Monday, September 07, 2009

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is Michael Moore

"Capitalism is evil," says new Michael Moore film

VENICE (Reuters) - Capitalism is evil. That is the conclusion U.S. documentary maker Michael Moore comes to in his latest movie "Capitalism: A Love Story," which premieres at the Venice film festival Sunday.

Blending his trademark humor with tragic individual stories, archive footage and publicity stunts, the 55-year-old launches an all out attack on the capitalist system, arguing that it benefits the rich and condemns millions to poverty.

"Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil," the two-hour movie concludes.

"You have to eliminate it and replace it with something that is good for all people and that something is democracy."


Thus sayeth an overweight, charmless son of Michigan who has made millions trashing the very system that has accounted for his fortune.

Clearly, his hypocrisy exceeds even his sizable girth.

This reminds me of what led me to the Center-Right of the political spectrum in the first place; multi-millionaire rock stars, in the 60s and early 70s, who continually decried and ridiculed "businessmen" and the entire corporate "system". Something just didn't smell right.

What were they, besides "businessmen"? They created a product (music) and that product was marketed and sold by the very corporate "system" which they claimed to abhor. Where are those rock stars now? Many are still living an opulent lifestyles on the royalties from those very recordings that they made decades ago.

As for Michael Moore, he's done rather well for himself. From CNN Money:

VENICE (Fortune) -- If anyone has profited from the free-enterprise system in the past 20 years, it's Michael Moore. Since 1989, when his "Roger & Me" pioneered the docu-comedy form of nonfiction film, Moore's movies, TV shows and best-selling books have given him an eight-figure net worth.

And in all of these, he is the improbable star: a heavyset fellow with a doofus grin, alternately laughing and badgering but always at the center of his own attention. Why, there he is, at the end of his new movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story," wrapping the New York Stock Exchange building in yellow tape that reads: CRIME SCENE.

The writer-director-propagandist has earned every penny and Euro of his boodle. Moore's last three filmed diatribes -- "Bowling for Columbine," "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Sicko" --h ave amassed more than $300 million in theaters worldwide, and loads more on DVD; and "Fahrenheit" is, by a long stretch, the top-grossing documentary of all time.

At least the corporations that he has chosen to criticize are forthright about their goals; they're in it for the money. On the other hand, Moore is much like a televangelist, asking for your money to "spread the Good Word" while using that money to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself. Therein lies the difference; one is honest and one is not.

I'll take an honest capitalist over a rogue and charlatan like Moore any day, at any time.

1 comment:

DANIELBLOOM said...

RE;

"Thus sayeth an overweight, charmless son of Michigan who has made millions trashing the very system that has accounted for his fortune."

It's not so much that he is leftwing or makes money, that is not the issue. The issue is that he is a sick, overweight obese person in dire need of medical help for his obesity, and yet he just sits there like it;s normal to be so fat. He has a mental problem with his body. He needs help. Just like John Hughes died from overweight at 59, Moore is due to drop dead soon too. Sad.

funny: the code word here for my to type was "fatso"