The first time I was exposed to Michael Moore was in the late 90s when I saw “Bowling for Columbine”. I was just recently a teenager and didn’t quite grasp every aspect of the film which is a reminder that I should probably go back and watch it again but I do remember the research and attention to details that Moore presented was phenomenal. He has deserved every award and dollar received in the past 15 years. Sure I have a few complaints about Michael Moore but, compared to what I witnessed tonight at his screening, my thoughts are completely different from what everyone else has to say about Moore. First, let’s focus on his new film because that’s what this post should be focused on.
“Capitalism: A Love Story” reveals the corporate greed & corruption that happens in the American business system. He details the destruction of democracy, the exploitation and abuse of the “peasant workforce” and how our government’s greed let this all happen. Yes it was a fantastically produced Michael Moore documentary that made things easy to grasp for us simple folk but it was also entertaining and received as many laughs as it did gasps from the audience. As usual, I’m never surprised by what I see in these documentaries. In many ways, the way I was raised has exposed me to the harsh realities of our world in terms of corporate america, how the government truly works and even where our food comes from. Documentaries only serve as a brief refresher (not reminder) to how things are but I’m certainly well aware of how things are in the world from a big picture standpoint.
Something that I find worth noting too is that I get a lot of hell from the web and friends about my lack of knowledge about current events, celebrity news and the latest this or that. Honestly, I don’t care and I do pay attention to such news when someone tells me about it only enough to track exactly how long before that news is no longer “news”. Things that really matter to us and our world are on my mind and I’m actively doing something about it. Who’s dating who and even wary / terrorism around the globe aren’t on my radar. The reason why is that these stories are big news for 2 days and then gone despite the fact that the war or global issues are still happening. So chill out about my lack of knowledge about what governor cheated on his wife and instead try yourself to not get caught up on what’s cool now and what’s important right now. Anyway, back to the review.
My complaint about each of Michael Moore’s films and this actually pertains to most documentaries is that everything is one sided. Filmmakers use extreme happiness & extreme sadness to get their point across. A mother who lost their child to a disease is shown crying on screen while the corporate insurance exec is shown getting out of his limo while narration of his 400 million dollar a year bonus is discussed. Yes this is reality and yes I’m not arguing the validity of the film but what I’d like to see is an honest look at both sides of the fence from a reporter or journalist that is truly non-biased. During my talk with Moore after the film, he was introduced as a “liberal, political commentator” and I see this as an issue. I am liberal and generally voted democratic unless I see a candidate who has values and a track record of truly doing the right thing and not just voting along with his party’s core values.
Moore is truly presenting the case from a far left point of view which is completely okay and I support him simply because his films are full of information that would have taken me a lot of time to learn from myself. Moore works for years on a film and it shows and for that, I applaud him. What I hope for is a far-right version of Michael Moore that shows an honest and straightforward display from the other side of the fence but it has to be honest and not full of BS. Better yet, let’s get someone who has Michael Moore’s passion for uncovering the truth but presents this truth in a bi-partisan fashion and then I’ll be a fan. I doubt this will ever happen.
The film is worth seeing as I recommend all of his movies because it uncovers many truths that were previously buried deep below our modern consumer economy mindset. The truth was there but we chose not to see it. We need more Michael Moores to help us see what was in front of us the whole time.
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I saw the movie early as I am a part of the California Commonwealth Club. They offered members a chance to see the film weeks before release followed by a discussion with Moore himself, Q&A and refreshments afterward. It was a pleasure to meet Michael in person but something struck me about people in Moore’s position and that’s being called a HYPOCRITE.
My position on calling people that is that I don’t. I simply don’t call someone a hypocrite even if they murder 50 people and then travel around selling bibles and reciting the 7 deadly sins. The definition of hypocrite is:
a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings
On the exterior of Moore’s personal in these films, it would be easy to call him this. In the latest film, he discusses capitalism and how democracy should be implemented in every workplace as he highlights a few business that are doing this where every employee is a part owner and each of them have a vote. Naturally, during the Q&A, someone stood up and criticized him for making so much money from these films and not distributing it to the people who helped him make the film. I was partly expecting this ever since I saw Moore arrive with two trained body guards at his side that remained near his stage during the Q&A. It was clear that he’s dealt with public criticism and perhaps physical attacks in the past. His response to this question isn’t important. It was clearly rehearsed but why share it with you now? Because it doesn’t matter.
