ROLLING PAPERS: Fun For The Initiated

The old is boring and the new is exciting; right or wrong, that’s just how our brains our wired. So when something is in danger of becoming not just old but extinct, it’s only natural that they would seek to extend their longevity by latching onto something new. We could be witnessing an extinction event for one such aging institution, the daily newspaper. Scores of papers have already been consolidated, sold or closed outright in the previous few years as “journalism” has become largely decentralized thanks to the internet.

The marijuana industry, on the other hand, is experiencing exactly the opposite trajectory, transitioning from a group of unorganized individual proprietors to a bona fide economic force, taxed and regulated like any other type of business. It should come as little surprise then that these two very different industries would cross paths on their journeys into the future, and that both would find a mutually beneficial opportunity in their meeting.

Director Mitch Dickman similarly recognized a symbiotic relationship between himself and The Denver Post, using their innovative marijuana coverage as a portal to explore the burgeoning industry while keeping a unique perspective in this already crowded documentary field by focusing on the journalism. The paper’s Editor In Chief, Greg Moore, claims that taking weed seriously is “just smart journalism”. Similarly, covering marijuana by shadowing those whose job it is to take weed seriously is just smart documentary filmmaking.

Legitimizing Legalization

Rolling Papers follows the first year in the life of the Denver Post’s marijuana editorial department. Run by former music editor Rick Baca, the department seeks to report on marijuana-related stories just as any other area of interest. Through documenting the paper’s reporting, Dickman is able to touch upon a wide swath of the emergent industry, such as public health, quality standards, culture and medicinal use, while still holding together a coherent narrative through the paper.

For some the role of Marijuana columnist is a dream job, for others a distraction from their primary gig, but for all it is an exciting opportunity to be a pioneer in the field. That newness and buzz are palpable and coupled with the “try anything” attitude employed in the effort to combat dying newspapers, a real sense of the unknown is communicated, primarily in a positive light. This results in some really cutting-edge editorial pieces, such as an ongoing “parenting and pot column”, as controversial amongst the paper’s staff as it is to the Department of Child and Family Services.

Though some journalists see Moor and Baca’s efforts as a joke, they view it as a necessary survival tactic, especially after the demise of local rival Rocky Mountain News. As such they treat it with the gravity and respect one expects from newspapers, reporting on stories firmly in the public interest. One such investigation was a report into the potency of a maker of marijuana edibles, Dr. J, who printed inflated potency numbers on their products, potentially endangering this who rely on its medical benefits.

Dickman does a great job of letting this story breathe a little by reporting on the reporting and through Dr. J’s statement that “sensationalism is what sells papers”, shows that the investigation really hit a nerve. The marijuana industry also benefits in a very tangible way; new and comparatively small, such reporting offers transparency and legitimacy, even if it had a detrimental effect on that particular business. For an industry with such passionate adherents who also recognize its inherent fragility due to marijuana’s federal classification, the effect of such reporting on the public is beyond measure.

Conclusion: Lacking in Inclusion

Throughout Rolling Papers the audience is introduced to the different reporters that make up the Post’s marijuana department, all of whom are young, white and by and large plucked from the pseudo-legal medical realm. This might seem like a more or less logical choice for the first group of newspaper pot columnists, but it appears to limit the perspective of the reporting to those for whom weed is already a passion. As a result, the documentary unfortunately suffers from the same myopism.

The film opens with a montage of cable news coverage of Colorado’s legalization experience, implying not only that their sensationalist reporting has done a disservice to their duty to inform the public, but that this film could serve to fill in the gap. Rolling Papers certainly does its job in giving a more thorough examination to stories that might typically be relegated to a headline or blurb, but where it fails is in addressing those for whom traditional news outlets are their chief source of information.

Dickman seems to have made his film for those already in support of marijuana legalization; the aesthetic feels young, with an electro-hop soundtrack and recurring cuts to beauty shots of different strains. The soundtrack invokes a celebratory atmosphere, with marijuana finally becoming fully legalized somewhere in America; it could just as easily accompany a car rolling down the street with the drivers face obscured by a cloud of smoke.

The vibe is generally informal, demanding that marijuana be accepted on its own terms and not subscribe to rigid formal constraints. Though I may be part of the choir to which Dickman is preaching, the aesthetic exclusion of a wider audience is off-putting, as they are the ones who most need to be made aware of the stories depicted in Rolling Papers.

Not every doc needs to be an advocacy film (in fact that sounds horrible) but for such a young industry whose machinations are still largely unknown to the general public, this one could have done more to appeal to the sensibilities of the uninitiated while still maintaining its strong content. Recently, it seems like legalization is not a matter of if but when, but once “when” finally happens it will be unlikely that Rolling Papers will have contributed much to the effort.

What do you feel is a documentary’s responsibility to try to change political opinions?

Rolling Papers opened in theaters and on VOD on February 19 in the U.S. International release dates are not currently known.