Directed, written and produced by award-winning producer Michael Kirk, "The Choice 2012" depicts two men reaching for the same sovereign title from two drastically different backgrounds. Of course, these two contenders aren't new to the political sparring arena: They are none other than President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
From heavy-hitting investigations of the 2008 financial meltdown and the current conflict in Syria to specialized reports on the marijuana market in California and American high school football culture, PBS's "Frontline" delivers high-quality journalistic reports that push boundaries and compel audiences.
"Frontline's" reputation precedes it, and it's hard to imagine a televised news source better equipped to cover the upcoming presidential election.
To say that these two presidential frontrunners vary in their party alignment and views on public policy would be like calling the ocean damp.
Rather than rehashing other media outlets' campaign coverage, "The Choice 2012" focuses on a facet of this election that, excluding the occasional soundbite, have not previously been analyzed in depth.
Namely, this Frontline piece endeavors to carefully and empathetically analyzes the candidates' characters and personal backgrounds.
"We knew the documentary was going to air at an [important] time during the election [season]," co-producer Mike Wiser said. "We wanted to be able to step back and look at who are the men who are running for president. Who are they? Where are they coming from? What do they believe?"
In the documentary, Romney, the Republican candidate from Massachusetts, is portrayed as a son inspired to fill his father's shoes who, in his zeal to do so, outgrew them. On the flip side, President Obama is depicted as a young man constantly searching for his identity and forced to forge his own path - a path that led to his political rise and personal self-discovery.
Mitt grew up with a well-to-do family in an America where hard work, perseverance and determination paid off with a spot at the top of the economic ladder. He idolized his father, George Romney, who paved the way for the Mormon population to enter the political world as insiders.
Romney's father was the chairman and president of the American Motors Corporation, served as Michigan's governor and was selected as President Richard Nixon's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. According to the documentary, Romney was right at his father's side during each of these career successes, attentively absorbing each word and lesson.
Romney's entrepreneurial mindset and his successes at Harvard Business School made him a catch for Bain & Company, a prominent consulting firm. Each deal he made struck gold time and time again, and Romney eventually became the CEO.
He later formed Bain Capital, an investment shoot-off of Bain that has acquired bad press recently for its investment failures.
Frontline draws several conclusions for its viewers about Romney and how he envisions his role at president. His ideas for fixing the country draw from his experience as a businessman. His dedication to Mormonism has instilled within him a desire to better those who surround him.
And as George Romney's son, he has grown up not only compelled to please his father, but also to overcome the expectations set for him.
Unlike Romney, Obama never had a strong father figure in his life. His mother was an 18-year-old white woman and his father, a governmental economist from Kenya, was essentially absent for the entirety of Obama's childhood. After living with his mother and her second husband in Indonesia, 10-year-old "Barry" Obama was sent to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents. With few strong role models and a biracial background, Obama struggled to find his identity during his adolescent years.
Obama spent a few years at Occidental College in Los Angeles, but later transferred to Columbia University in New York. There, he began his process of self-discovery. Living on the edge of Harlem, Obama was profoundly affected by the poverty that existed around him; he grew more focused and serious. His time in New York was the "key to his life," as it set the stage for his entrance into politics.
After earning a degree from Harvard Law School, Obama became a state senator of Illinois, then a US senator and, ultimately, the 44th President of the United States.
The "Frontline" documentary shows viewers the evolution of Obama as a man and a politician. In 2008, he campaigned strongly on the platform of bipartisanship. He felt he could bridge the gaps between red and blue and transcend their differences in favor of a cohesive America.
After wrestling with identity issues for the majority of his life, Obama finally came to see himself as a unifier and a leader. Unfortunately, however, his hopes for bipartisanship were dashed during his first term.
Now, as a seasoned veteran, Obama has muffled his idealism and has decided to emphasize the political difference between himself and his competitors.
The documentary's desire to present impartially on both candidates is reflected in its basic format. Switching between each candidate every eight-to-10 minutes, "The Choice" divides time evenly and draw parallels between the two men. The film guides viewers through Obama and Romney's journeys simultaneously, placing their childhoods, college years, early careers and entrance into politics side by side.
"The Choice" also incorporates an array of commentators and analysts. Much like the film's format, the assortment of opinions and variety of views in "The Choice" also reflect the documentarians' desire to craft a balanced narrative. In a collection of voices that spans Jesse Jackson's to Obama's college roommate's to The New York Times' David Brooks', viewers hear from political experts, politicians' friends and a balanced mix of Republicans and Democrats.
The 108-minute special also adds an archival element to the film. For the past three weeks, Frontline's web team has been publishing "Artifacts of Character," a collection of rarely seen papers, photographs and videos of the candidates spanning from the politicians' college years to their early political careers.
These objects, all of which were acquired by the Frontline crew during the making of "The Choice," serve as personal, intimate glimpses into the lives of Obama and Romney. From Obama's early collegiate poetry to letters Romney wrote during his Mormon mission to France, these further humanize the candidates.
"We've spent the better part of a year literally piecing together the pivotal moments in [the] lives of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama," director Michael Kirk said in a behind-the-scenes interview on PBS. "Maybe in the midst of all the white noise, of all the other television networks and newspapers, the American voters should have an opportunity to hear more about who these men are, where they came from, what were the pivotal moments that made them as a way of a predicting how they would be as President of the United States."
"The Choice 2012" aired on October 10th at 9 p.m. on PBS. For those who missed it, the documentary is available to watch online at pbs.org.
