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Capitalism: A Love Story
Michael Moore asks, "Dude, where's my money?"
Michael Moore loves America, but America does not love Michael Moore. After the release of Fahrenheit 9/11 public opinion of the liberal filmmaker took a downturn. Republicans have good reason to hate him but the attitude of Democrats is baffling. They claim to dislike his oversimplification, his manipulation of emotions and sometimes facts, and his bombastic personality. Republicans have long used these methods to influence the public with great success - all Moore does is play them at their own highly effective game. There's been a lot of talk around health care reform about Democrats behaving too nicely, too politely. Jon Stewart recently argued on 'The Daily Show' that it's the rationality and fairness of the Democrats that will prevent them from making any real changes. While the Republicans are sending out hugely marketable statements and buzzwords, however misguided, the Democrats are bumbling around with the details. We love President Obama not for the small print of his plans, but for how he makes us feel. We need more "Yes we can" and less "Um, yes, well by 2011, we might". Moore has been a liberal in Republican's clothing for the last decade - he looks like a Republican and he sounds like a Republican. He takes radical ideas, mixes them up using the Republican recipe, and makes them easy to swallow. Capitalism: A Love Story contains some very radical ideas - Moore argues that capitalism is evil, that the US is run like a corporation, that big business holds more power than politicians. He started making the film before the crash, and although the recession has produced a few more doubters of the American Dream you don't have to look far to see that it is still alive and kicking. The President presumably thought that health care reform would be welcomed, that at such a time Americans would be open to an alternative, but even the disenfranchised still love that free market system. With all this in mind, all Moore's ensuing evidence is picked expertly. Moore acknowledges that many members of the dubiously labeled middle class truly believe that if they just work hard enough they too will be rich, rich, rich. Moore flatters his audience, and his detractors, by saying that we are all both mere pawns and entirely capable of taking back the power. This is about democracy, not socialism, he assures. In contrast to most of the movies made on his side of the fence, his always end positively with a rallying cry for grassroots activism. In the past Moore has even taken to telling us exactly how to carry out our rebellion with unfailingly practical, down-to-earth advice. Documentaries far too often end with doom and a shrug of the shoulders. Moore reveals how big corporations like Wal-Mart are taking life insurance policies out on their employees and collecting millions upon death. He shows us a privately run, for-profit juvenile detention centre in Pennsylvania and the judges that were paid off to keep it full of teenagers. It is a shame that due to his notoriety Moore can no longer get access to the men in the penthouse office suites. It's also a shame that liberals spend more time in-fighting than battling for change, that they are too busy hating Michael Moore to learn from him. He's playing the game while they're all still searching for the rules. Verdict Making the truth Moore-ish. |
