That Michael Moore is not a the nice guy you want to drink a beer with, well, you have propably read that several times, fair enough. But that did not matter to have a laugh about his films and wonder how a country like the US can deal with such an amalgamation of dullness in their suburbs. Of course most people don’t watch his movies because of him, but he is credible enough to tell the intriguing “truth” of what America has turned into (after the Republicans stole the election). He portrayed american capitalism as a bloodless vampyr without control that harms society, CEOs as moneydriven slaveholders without a conscience, the average Joe as a weapon enthuasiast that is as much a time bomb to civilisation as his birdbrained president. Anybody in Europe who required a simple explaination for the dull foreign policy of the Bush administration and their war of terror had Mr. Moore in his pocket, quoting his books or movies to prove that there is good reason to be an Anti-American. That turned Mr Moore into Mr. Chief of Staff of the “Reveal the truth about America”-Documentary Corps. These folks should better look for a new advocate as two Canadian filmmakers have now revealed in their documentary Manufacturing Dissent.
Ok, we always assumed that Moore would have to exaggerate here and there for the sake of a story, but certainly not that he deliberately lied to his audience. Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine prove it convincingly: A gun handed over to the customer in a bank for opening a bank account? Staged! The CEO from GM not responding to his requests for interviews? Untrue, Moore got two appointments with Roger Smith and made interviews in both sessions. But how would that support Moores’ message that the executives have forgotten about the people and the social consequences of their leadership? It doesn’t, so Moore tells his audience what he believes it might want to hear. He acknowledges that in press conferences, but of course would never mention that in his movies ’cause that would spoil the story. To me that turns funny infotainment into a staged comedy of a greedy director to serve one party in a political battle, where the best populist wins the debate. Sorry, that’s not my thang! If you want a critical documentary that really deals with it’s subject thoroughly and does not distort the facts, download “The Corporation” instead and see how the whole western world has to deal with very similar problems, that are not invented by the Americans. Moore claims he does it for higher objectives. What objectives justifiy this noble claim if it is not the sheer greed for greenbacks?