shares a half-dozen stories that he's told many, many times before.

Sure, it's sweet that Lee inspired people, who include retired WNBA star Candice Wiggins. But I wanted to hear more from the subject himself, especially now.

Throwing away his shot

Lin-Manuel Miranda in
Lin-Manuel Miranda in "Dear," premiering June 5 on Apple TV+.


Lin-Manuel Miranda, the decorated composer and star of the Broadway sensation Hamilton, is the subject of the second episode.

Miranda's episode has less of a compression problem than the Lee one, simply because Miranda hasn't been famous for nearly as long. But Miranda, like Lee, doesn't reveal much of anything that you probably don't know if you're even slightly familiar with his biography, or have ever seen him interviewed before.

The letters to Miranda are sweet, many of them from immigrants inspired by Hamilton and his earlier show In the Heights, as well as a young girl who survived cancer. As each letter is read, the narration shifts from the letter writer to Miranda in much the same way it shifted from Alexander Hamilton to George Washington at a key moment in Hamilton.

But if you're even a little bit of a fan of Miranda or Hamilton, you've probably seen Hamilton's America, the PBS documentary from a few years ago in which he tells all of the same stories about his own biography and about how Hamilton was created.

It's the summer of Lin on streaming services, as Disney+ will debut the movie version of Hamilton. Hulu was to premiere his documentary We Are Freestyle Love Supreme June 5, the same day Dear... debuts on Apple TV+, although it's now been delayed due to the death of George Floyd and its aftermath.

It isn't exactly a moment of glory for Apple that Disney+ landed the actual Hamilton musical, while Apple TV+ has, a month earlier, what amounts to a documentary short about its creator. Similarly, you could watch the half-hour Dear... episode about Glorida Steinem, while there's an entire acclaimed mini-series on Hulu, Mrs. America, about Steinem and her friends and rivals in the 1970s feminist movement, while Spike Lee's next movie, Da 5 Bloods, will premiere on Netflix June 12.

Songs in the key of Apple

Stevie Wonder in
Stevie Wonder in "Dear," premiering June 5 on Apple TV+.


This is the case with the other episodes, including those featuring Oprah Winfrey and Stevie Wonder. Neither of them says a single surprising thing or share anything that isn't widely known about them.

Sure, several of the episodes deal with racism, and the Steinem one doesn't shy away from discussion of abortion. But there's just about nothing in any of these that makes the subject look less than great.

There are some fun clips from Oprah's old talk show, and we do get to hear snippets of some great Stevie Wonder songs, in his episode. But a lot of these installments -- the Oprah one especially -- play more like public relations exercises on behalf of the subject than they do TV episodes.

Big Bird in
Big Bird in "Dear," premiering June 5 on Apple TV+.


The sixth episode features Big Bird, although the Sesame Street character -- or rather, his creator and longtime puppeteer, the late Caroll Spinney -- was already the subject of a feature-length documentary, 2014's I Am Big Bird. The episode even spends five minutes on the famous Mr. Hooper scene, which the previous doc already covered in much greater depth.

Jane Goodall, the subject of the seventh episode, also had her own documentary, Brett Morgan's 2017 Jane, which utilized cutting-edge filmmaking techniques that the Apple episode lacks.

Dear... Apple

Like many other genres of content, Apple TV+ has been ramping up its documentary efforts. There was last year's ambitious LGBTQ+ docuseries Visible: Out on Television, as well as acquisitions like The Elephant Queen and Beastie Boys Story.

The Beasties doc was a triumph, but Dear... is a lesson that Apple should aim a bit higher, and do something more ambitious in the documentary space. They could throw some money at the some of the world's greatest documentarians to make passion projects, which is what ESPN did with its original vision for the 30 for 30 series.

Apple's next documentary series is July's The Greatness Code, a short-form series which will profile superstar athletes like LeBron James, Tom Brady, and Usain Bolt, complete with participation from James and Brady's own production companies.

This indicates that Apple's continued strategy with documentary series is to make shows about great and famous people, focused on how great and famous they are. This approach gets Apple in business with lots of celebrities, but it's highly unlikely to do is lead to shows that are especially watchable.

It's understandable, especially following the absolutely horrifying events of the spring of 2020, why some viewers will find themselves in the mood for something happy and inspirational. But what they won't get is any kind of achievement in documentary filmmaking.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    I will probably not be renewing my free subscription when it expires at the end of this year.

    anantksundaram
  • Reply 2 of 12
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    A waste of $5 per month.

