I saw Roger and Me. I saw Canadian Bacon. One sided, sure. Hatchet jobs? Of course. Now I am not going to sit here and debate whether you can consider his new movies are documentaries. Because they are not. Note: I am NOT linking those movies on this site. You want information, go and get it yourself. There is not reason to debate how these propaganda pieces of Michael Moore are filled with exaggerations and outright lies. These tactics were used in propaganda films for Nazis and the Soviet Union and other totalitarian states. People like Havel, Walesea, and others who had to fight for truth would be shocked that so many of the United States would not only tolerate false information, but how many people who consider themselves "progressive" would endorse this type of information flow. I am not going to spend hours lambasting Mr. Moore because frankly, I would rather discuss thinking opposition.
My question is this: A USA Today article said that Fahrenheit 9/11 is a good movie putting aside the politics. Let's remember our past note on double standards (The Misspent One conquers this issue as well). What if the USA Today had a headline for Triumph of the Wills by Leni Riefenstahl? Or, how about DW Griffiths, A Birth of a Nation? Both films are seen as two of the strongest films ever made. Since TOTW is seen as a propaganda film for the Nazi's (that is debatable, while Moore's is clearly propaganda), and DW Griffith gave a positive view of the Klan, they were blacklisted forever. One can barely mention these movies in the Hollywood circles. Yet, Hollywood praises a movie that promotes falsehoods. If this movie praised Bush, would the praise still want to "ignore the politics?"
Many would hang their heads and say the Liberal elites seem to be well entrenched. I offer a counter theory that has history on my side. Remember the Soviet Union in the last decade. They seemed to be so strong as they propagated some absurd theories. The shooting of Flight 007. The fact that they would wait months to announce a leader would die. Chernobyl meltdowns. During all of this, our liberal media thought there was not way for the truth to penetrate into the Soviets thoughts. Furthermore, some would argue (like today) that our enemy's words were truth and ours should be questioned. A short decade later, on nation no longer exists. The liberals are filling their supporters with scare-tactics (Every time you vote Republican, a lynch mob hangs a black, Bush went to war for oil…) As the lies get more preposterous, the silent majority grows.
Hmmm. You shouldn't say that these films were dismissed, although in some circles they were. BON was #44 on AFI's list of greatest American movies ever. Also, TOTW is propaganda, plain and simple. However, it is propaganda that is much more powerful than any Moore "documentary". His films are neither documentaries nor propaganda. What is he advocating with his films? There is no ideology or consistency in his films, he is just denegrating. His movies are venom, pure expressions of blinding hate with no regard to logic, reason, or fact.
No one remembers that a certain Woodrow Wilson was used in the introduction to Birth of a Nation that was shown in theatres giving it a ringing endorsement:"It's like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all terribly true." See here for more info: http://www.filmsite.org/birt.html
Also, one never hears how President Wilson purged the federal staff of many of the black Americans that had been hired under Republican administrations. See here for more info: http://reason.com/links/links121802.shtml
Thank you for your time.
Posted by: The Misspent Life | June 24, 2004 at 06:40