I started watching it and lost interest about 40 minutes in and quit it. I really don't think people would have been so friendly if he wasn't being followed by a camera man. I don't know how it ended, but when he started traveling with the hippie guy when his van broke down... that's when I realized that the camera was causing an observer effect that basically ruined the whole point of the doc for me.
Should have just filmed it by lapel camera... :) I agree, the observer effect certainly can be seen in a lot of documentaries.
I might try the video just to see what it's like thought.
Yeah, obviously the camera has to be there to make the film... but in this particular doc, where the idea was to test whether America still has "community", to me, it seemed particularly obtrusive. When you are testing whether people are trusting and giving... it seems like the test results are a bit skewed when a camera is around. When you are hitching a ride and basically relying on people to trust you not to stab them in the night, a camera man and a nice safe sounding back story (I am not a psycho, I am making a movie!) certainly helps.
I don't recall whether he put the fact that he had a camera man with him in the ads or not, but it had to be explained at some point before the meet up... you can't ask for a free ride for one and show up with 2 guys and video gear.
I liked the idea, which is why I started watching it, but somewhere in there it dawned on me and ruined it for me.