A foregone conclusion

...documentary films aim to persuade the audience of a particular point of view through well ordered visual stimulation, supplemented by a sound track that interprets (through the role of the talking head and voice-of-God narrative) and arouses the viewer’s interest (through music). In many cases, a well argued and defensible thesis is not a top priority. Esthetically pleasing presentations outweigh the emphasis on scholarly content, for documentaries rarely have the luxury of slowing down to clarify argumentation or provide well-developed theses lest they lose their audience and disturb the flow of the storyline.—Archaeology, Bible, Politics, and the Media, page 116

<idle musing>
Sounds more like entertainment than documentary, doesn't it? And that's exactly what it is!
</idle musing>