Somm is a documentary that follows a small group of men who are studying for the Master Sommelier exam, which is incredibly difficult to pass. When these specific men take the test, only six passed out of a total of fifty. Will these men make it or have to study again?
I always complained at any wine and cheese tasting that I only wanted a cheese tasting then when I discovered that those exist, I kicked wine to the curb. I am just not into it, but I do not have to personally find something interesting to watch a documentary about it. One of the most memorable documentaries that I ever watched was The Parking Lot Movie about parking lot attendants. Also I may not enjoy traditional sports, but apparently I do enjoy competition if it comes in the form of a cooking show or a dance competition so I thought there was a strong possibility that wine tasting would elicit the same reaction. It absolutely failed to do so. My mom came along for the ride, and though we have incredibly different tastes, we shared the same response. My main disclaimer is that most of humanity since the dawn of man has loved wine so I am willing to concede that we maybe the problem, not the documentary so take this review with a grain of salt since I may be a philistine in this particular area.
Somm reminds me of a television reality show format in which we follow each contestant and interview their family and friends. My mom loves that genre, but this similarity failed to appeal to her. The only aspect of the film that separates it from that genre are the interviews with experts and people who pass the exam so we have perspective on what these men face if they want to make it to the next level. I suppose then I should not have been surprised to discover that subsequently there were two film sequels: SOMM: Into the Bottle and SOMM 3. There was even a television series spin off, Uncorked, which aired on the Esquire channel and lasted for one season. One season consisted of six roughly forty-three minute episodes so it is not a big commitment, but who knew there was an Esquire channel? I don’t have cable. Is it just me? Is the Esquire channel the next HBO Now? Wine is helping me discover all my blindspots. I am a completist and in spite of having a slight twinge of curiosity to see if it improves with time and find out how the contestants are doing, I have better things to do since I was not especially interested in any of them in the first place. If I had known about the sequels and spinoffs, I probably never would have watched the original in the first place. It would have seemed like a disproportionate commitment in comparison to my actual curiosity and potential interest in the subject matter.
As an uninvested, dispassionate viewer, I made the most general, human observations of the relationship dynamics, which were completely not the objective of Somm. I am a nerd and have now been a woman longer than a girl so I will generalize on my experience as a cis gendered woman while also noting that gender is a spectrum so #notallmen, #notallwomen. Girls and women are socialized to drum the nerdy perseverating and obsessing out of them or to at least be considerate of others and rein it in so others can participate in the conversation who may not want to hear every detail about Midsommar for example. It is a bit of the chicken or the egg problem, but women and girls are not seen as experts because we are not always great at tooting our horn, and I think that it is related to this phenomenon whereas these guys are just one of many examples that show how guys are permitted to indulge and express their obsessions, are rewarded for droning on about the minutest detail and others are expected to encourage this behavior, including the contestants’ family and friends who must derail their life for this passion, because it is seen as a good thing. There were women sommeliers featured in the documentary, but I don’t think there are that many because of this phenomenon and people are more likely to tune out when a woman talks.
Also in terms of race, Somm captured a dynamic that I only noticed late in life during law school. I am speaking as the daughter of African Caribbean immigrants to America, but studying was considered a solitary activity and anything else was socializing with your friends and detracted from accomplishing goals. Group studying was never a concept that I could adjust to late in life as a result even though I objectively saw the benefits: shared resources of study materials, psychological effects to counter stress. While I think that it is true that black people have to work twice as hard to get half as much so that industriousness and single-minded focus is because we do not get as many chances as our counterparts, I do think that we miss out on the unofficial social currency that grows from that atmosphere. Now just because I didn’t do this instinctually, there is the flip side of the coin—do we get invited to the group study groups?
Because Somm did not break down the informal minutiae and logistics of how the group coalesced, it was hard to miss the obvious. DLynn was liked and even admired, but he was not part of the group. He may have been part of another group, but the documentary does not show it. I have no idea how the filmmakers chose which contestants to focus on, but out of fifty people, these four were chosen, and DLynn was a satellite in comparison to the core trio. In scenes, the trio are usually talking to each other, and DLynn is talking to the camera. To be fair, there are tons of confessionals so everyone talks to the camera at some point, but when there is serious studying, DLynn is not in the room. When the trio express concern that one of them may fail and get left behind, I do not think that anyone is referring to DLynn, not out of maliciousness or racism. The film’s purpose is not to question group dynamics or try to discern if group dynamics play an essential role in succeeding in becoming a sommelier, but to capture a time in the life of four people.
Because of its lack of introspection and interrogation of such obvious dynamics, Somm is an observational documentary that fails to give the viewer any insight deeper than being a fly on the wall in a room many consider desirable and exclusive. Yes, it is a room that most people would never get to enter, but if we are honest, how many really want to enter that particular room? Certainly more than those who are allowed. I will make room for those interested and count myself out. Only watch Somm if you want entry into this “exclusive” world.