Michael Moore is a filmmaker. His job is more to entertain than it is to inform and ultimately, good films make money and given that he’s the writer, producer and director of these films, then it only makes sense that he made money from each of these movies. I’m not christian but the teachings of Jesus even if mostly fictional do have value on our daily lives. The lesson of the stone throwers as Jesus asks if those without sin cast the first stone and everyone realizes that they are all full of sin and therefore they can’t possibly stone this person given their past sins. This is why I don’t call someone a hypocrite. Michael Moore is adding value to our lives by informing and entertaining us who choose not to see. A result of that is that he makes millions of dollars. For any of us to criticize how he lives his personal life is completely false and so typical of us to do.
The analogy of crabs in a bucket comes to mind and the fact that we always want to pull those who have success down with us by any means necessary. You know how you can prove something to Michael Moore? Take a job in finance or public office or health care and live out your career without become corrupt, greedy or bought. Help people and make our world better and support others who live by the same standards that you do. Start a co-op business based on a democratic system, buy American and respect your employees. Don’t take bribes, don’t buy with credit when you don’t have the money and, as Michael said, “go make your own film and inform me.”
Michael Moore is on his own path and he is adding a valuable product to our lives that we can purchase and enjoy that betters our lives. Just because he’s overweight, has millions of dollars and doesn’t donate 80% of his income to charities doesn’t mean he’s not contributing to our society and making the world a better place. Everyone is contributing in their own way and as I type this blog post at 1:20AM on a Friday morning after working from 7AM-Midnight for the 6th day in a row, it’s clear that I’m contributing to society in a positive way. When you go home at 5PM and plop down on the couch for a football game and read this post in disgust, just remember that both myself and Michael Moore are probably working our ass off trying to make the world a better place as you sit there and criticize us for not living what we preach. For the record, Michael isn’t preaching and is only presenting the truth. Whether he chooses to apply what he has uncovered to better himself or his world is up to him just as it is up to you whether you want to use the knowledge for good. Stop casting stones and start looking inward.
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Mr. Moore did comment on the newspaper industry and I was extremely happy in what he said as I align with his opinions on this. The newspaper industry will be dead in 12 months. He and I both agree that this is a sad ending to a 400 year tradition of the world’s news delivered to your doorstep each and every day. Moore says that millions of Americans are illiterate or can’t read beyond a 4th grade level. He also added the European newspapers focus on circulation as their primary income while American newspapers focus on advertising revenues. Newspapers are more likely to lay off staff than simply focus on improving the quality and circulation of their paper. The combination of Americans becoming more stupid, paired with the fact that newspapers have not evolved has ultimately led to their failure.
It wasn’t too late for the newspapers a few years ago but now it is. The sad part about this situation is, “John with a blog in redwood city talking up a storm about the Afghanistan war can’t report like the New York Times can” and this is from Michael’s mouth word for word. It pisses me off how people are fighting for citizen journalism and praising the death of our newspapers and traditional media. There has to be compromise or a middle ground. Bloggers need to go back to Journalism school and learn how to write honest and thoroughly investigated stories about current events. Newspapers and TV reporters need to let go of the greed, forget advertisers and try to honestly report the news to the best of their ability with ZERO FILTER and together both mediums can exist.
If the traditional press continues to lose our trust and bloggers continue to write op-ed pieces (like this one I’m writing now) that have zero investigation or insight then the way we get information is doomed for failure and there isn’t a single technological advance that can truly resolve what is happening right now. Real-time news systems like Twitter and FriendFeed aren’t going to do it and we’re going to feel (and actually be) stupid when newspapers are gone and we’re a dumber nation because of it.
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The evening with Michael Moore was enlightening, fun and educational. Go see the film and keep your opinions of Michael’s personal lifestyle to yourself. Finally, do what I did and subscribe to the Sunday local paper. Get it delivered to your doorstep and support the industry.
LINKS:
Video (Available Soon):Fora.tv
Audio (Available Soon): Commonwealth Club
Moderator Website: http://angiecoiro.com/