Grierson and Guffman

Within the interview sequences Guest uses the choice of location to continue to establish his characters through discontinuity. One of the three principles of documentary coined by John Grierson is that the original scene is a better guide to the interpretation of the world (Grierson 147). Christopher Guest uses this idea to develop the fragility and insecurities of his characters. By placing Libby Mae Brown in the sun at the Dairy Queen while wearing her uniform the filmmaker is subtly placing her into a stereotype. She is not interviewed at home but at the Dairy Queen because there is an established idea concerning people who work in fast food. In actual documentaries this is key to add a certain mood to the scene or the character. Guest uses this to his advantage to mark Libby as dumb and lower class. The original world makes for more interesting filmmaking and because this is the real world of her life it adds to the realism of Blaine, Missouri in Waiting for Guffman. Libby is not the only character cast with this light of stereotypes but all the characters; whether minor or major, have similar placement in their various locations. Dr. Pearl is not only placed at the dentist office to show that he is a dentist but to also show that this is his stage, where he thinks his comedy is most accepted. His subtle laughs and slight pauses show his insecurities within his world. He doesn’t just tell jokes and sit awkwardly in silence; he sits awkwardly in his own world, which adds to the discontinuity. Location adds to the discontinuity because the viewers of Waiting for Guffman are seeing the characters on their time and on their turf. In the same way Fredrick Wiseman documentaries bring viewers to the uncomfortable locations that he chooses to go, Christopher Guest brings viewers to the awkward world of Blaine, Missouri.