"The rightwing backlash has spawned a number of documentaries questioning his methods, including Rick Caine and Debbie Melnyk's Manufacturing Dissent."
This is really an unfair statement. Cain and Melnyk started out as admirers of Moore, and they were stunned to learn of some of the things he did; for example, interviewed Roger Smith when he was making "Roger and Me" - but burying the interview, and making it appear that he chased Smith through the whole making of the movie, but was never allowed to catch up to him.
In the larger scheme of things it doesn't matter - did he get it wrong that the US auto industry is in deep trouble, that unemployment and crime are the chief products of Flint and Detroit now, that people are in desperate poverty and misery (unrelieved by the Clinton years, BTW)? Of course not, but his critics, and critics of the left will seize on factual errors, or dirty tricks he's pulled.
It reminds me of the Christic Institute, and the Iran-Contra lawsuit they launched on behalf of Tony Avirgan after he was injured in the La Penca bombing. The lawsuit was based on a mix of fact and speculation, and I remember Daniel Sheehan saying that he figured that if he got 80% of it right in the papers he filed, he was on good grounds, he'd uncover the other 20% in discovery.
Of course he did no such thing - the suit was thrown out, the government used the RICO act to demand Christic pay the defendants millions of dollars. Their loyal supporters spent their money on nothing (except Sheehans vast ego) Avirgan was left empty handed, bitter, reputation tarnished, and it went a long way to convince people that ALL of Iran Contra was just a wild liberal conspiracy theory.
Moore with his sloppy methods and vast ego will sooner or later give them something similar to hang him with, and all progressives will be tarred with the same brush. I have always been somewhat ambivalent about Moore (the circumstances around his firing from Mother Jones years ago left me wondering about him) - the more time that passes, the more the deficits mount, and the more the credits shrink in Moore's account with me.
http://film.
guardian. co.uk/print/ 0,,329880835- 124864,00. html
US government trying to seize new Michael Moore film, says producerHarvey Weinstein fires latest shot in battle over healthcare documentaryCharlotte Higgins in Cannes
Saturday May 19, 2007
GuardianCannes is smacking its lips in anticipation of filmmaker and provocateur Michael Moore's latest jeremiad against the US administration, which receives its premiere at the film festival today. Sicko, a documentary tackling the state of American healthcare, focuses on the pharmaceutical giants, and particularly on health insurers.The film has already caused Moore - who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2004 with Fahrenheit 911 - to clash with the American authorities. Now, according to movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Company is behind the film, the US government is attempting to impound the negative.
According to Weinstein, the US Treasury's moves meant "we had to fly the movie to another country"- he would not say to where. "Let the secret service find that out - though this is the same country that thought there were weapons of mass destruction, so they'll never find it." He added that he feared that if the film were impounded, there might be attempts to cut some footage, in particular the last 20 minutes, which related to a trip to Cuba. This, said Weinstein, "would not be good."
In March, Moore travelled to the Caribbean island with a group of emergency workers from New York's Ground Zero to see whether they would receive better care under the Castro regime than they had under George Bush. He had applied for permission to travel in October 2006 and received no reply.
In a letter dated May 2, the treasury department notified Moore that it was investigating him for unlicensed travel to Cuba, or, as the missive put it, engaging in "travel-related transactions involving Cuba."
Now team Moore is hitting back. Weinstein has hired an attorney, David Boies, who has lodged a request under the US freedom of information act to find out what motivated the treasury to begin its investigation. "They have to tell us why they did it and what they did," said Weinstein. "And they are not too happy about it."
Weinstein believes the investigation has a political agenda. "We want to find out who motivated this. We suspect there may be interference from another office," he said. "Otherwise, I don't understand why this would have come about."
Weinstein named no suspects in this putative political interference, but referred to outspoken critics of Moore on the Republican right - who tend to accuse him of peddling propaganda rather than of undertaking serious journalism - including presidential hopeful Bob Thompson.
"Senator Thompson has come out with a tirade against Michael. Michael said he'd debate him, but Thompson turned him down," said Weinstein.
He also said that insurers and pharmaceutical companies had "already sent out letters advising employees how to react when the film comes out".
Weinstein appeared to be enjoying the brouhaha that the film is stirring up before it has even screened. "I've already told the Treasury that they are saving me money on advertising."
In Cannes, the Weinstein Company's offices are decorated with a mural of the rotund Moore sitting in a hospital waiting area flanked by a pair of skeletons, and Sicko sticking plasters are being given away as promotional gifts.
Moore's underlying thesis in Sicko relates to the structure of American society. "Others see themselves as a collective that sinks or swims together," he told Variety.
"It's important to have a safety net and free universal health care. In America, unfortunately, we're more focused on what's in it for me. It's every man for himself. If you're sick and have lost a job, it's not my problem. Don't bother me."
The insurance companies are a negative force, he believes. "They get in the way of taking care of those who are ill. They make it worse. We don't need them," he said.
The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, may be surprised by Moore's ringing - if strictly speaking, factually inaccurate - endorsement for the NHS. "The poorest Brit is healthier and lives longer than the wealthiest American," he said.
Of his journalistic style, he said: "It's the op-ed page. You don't say that's not journalism. I present my opinion, my take on things, based on indisputable facts. They could be wrong. I think they're right." Moore's biggest hit to date has been Fahrenheit 911, which took $222m (£112m) worldwide. He made Bowling For Columbine, his acclaimed film about US gun culture, in 2002. The rightwing backlash has spawned a number of documentaries questioning his methods, including Rick Caine and Debbie Melnyk's Manufacturing Dissent. Moore has hired Al Gore's former press secretary, Chris Lehane, to help him to deal with "the forces I'm up against".
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
Love is all there is
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
No comments:
Post a Comment