MovieChat Forums > Finding Vivian Maier (2014) Discussion > Poor Witnesses/ Interviewees

Poor Witnesses/ Interviewees


Clearly, this woman worked as a nanny for a number of years, an must have had positive relationships with at least some of her clients (especially considering the fact that, in her later years, she was housed and cared for by boys who she used to nanny). Yet, this documentary provides a significantly limited perspective on her time as a nanny by providing such a small subset of interviewees... a woman who considered herself a good friend but knew nothing of her personal life and three members of a family who fired her after less than a year. This later family, the Williams (Linda, Sarah, and Joe), were very poor interviewees who made their biases apparent.
Overall, it seemed as though this family was paranoid and thought themselves to be superior to Maier. Linda, at least, provided a complex picture of Vivianne and attempted to shed some insight on Vivianne's inner workings. Her children, on the other hand, are sensationalist witnesses whose contributions came off as gossipy and judgmental garbage- Sarah made a disparaging remarks about Maier's "status" as a nanny, and she came off as unhinged in her recollections, spastically making unsubstantiated vague and outrageous claims. Their parts should have been edited or omitted entirely.
I think it may have been a self -serving decision for Maloof to represent Maier poorly.

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