Less Than Daily

v 4.03: proof if needed that not all roleplayers lead interesting lives

Why Michael Moore Annoys Me

I have a few friends who lap up everything Michael Moore says with, (what appears to me) an incredible amount of gullibility, and astounding failure to actually apply common sense to what they see on the screen.

It’s “cool” to diss George W and the ‘Corporate world’, and government conspiracies are always popular. Moore plays on this, and uses it to disguise some shoddy ideas, and (it seems) blatant mistruths.

Obviously his stuff is politically motivated. I’m not American, I don’t care either way about George W, neither should anyone else who isn’t American / being invaded by America.

I sat down and watched Bowling for Columbine, I was fairly sceptical already, but was looking forward to watching it, so tried to keep an open mind.

…he pointed the camera at some stupid Americans, and let them make themselves look stupid. Then used the ridiculous things they said as ‘evidence’.

One gimp reckoned he was number 3 on the FBI’s wanted list after the Oklahoma bombings .. why? .. because he owned a copy of The Anarchists Handbook. Utter rubbish! But I’ve had friends telling me that in America you can get sent to jail simply for checking the wrong book out of the Library … rubbish! why would the libraries stock those books?

His reporting is not impartial, there is no middle ground, so even the facts in his report are well hidden by the huge bias he adds.

I write this having only seen Bowling for Columbine, I haven’t read his books, or seen Fahrenheit 911 .. it may be that BfC is universally accepted as the worst piece of work he’s ever done .. but I doubt it.

Quite how he is able to convince people who I know are intelligent to believe his every word without applying their own judgement is something I really don’t understand… ?

Here’s what some Passing Idiots had to say:

  1. PickledPixie avatar
    PickledPixie

    I see MM as merely giving an alternate view of things. you have Governments and Big Business on one side giving their view with spin and PR and MM on the other side giving his view.

    Viewing any one set of ‘facts’ as presented by either side is bad. MM is (for me anyway) giving people more information so that they can use their own judgement to form their own opinion.

    Just believing everything the Government/Big Business tells you is just as bad as believing everything MM tells you.

    Reply
  2. MarkA avatar
    MarkA

    mcphee and I have a regular merry banter about Michael Moore, Eric Schlosser (and anyone else who seem to challenge his beloved status quo) on a regular basis, and I tend to lose/ look silly as I’m generally not as good at articulating my thoughts and arguments vocally as he is.

    Normally on blogs (and in general), I’m not very well researched and could be/ am easily taken apart by anyone who disagrees and does a decent amount of research themselves. Not so on Michael Moore: he is a personal hero and idol of mine. I fully intend to do a massive entry on my own blog about how great Michael Moore is and why I love him. I had been planning this since seeing Fahrenheit 9/11, which was before both Prince Gaz and phee blogged about him.

    Incidentally Phee, have you met many people who agree with you about Michael Moore? I am constantly on about him to anyone who’ll listen, and I’ve never found a single person other than yourself who dislikes him! The three reactions I do get are:
    “Who?”
    “Ooooh! I’ve always intended to read one of his books or see one of his films.”
    “I love him!!!”

    Mark A

    PS: Phee and I get on great and are great friends: we just disagree on politics, religion, picketing, the nature or nurture thing, relationships, whether Phixx are fabulous or not… [grin]

    Reply
  3. PrinceGaz avatar
    PrinceGaz

    I’m always able and willing to participate in an active discussion of current affairs, actually I love nothing better than a good debate about political issues etc. Okay theres *some* things I love more, but I do really love to get into a good debate.

    As for MM, of course I follow his every word and worship at the foot of my monitor as I watch him. NOT!

    After finishing watching F9/11, one of the first things I did was Google to reliable major independent news sites to verify some of the claims made in the film. Which as far as I can tell are actually all correct.

    I do like MM’s stance, but that would never stop me from checking the facts myself, as being duped would be worse than being a Republican supporter.

    Reply
  4. PrinceGaz avatar
    PrinceGaz

    I can’t help but be more than a bit curious about what phee’s views on the nature vs. nurture question, picketing, and religion are.

    Reply
  5. mcphee avatar
    mcphee

    these sounds like the kind of subjects likely to cause disagreements, so I’ll give brief answers 😀

    a) nurture,

    b) The picketing one is difficult to answer cos each case differs, and I’m not in the union so worked through the last strike (which was about money).

    In general as far as I can see, most strikes are based on wanting more money … firemen knew how much the job paid when they applied to be firemen … what right do they have to refuse to save peoples lives now, just cos they decide they’d actually like more, now they’ve come to think about it. Get a better paid job if you want to be better paid.

    c) Religious

    Reply
  6. MarkA avatar
    MarkA

    And you call me ‘wrong’?! 😀
    Love ya really, man.
    M x

    Reply
  7. PickledPixie avatar
    PickledPixie

    The Fireworkers strike made me laugh at what a crazy world we seem to live in. For the work they do they might deserve more money, I dunno, nothing to do with me.

    However, whenever they strike, the army brings out the ‘green goddesses’ and there is much concern about how they are old and unable to cope… erm aren’t the fire engines owned by the country not the firemen? It’s also ‘funny’ that some of the army people using these green goddesses are on much less money than the firefighters in the first place.

    Note: not particularly anti-firemen just “crazy world” thoughts.

    Reply
  8. PrinceGaz avatar
    PrinceGaz

    Training is needed to operate modern fire engines safely, the army couldn’t just jump into them and be expected to use them. Of course some would counter that by saying they should be trained to use them, but doing so would just add to the current dispute.

    Its not just about pay (or the fact that their salary has fallen considerably in real terms over the last ten years), its about pay and conditions. New equipment including specialist anti-terrorist gear is being added to their workload and they feel this should be reflected in their pay. As to whether they deserve what they are asking, well its a dangerous job (two firemen were killed in a blaze in London just last tuesday, for instance). Its not like Trumpton 🙂

    Reply
  9. mcphee avatar
    mcphee

    But it was still a dangerous job when they went to all the trouble of filling in application forms, attending interviews and applying for The Job They Wanted To Do.

    And every job develops over time, I get asked to do loads of stuff now that was never a part of Trading Standards when I joined it .. I’m Warrington’s Radiation Emergency Officer, as well as Weights & Measures Officer, and a Trading Standards Officer .. Jobs evolve, otherwise we’d all be standing still, Petrol Stations would just sell petrol instead of being mini supermarkets, Filmmakers would still be producing silent films in black & white, etc etc.

    If you don’t like your job, and think you’re worth more money, go and get a job that pays that much money. Don’t leave people to die just cos you fancy a sportier car.

    Reply
  10. PickledPixie avatar
    PickledPixie

    Incidentally, discovered today that some guy is making a documentary in the style of Michael Moore. The subject of the documentary is … Michael Moore. Should be a fun parody. Originally he wanted it to go out at the same time as Farenheit 9/11 but that wasn’t possible, should be out soonish though.

    Official Site

    Reply
  11. PrinceGaz avatar
    PrinceGaz

    The title is: Michael Moore Hates America

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411646/

    Actually he doesn’t hate America at all, on the contrary he loves his country. What he hates is what has happened to America over the past few years because of corporate greed and their right-wing Republican allies.

    Reply
  12. PrinceGaz avatar
    PrinceGaz

    Ooops, missed the link you posted Pix. Anyway a quick google found it.

    Reply

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