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A Hollywood Story in Three Acts
Act I
”Documentary” film maker Michael Moore speaking on George W. Bush’s re-election on the website backstage.com in December 2004:
“Democrats need to embrace Hollywood because this is where they need to come to learn how to tell a story.”
Act II
February 20, 2018 Michael Moore to Donald Trump, Jr on Twitter:
Act III
Michael Moore today:
The moral of our tale? If you’re going to tell stories, delete the early drafts and just submit the final script.
Published in Humor
Michael Moore rarely lets facts get in his way of a good lie. The man is a joke at best.
Lovely, EJ. The play peaks in Act II, and Act III seems maudlin, but I think I could enjoy listening to Michael Moore’s blues. Hollywood, indeed.
If it’s any consolation, these days Moore’s movies have been tanking. To be fair (hey, I’d give even the Devil his due, or Dr. Zachary Smith, or Count Baltar), that type of agitprop documentary doesn’t play well in theaters any more, even when it’s not his. It’s now Peak TV material (/sarc) and Mike’s too much a tradition-bound Boomer to realize it.
Another factor not entirely under his control is time. His celebrity has faded. Most 20 year olds probably think of him if at all, as the maker of boring films that their 40 year old teachers made them watch. Time wounds all heels.
I’m going to give a surprising very slight nod to someone I generally can’t stand, Bill Maher. His film “Religulous” is just what you’d expect, an atheist’s attempted debunking of faith, featuring Maher’s conversations and confrontations with believers; not too different from Moore’s overall style. But I’ll give Maher this over Moore: if the interviewed guy gets the better of him, which happens a few times even by his reckoning, (a genial young actor in a Jesus pageant; an idealistic young priest in Rome) Bill Maher leaves it in the movie. Moore, AFAIK, doesn’t do that. The Left has to win every round.
He’s still got his good looks though.
Newspaper cartoons, both editorials and cartoon strips, have withered with the rest of the press, but there was a time, let’s say 1991-2011, when everyone recognized a caricature of a sloppily dressed bearded fat guy with a baseball cap and a camera on his shoulder.
Difficult even to hold him in contempt anymore, pathetic and irrelevant. Let him vent as he pleases.
EJ,
What a grotesque bucket of cr%p Michael Moore really is.
Regards.
Jim
I confess I don’t understand how the first act relates to the other two.
Act I basically says “tell a story, it doesn’t have to be true.” Acts II and III are examples of inconsistency in the name of storytelling.
I never thought I would be defending Michael Moore, but here goes:
Andrew Klavan (inter alia) points out that, while Republicans generally have much better policy ideas than Democrats (a low bar), they fail at popularizing their ideas by framing them in a story people can relate to. On that point, Mr. Moore isn’t wrong. Other than that, of course, he peaked with Canadian Bacon.
And some of “our” ideas how to frame it are a joke. Ever seen the web and TV ads of Generation Opportunity? In some ways, I hate to make fun of them since I’m more or less on their side. They aren’t the only ones. I’d say that conservative attempts to influence opinion usually look like Eighties infomercials, but that would be a dreadful insult to a previous generation of broadcast technicians and creators, as few right-screen efforts rise to the excitement, verve and electrifying sex appeal of an Eighties infomercial.
(Medium shot, college dorm room. RODNEY, a twenty year old Black student, takes off his headphones to address the camera.)
RODNEY: Word! I am so bummed. Some of our most trusted allies won’t get their fighter aircraft because of political meddling at the Export-Import Bank!
HOUSEWIFE ON GROCERY LINE: And I have to pay more taxes every time that F-35 line has to shut down! It’s an obvious issue of supply chain logistics, and as a wife and mother I want Congress held accountable!
FARMER: And I can’t sell wheat to customers who can’t afford to buy bread!
ANNOUNCER: It’s a no brainer! Call your representative in Congress today and say, “I vote for commerce!