Hiya
rtWhere in the world does it say that a documentary filmmaker has to be objective?
This was discussed about MM when 'Bowling for Columbine' first came out. The response? Good documentary films/filmmakers are objective.
That leaves the rest and includes MM.
All film is about manipulating and organizing ideas in a precise fashion to make your point---that goes for narrative or documentary film.
Not all of them.
Michael Moore is a poweful provocateur, a brilliant satirist and I believe, a deeply feeling person.
Yes, he is all those things.
I don't really care about any of those supposed fact-fudgings that the Right (read: wrong) claims he's done in F-9/11
Well, I did because I was a liberal defending liberals to my right-wing friends and all they were going on about was MM's "lies and propaganda" in the F 9/11 film. After a while I had to shut up because I didn't have a leg to stand on fact-wise. And neither did MM after the criticism came down on his head. After being touted as a 'documentary filmmaker' he eventually had to come out and say F 9/11 wasn't a 'documentary' but a political film. Had MM been less fast and easy with the facts, perhaps he would have reached the audience that mattered. The 50+% who voted for Dubya.
the guy knows how to make a moving and thoughtful film and the majority of the facts speak for themselves.
Well the facts that mattered spoke poorly in F 9-11 and it made the liberals and MM look bad to right-wingers. Not what we want.
And as far as the Oscar theatrics go, I'm all for it--when Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and the whole crew can get up there and do the same
I'm with whoever wants to speak politically - so long as they WIN an award. Robbins/Sarandon and company - I think it was - were one time presenters at the Oscars and chose the podium to speak out on their own political views. They were soundly lambasted for not 'earning' the right to speak because they hadn't won anything.
Then in other cases, you run into trouble.
Years ago, winner Lynn Redgrave was it? spoke in favor of the Palestinian people when she won her award. A few minutes later, a Jewish/Israeli winner came out and spoke against HER political POV.
[shrugs]
I really think Michael Moore, who represents the everyman more than any of them, should be afforded the same luxury--free speech.
Agree. It's just very controlling of him to try to get the audience to go along with him.
Bowling for Columbine was a human and compassionate film, to me. Ditto F-9/11. The guys has balls and conviction, and a sense of what is right--at least what is right to me.
Definitely disagree with you on both of these. MM made some good points - the open-a-bank-account and win-a-free-gun was sheer genius. The rest of it was very staged - you could really tell - and very manipulative.