    Offer something compelling, give up or give them away for free! They need some kind of back-catalogue until and even after they build up an original catalogue. But that catalogue I have to say isn't inspiring me much so far. They should have focused on hiring the best writers and directors and giving them money to do whatever they wanted. Period. Also, a massive issue for me is that streaming companies consider 10 episodes a full season. The 70's and 80's 22-24 episode format is much more palatable. We have to wait a full year to see season 2. This is such an issue for me that by the time Season 2 of Stranger Things came around I had lost interest in the series. 10 episodes out on the same day and then wait a year—it's not a good experience.

    Apple should have waited a further year (OR TWO) to launch and opened with a library of shows with a new episode each week (different day of the week for some shows). And opened too with a short form kids show or two or three with a new episode each day (mon/fri). Think: bear and big blue house kind of stuff. Or like a Sesame Street characters style talk show with two or three characters interviewing guests and doing skits, and not just interviewing celebs (people who make things etc. and visit their place of work like Mister Rogers). They could have easily done this with their resources and built up a library of these high quality kids shows to have them at the ready.

    Surely good writers still exist out there. Remember the writing on Colombo? This level of small screen writing is desperately needed in modern times. We need more seasoned writers who know how to write believable dialog. And good editors and good directors: I want to be inspired! Many shows look too similar and pacing is too slow on a lot of stuff. Netflix has this major issue too and I see it on a lot of modern stuff that all of the cinematography looks very similar. Like they've never told a story visually before. Cinematography is used for the way things look but not as much as a storytelling tool like we saw back in the day. Go watch High Noon (1958) or Red Shoes (1948), that's how you edit and move and use a camera. Use the tools and take us with you. Do something great!
    edited June 2020 anantksundaramtylersdad
  • Reply 3 of 12
    the monkthe monk Posts: 93member
    ireland said:


    Also, a massive issue for me is that streaming companies consider 10 episodes a full season. The 70's and 80's 22-24 episode format is much more palatable......Remember the writing on Colombo?
    ======

    I agree with much you said, but remember Colombo had about 8 episodes per season (although episodes ran longer). If you liked Colombo, the number of shows didn’t seem to discourage you from watching the show. Incidentally, I lost interest in Stranger Things too after season 1, but had nothing to do with 10 episodes. (I don’t want to binge watch 22 episodes.) It was interesting but I just moved on, wasn’t interested in the story anymore.

  • Reply 4 of 12
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,299member
    ireland said:
    A waste of $5 per month.

    Offer something compelling or give the thing away. The need some kind of back-catalogue until they build up a original catalogue. But that catalogue I have to say isn't inspiring me much so far. They should have focused on hiring the best writers and directors and giving them money to do whatever they wanted. Period. Also, a massive issue for me is that streaming companies consider 10 episodes a full season. The 70's and 80's 22-24 episode format is much more palatable. We have to wait a full year to see season 2. This is such an issue for me that by the time Season 2 of Stranger Things came around I had lost interest in the series. 10 episodes out on the same day and then wait a year—it's not a good experience.
    All the services are lacking. Good thing it is easy to do a couple of months on each during the year. 


  • Reply 5 of 12
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    the monk said:
    I agree with much you said, but remember Colombo had about 8 episodes per season (although episodes ran longer). If you liked Colombo, the number of shows didn’t seem to discourage you from watching the show. Incidentally, I lost interest in Stranger Things too after season 1, but had nothing to do with 10 episodes. (I don’t want to binge watch 22 episodes.) It was interesting but I just moved on, wasn’t interested in the story anymore.
    I'm not necessarily using Colombo as the example for episode count, there are many which could serve that example, but for writing quality (and acting and editing and directing quality). None of Apple's series comes within an ass's roar of the quality level of Colombo, and in particular 70's Colombo: seasons 1 through 7, which were also film length episodes as you mentioned.
    edited June 2020
  • Reply 6 of 12
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    apple ][ said:
    I will probably not be renewing my free subscription when it expires at the end of this year.

    The world mourns.
    dewmefastasleep
  • Reply 7 of 12
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member

    ireland said:
    A waste of $5 per month.

    Offer something compelling, give up or give them away for free! They need some kind of back-catalogue until and even after they build up an original catalogue. But that catalogue I have to say isn't inspiring me much so far. They should have focused on hiring the best writers and directors and giving them money to do whatever they wanted. Period. Also, a massive issue for me is that streaming companies consider 10 episodes a full season. The 70's and 80's 22-24 episode format is much more palatable. We have to wait a full year to see season 2. This is such an issue for me that by the time Season 2 of Stranger Things came around I had lost interest in the series. 10 episodes out on the same day and then wait a year—it's not a good experience.

