7-28-07 Michael Moore
Yesterday, while Michael Moore was waiting in the dressing room to go on the Jay Leno show, he was served with a subpoena. The video is here.
I was a pretty solid fan of Michael Moore until "Bowling for Columbine" when it struck me that he wasn't so much a documentarian as a propagandist. So, I watched all his movies over again with a jaundiced eye. I came to the conclusion that, yes, he's basically a propagandist. The difference, for me, is that his films present information that isn't necessarily accurate, so much as it's skewed and formulated to evoke a particular response in the viewer. How else would you define propaganda?
Oddly enough, his latest film, "Sicko," is probably the most accurate presentation of information that he's done so far. So, you could say, he's apparently honing his skills and tightening up his usage of data to align more closely with the facts.
I'm certainly in the choir that he's preaching to, and I certainly don't mind seeing his popularity grow and his films accumulating such success. But his role in the society at this time should be understood, ie- his work is propaganda. And AS propaganda, it's the most influential thing out there aimed specifically to counter the prevailing propaganda.
For the Bush administration to sic the dogs of bureacracratic and legal red tape against this man is most definitely the proof of the pudding, in my opinion. They say that turnabout is fair play... Well, if George W. Bush went out and made an anti-Michael Moore propaganda film, ostensibly a documentary, then I would call that "fair."
This frivolous use of subpoena power, and the mis-use of US government power, generally, is what the Bush administration has been all about, however. Bush and Cheney have taken the following oath of office twice:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Neither of them have, to this date, honored that oath. Going after Michael Moore is, in my opinion, just another in the thousands of little straws on the camel's back, further proof that this administration is the worst thing to have happened to this country since the Civil War.
I was a pretty solid fan of Michael Moore until "Bowling for Columbine" when it struck me that he wasn't so much a documentarian as a propagandist. So, I watched all his movies over again with a jaundiced eye. I came to the conclusion that, yes, he's basically a propagandist. The difference, for me, is that his films present information that isn't necessarily accurate, so much as it's skewed and formulated to evoke a particular response in the viewer. How else would you define propaganda?
Oddly enough, his latest film, "Sicko," is probably the most accurate presentation of information that he's done so far. So, you could say, he's apparently honing his skills and tightening up his usage of data to align more closely with the facts.
I'm certainly in the choir that he's preaching to, and I certainly don't mind seeing his popularity grow and his films accumulating such success. But his role in the society at this time should be understood, ie- his work is propaganda. And AS propaganda, it's the most influential thing out there aimed specifically to counter the prevailing propaganda.
For the Bush administration to sic the dogs of bureacracratic and legal red tape against this man is most definitely the proof of the pudding, in my opinion. They say that turnabout is fair play... Well, if George W. Bush went out and made an anti-Michael Moore propaganda film, ostensibly a documentary, then I would call that "fair."
This frivolous use of subpoena power, and the mis-use of US government power, generally, is what the Bush administration has been all about, however. Bush and Cheney have taken the following oath of office twice:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Neither of them have, to this date, honored that oath. Going after Michael Moore is, in my opinion, just another in the thousands of little straws on the camel's back, further proof that this administration is the worst thing to have happened to this country since the Civil War.
posted by Jeff Barnard at 6:37 AM
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