Product Details

• Actors: Jeanne Abel Alan Abel
• Directors: Jeff Hockett Jenny Abel
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Abel Raises Cain, LLC
• DVD Release Date: January 1, 2009
• Run Time: 82 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B0019J2U68
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #121,559 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Fibbing to Make a Point

Alan Abel may not be a household name, but he ought to be. Unfortunately, it's a little hard to explain what he does in order to deserve this honor. In a new documentary film on his life and work, "Abel Raises Cain," Abel's daughter Jenny and co-director Jeff Hockett tackle that explanation and reveal that in simple terms, he is a prankster. But in wider terms, Abel was an important social critic with much to say about the gullibility of the masses and the fallibility of the media.

You may actually know Alan Abel and not realize it. He's appeared on television news shows and in newspapers and on radio hundreds and hundreds of times - just rarely as himself. He's behind dozens of high-profile and outrageous news stories that were revealed as fakes.

In the 1960s, his Society for Indecency to Naked Animals sought to clothe animals, with the slogan "A nude horse is a rude horse," while his fictitious creation Yetta Bronstein, a Jewish grandmother, ran for president in a few elections. Later Abel would cause a stir with his staged marriage of Idi Amin - a look-alike - to an American woman in order to gain citizenship.

One of his masterpieces involved a group fainting spell in the audience at Phil Donahue's live television debut. Lately, Abel has been masquerading as the leader of the activist group Citizens Against Breastfeeding, which claims that the act is both incestuous and a violation of the baby's civil rights. At one point, he even faked his own death - The New York Times ran a respectful obituary celebrating his calling.

Through the eyes of his daughter, Abel is the recipient of an affectionate portrait that reveals the guy behind the stunts as well as the one right in the middle of them. A former musician turned nightclub performer, Abel - along with his wife and partner in crime, Jeanne - had a radio show on which they pulled some pranks. His real early attention-getter was the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals, an organization with an intentionally confusing name that tipped off not one member of the media that the whole movement was a hoax. Eventually Buck Henry took the role of the organization's president, and this taught Abel the most potent lesson of his career - give a credible, straight face to the most insane cause, and you can probably get some media attention that will give a platform to almost anything you do and say. Abel continued to prove that for over four decades and continues still.

In those four decades, the message from his work has not disappeared - in fact, it may be more important than ever. Too much careless reporting is born of single sources with no verification, sometimes mere parroting of officials spouting their agendas as inside information. While the stakes aren't that high when Abel pretends to be the leader of a hooded Ku Klux Klan orchestra, his point is well-taken - the power of the press demands a high level of caution and conscience.

Despite this heavy subtext, the film is far from gloomy - in fact, it's joyful. Abel's stunts are incredibly funny and his energy is infectious. His marriage is still strong and inspiring in its partnership, and Jenny Abel's understanding of her father - not just celebration, but real analysis and the ability to communicate that insight - has created a treasure of a portrait.

It is also a love letter to families that do not live in society's norm. As a unit of love, the Abel family shows that following ones' own heart and intellect, rather than society's, is often the path to real joy - and there is value in questioning the mainstream. Abel is a hero to weird dads everywhere. --By John E. Mitchell | North Adams Transcript | Fibbing to Make a Point

Product Description

Long before Borat, The Yes Men and Jon Stewart, there was Alan Abel, the legendary media prankster and culture jammer who has spent a lifetime pulling off elaborate stunts and satirical pranks that are JUST ridiculous enough to be believable, especially to a media that feeds on salacious, far-fetched stories. After a half-century of creating fake news and riling up the masses with his outlandish crusades, Alan's story is brought to light for the first time by his daughter, Jenny Abel, along with co-director, Jeff Hockett, in their award-winning documentary debut, ABEL RAISES CAIN.

In this hilarious and unflinching portrait, Jenny tells her personal account of what it was like growing up with a lovable but slightly demented father and takes a glimpse behind-the-scenes at many of the crazy hoaxes and schemes that Abel concocted over the years, all of which were designed to provoke and amuse...while making people question everything that they see, hear and read.

Hailed as "a humorous and highly personal documentary" by the Los Angeles Times, and "a fun and fascinating look at an American original" by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, SLATE calls ABEL RAISES CAIN "an invigorating and often hysterical look at a gifted comic and the nation of dupes he continues to use as his medium."

*This DVD also features Bonus Scenes, Featurette, Rare 16mm Footage of Alan Abel, Audio Commentary with Cast and Crew and English Captions on the Feature, accessible via remote control.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Documentary About a World Class Hoax Artist, April 9, 2009

By	William D. Geerhart (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a brilliant and entertaining documentary about Alan Abel, the legendary hoaxer whose pranks rise to the level of great art. Among other triumphs, he was the first (and only?) person to trick the New York Times into publishing an obituary for someone who was still breathing (himself). The film, by Jenny Abel and Jeff Hockett, provides a fascinating insight into Mr. Abel's motivations while also providing a deliriously funny retrospective of his greatest pranks. This movie is a must see for anyone who delights in the gullibility of the media and enjoys being in on a good joke!