    Apple should have waited a further year (OR TWO) to launch and opened with a library of shows with a new episode each week (different day of the week for some shows). And opened too with a short form kids show or two or three with a new episode each day (mon/fri). Think: bear and big blue house kind of stuff. Or like a Sesame Street characters style talk show with two or three characters interviewing guests and doing skits, and not just interviewing celebs (people who make things etc. and visit their place of work like Mister Rogers). They could have easily done this with their resources and built up a library of these high quality kids shows to have them at the ready.

    Surely good writers still exist out there. Remember the writing on Colombo? This level of small screen writing is desperately needed in modern times. We need more seasoned writers who know how to write believable dialog. And good editors and good directors: I want to be inspired! Many shows look too similar and pacing is too slow on a lot of stuff. Netflix has this major issue too and I see it on a lot of modern stuff that all of the cinematography looks very similar. Like they've never told a story visually before. Cinematography is used for the way things look but not as much as a storytelling tool like we saw back in the day. Go watch High Noon (1958) or Red Shoes (1948), that's how you edit and move and use a camera. Use the tools and take us with you. Do something great!
    You're high. For All Mankind is amazing, Morning Show was great, See was fun popcorn action, Servant, Defending Jacob are nice Friday nite shows, etc... 

    Well worth the $0-5 a month. Much better than anything on Showtime, IMO. They had exactly one hit in a decade -- Homeland, which is done now.
    fastasleep
  • Reply 8 of 12
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member

    mattinoz said:
    ireland said:
    A waste of $5 per month.

    Offer something compelling or give the thing away. The need some kind of back-catalogue until they build up a original catalogue. But that catalogue I have to say isn't inspiring me much so far. They should have focused on hiring the best writers and directors and giving them money to do whatever they wanted. Period. Also, a massive issue for me is that streaming companies consider 10 episodes a full season. The 70's and 80's 22-24 episode format is much more palatable. We have to wait a full year to see season 2. This is such an issue for me that by the time Season 2 of Stranger Things came around I had lost interest in the series. 10 episodes out on the same day and then wait a year—it's not a good experience.
    All the services are lacking. Good thing it is easy to do a couple of months on each during the year. 


    All the services? We have no issue w/ the typical music, movies and rentals. And iCloud Drive data pricing is much more appealing than Dropbox's tiers...(they just need to provide URL-based sharing, which I have to believe will come in time)
  • Reply 9 of 12
    LenardHLenardH Posts: 21member
    Great documentary. Very informative how others in their life are inspired by others, as most people are at sometime in their life.

    For me the only review that counts is mind. I believe if one decides to watch something just on reviews, one might miss out on a lot.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    AppleZuluAppleZulu Posts: 1,989member
    I guess reviewers feel they have to stake out some sort of angle and roll with it, but I’ve never really understood the ones that criticize something for not being an entirely different thing that it never set out to be. To wit: “With their financial resources and access to [Spike] Lee, Apple could have produced a two-hour documentary about Spike Lee's life and career, including in-depth examinations of all of his films and the many controversies he's been part of over the course of his more than 30 years as a filmmaker.” Wut? That’s like criticizing  George Lucas for not using all that special effects technology he was developing to make Star Wars into a hyper-realistic dramatization of the Apollo moon-landing program.

    I haven’t watched Dear... yet, but from the promo clips, I could’ve told you that it’s not going to be a series of two-hour in-depth biographical documentaries about the featured celebrities. Of course, perhaps my review of this review is making the same error. I kind of expected the review of Dear... to be a discussion of how well the series did at achieving what it set out to do, but the writer of the review clearly set out to lament that the producers of the show failed to create something else entirely, that the reviewer would have preferred to see. Now here I am complaining that the reviewer didn’t do what I expected, which was review the actual series for what it is, which makes this all a very confusing meta-loop at this point.
    edited June 2020 brometheus
  • Reply 11 of 12
    AppleZuluAppleZulu Posts: 1,989member
    P.S. Of course it’s not at all unusual for Apple products to be criticized here for not being things that Apple never intended to make (e.g. not merging MacBook Pro and iPads into an Apple version of the runaway bestselling Microsoft Surface, or not giving HomePod users EQ and tone controls so that they can override the device’s key feature of actively listening to and adjusting itself to the acoustics of the room, or not opening up Apple hardware and operating systems to endless user customization, etc.)
    brometheus
  • Reply 12 of 12
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Looks like it's back to pc pap. There've been a couple of great shows that I've watched (TMS, See), and another one that I've heard wonderful things about that I might watch (Defending Jacob), but the rest appears to be one large, anodyne entertainment wasteland...
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