BruiserTom The film-maker may not use the phrase "fair and balanced", but I will. He did an excellent job of letting the truth speak for itself.I think the superintendent was wrong to change the name of the team from "Warriors" to "Cadets". What is wrong with the concept of the warrior? Such arrogant politically correct heavy-handedness is disgusting. Other than that, I don't see where he did much wrong.Somebody said that the foundation had a right to withhold money from students who worked against the foundation's principles and values. My understanding was that the foundation's mission and value was to provide tuition for all students who attended Philomath High. What a noble mission, freely, with no self-serving strings attached, to promote the education of those not as fortunate as you. Is this value not worthy and sufficient in its own right? And even if you don't think so, where is your respect for the person who provided the money for the foundation in the first place? It was Mr. Lowther - a fortunate heir and beneficiary of Rex Clemen's hard work and business success - who undermined these values. While you are enjoying the wealth that you yourself did not earn, Mr. Lowther, could you not at least honor the legacy of the man who did so much for you and others? They were not your toys to pick up and take home. You have only reaped and trampled where others have sown. Shame on you.

rpm_371 "Quid-pro-quo" is way,WAY, WAAAYYY off the mark in his summary. The foundation was well within it's rights to pull money from a school that substantially did not stand for the beliefs of the foundation. TANSTAAFL! The money was not "owed" to students that worked against the education foundation's principals and values.I'm not sure where he gets the idea the students were singled out for persecution by the foundation over the gay and lesbian flier that was redistributed to the community (after it had been plastered all over the school) which contained the names of the students. The students proudly placed their names on the flier themselves.If they did not wish to be identified with gay and lesbian groups they should have remained anonymous instead of placing their names clearly in print.Congratulations to Mr.Lowther for standing up to a bunch of bullies and following his families principals. The only "lunatic" here is Mr."Quid-pro-quo". Perhaps he should move to San Francisco and pursue some free money for college there.

darling137 Concur with the first recorder that this film illustrates what good documentaries should do: provide enough information from all the angles without bias and let the observer decide for him or herself.All of the parties are intelligent, articulate and unburdened by melodramatic flair. Any of them could be our neighbors, relatives or kids and Philomath emerges as a kind of Everytown, USA.I will say that I don't see some of the points that the original commentator picks up on. I missed a few minutes while watching but apparently missed Mr Lowther's "latent violence". His "tar and feather" comment is a much more a reference to "the old days" than a threat of violence. Mr Lowther doesn't hang himself but, like the other interviewees, simply states very clearly what he believes in.You will agree or disagree with Mr Lowether based on your own values system and/or political beliefs, but there is no denying that a charitable foundation certainly has the right to decide to whom it gives its money. In short, public schools should not have agendas but all private institutions have them.Also, his criticism of the fact finding meeting is well founded. As we saw during the OJ Simpson trial and from many a congressional hearing, that public hearings can easily degenerate into popularity contests and circuses, in which politicians bloviate and pander to the majority.The title is a well chosen one. It's a pun that obviously refers to the town's historical heritage and less obviously a contradictory reference to the two sides in this debate. In Clear Cut, the protagonists and antagonists are anything but. In the end, there are no bad guys, but just a running commentary about the continuous evolution and shifting sands of each and every community in the country.

roland-104 This remarkable documentary depicts a vivid example of America's current culture war: the struggle between clashing values of social conservatives and liberals, focused in this instance on a rural community undergoing the painful transition from a timber industry town to one increasingly dominated by "urban immigrants": the professionals and techies - high and low - who make up the ranks of the information age. In 1980 there were 12 lumber mills around Philomath, now it's down to 2. The largest employers in the area nowadays are Oregon State University, in neighboring Corvallis, and a Hewlett-Packard calculator repair center.Rex Clemens (1901-1985) was a Philomath high school dropout who later became a wealthy lumberman. He dearly loved his old school and never missed a Philomath Warriors football game. In 1959 he endowed a unique foundation with a mission of supporting school building projects and providing 4-year college scholarships to any kid that graduated high school. Thousands of kids have had their chance at a higher education thanks to this unique program.But about five years ago the school board hired a new superintendent, a liberal outsider, an educator from Chicago with a Ph.D. and a vision of teaching critical thinking to kids on themes that include the environmental impact of industries like logging. The student dress code was scrapped. A Gay-Straight Alliance group of students was encouraged. The high school mascot - The Warrior - was challenged, and its symbol, a five foot tall wood carved statue of a rather sad, bedraggled looking American Indian, was removed from the high school lobby.It was all too much for the citizens with longstanding roots in the town, especially for Rex Clemens's three nephews, now in charge of the foundation. Led by one of them, Steve Lowther, battle was joined between the traditionalists and the new wave, led by the superintendent, Dr. Terry Kneisler, and his backers. After multiple skirmishes, Lowther forced a showdown, telling the school board that either Kneisler goes or the foundation will withdraw its school support and scholarship program.In the film, producer/director/editor Peter Richardson lets the people of the town tell this story in a series of well edited interview segments. Richardson had grown up in Philomath and was able to gain the confidence of people on all sides of the debate. Everybody gets their say here. In that regard, unlike the one-sided propagandistic thrust of most recent documentaries on social issues (think of the films of Michael Moore or Robert Greenwald), this is one of the most balanced accounts I've seen in years.That's not to say that Richardson is entirely neutral. By the end of the film, a perspective does emerge, and it is not very favorable to Mr. Lowther and his backers. But this leaning is not the result of any editorializing on Mr. Richardson's part. Instead, like the documentarist, Errol Morris, Richardson simply encourages all parties to talk away, and, in the case of Mr. Lowther, Richardson gives him enough rope to hang himself, his latent violence cloaked in Christian virtue, clueless about the vast contradictions in his views.Lowther accuses Kneisler and his backers of pursuing a "social agenda" instead of "training these kids to become good workers and taxpayers." He and his brothers modify the Clemens Foundation scholarship criteria, first by going national, and also requiring that applicants be well behaved by traditional standards, come from a family with its roots in the timber, agriculture or mining industries, and have a career goal in one of these vocations. Doesn't he think that's a social agenda? Lowther fumes because the school board insisted that fact finding hearings be open to the public, rather than have closed meetings in a "manly" fashion. More manly to meet in hiding than out in the open? Why not be even more manly and wear hoods? (Lowther refers not once but twice to his wish to have tarred and feathered Kneisler and run him out of town.) The loss of traditional values and activities is disorienting to established citizens of any community, and the newcomers, the urban immigrants, are no less disoriented when they move away from their roots and enter a town that has lost its cultural bearings. These issues are real, and answers to resolve the conflicts are far from "clear cut." It was either FDR or H. L. Mencken who once said that for every complex social problem there is a simple answer, and it is always wrong. There is no one right point of view that will satisfy all interests.Richardson and his film respect the diversity of opinions of the townspeople. Philomath is a microcosm of the cultural ferment that is in evidence broadly in our land. That makes this film all the more poignant and relevant. It's a gem of a film. My grade: A- 9/10