Subject matter aside, as far as documentaries go, this was not a very good one.
The best documentaries are honest, or at least successfully convey a truth that is evident to the viewer without having to spell it out. And the truth that is missing from this documentary is that FIRE is not for everyone.
The best documentaries are not afraid to change their thesis midway through filming.
Documentaries like
Seeking Asian Female started out as an expose about male order brides from China. It pivoted midway when
the filmaker saw that there was actually a real relationship between two real people. One that she felt compelled to mediate and influence the outcome - which is taboo for a documentary maker.
But it made for a fascinating watch.
Another good documentary is
Mistaken for Strangers, which started out as a biography of a music band, while following them on tour. It was filmed by the lead singer's brother, and it also pivoted
upon the realization that their sibling relationship was more compelling than the actual band's concert footage.
In Playing With Fire, the wife is the most compelling character. She's 3-dimensional and has very real doubts and valid concerns about the FIRE movement. Honest feelings. Misgivings that are painfully and obviously papered over in the last 10 minutes ("One Year Later") when the hurried final interview rushes to unconvincingly confirm the original thesis: "Yes, I love FIRE. It is so great. It has changed my life. I love my new life so very, very much." Closing shot of happy couple walking off hand-in-hand into the distance, credits rolling.
I don't know this couple personally. All my opinions are formed from what is shown on the screen. To me, there doesn't seem to be one honest moment in that final interview. Mainly because of the lack of any footage of the final 12 months, showing that painful growth from doubt to acceptance.
There were so many moments in the documentary that they could have chosen to pivot, to reveal a perhaps unpopular truth (at least within the FIRE community) that sometimes, for some people, the path most taken is also the one that sparks the most joy.
There are so many people that love their career and their present life's trajectory. The big house, the fancy car, the status of a well-paying job that are rewards on that fulfilling road that they also enjoy traveling with good company. Nowhere is this more evident than on Mr Money Mustache forums, where there are so many accounts of those who have trouble staying on that path of delayed gratification, of grim and bitter austerity, mortgaging their present opportunity for contentedness on the off-chance that maybe a future without mandatory work will bring even greater joy.
Maybe, it might.
But maybe, perhaps staying in The Matrix, that swallowing the Blue Pill Transactional Immediacy of "enjoying the fruits of your hard work now", is actually the correct choice for a lot of people.
The husband could have turned the movie completely around in the forest when he revealed his concerns about wanting to make his wife happy. That could have been the pivoting moment. It could have elevated a very hollow and unconvincing documentary about the FI movement into a riveting and heartwarming story about thoughtfulness and self-sacrifice, of love and dedication within a marriage. When a man places his wife's wants and needs above making a narrative fit the thesis of his documentary so they can capitalize on a fad.
Because FIRE is fad. Just like the Atkins Diet, or Cabbage Patch Dolls. There are some people that capture this movement perfectly, like the teacher couple at the MMM camp that talked about side-hustles, making FIRE on $30K incomes, etc. They seemed like the kind of people that a $50K BMW would never be a temptation, even if they made $300K a year.
But the film maker and his wife do not fit that mold. They're two people in a boat rowing in two different directions (to use a metaphor of one the FIRE gurus).
So make a documentary about that.
Because *THAT'S* more interesting and honest than a capture-the-zeitgeist, I-want-to-fit-in-too, of-the-moment throwaway program that tries too hard to force a narrative from footage that begs a completely different thesis.
Because the hype around FIRE will fade, and so too will this forgettable documentary, because it chose not to pivot, to lean into its few honest moments and transform itself into a much more interesting *and timeless* story.
Just my not-so-humble opinion. Also not a popular MMM viewpoint, I know.
*shrug*