I Want to Lock These Two in a Thunderdome

So I saw Michael Moore's last movie, Capitalism: A Love Story. The man is a very talented filmmaker, but the more of him I see, the more comparisons I tend to draw between him and Rush Limbaugh.

They're both gruff and overweight, and very talented entertainers, by all accounts, but obviously but there's more to it than that. They're both quite intelligent, in their own way, and they both have an uncanny knack for presenting just the right parts of a story to get their point across. They present this material, quite frequently, out of context, because they sound more right when they do. They are also both rabid, foaming-at-the-teeth supporters of far-wing agendas. Now, all things being equal, I may be more likely to agree with Moore than I am with Limbaugh, but that doesn't change the fact he's batshit crazy. In his latest movie, he spent several hours attempting to rope off the AIG building with crime scene tape, because they stole America's money. Now, that's funny in a way, but I think it would work better as a Family Guy bit than a documentary.

I don't think anybody who bothers to read my blog needs to be convinced that Limbaugh pulls this shit on a regular, but just in case a far-right conservative has wandered in, let me just make this disclaimer: I gave the man three chances. Three different times, I listened to his show, and on each occasion he either blatantly lied, or took some facts insanely out of context. Long before I felt that I had a political identity to speak of, I found him offensive not because of the points he tried to make, but because of the blatant falsehoods he was willing to put forth in order to make them. I took it as an insult to my intelligence, as if he was saying "I don't think you're smart enough to call me on my BS, so I'll just tell you whatever."

After seeing some Michael Moore films, however, I think I can understand why some people I consider to be quite intelligent might still listen to his show. If you already agree with the general position, you're a lot less likely to question the facts that support it. For example, I decided that I didn't care for the way Bush was running things towards the end of his first term, and I wanted him to lose the election. As a result, I didn't have many bad things to say about Farenheit 9/11. But even then, as I watched the movie, there were niggling doubts in the back of my head.

For example, Moore spends a good bit of time talking about how the Bin Ladens were flown out of America with the government's help just hours after the attack. He presents the information in a very thinly-veiled accusation that we knew Bin Laden was responsible, and we were still backing up his family because of some oil deals. Or something, I was never clear on the motive. I can forgive this kind of rabid blame-throwing to a very limited point, given the general hysteria that a lot of us went through in the aftermath of that event, but Moore's not stupid, and so I hold him to a higher standard than some guy screaming on a street corner. His movie did not mention that the Bin Laden family had effectively excommunicated their wayward son Osama long before this incident. He also doesn't pick that moment to point out the brief but very intense spike of violence against Arab Americans that occurred on that day. He's not dumb enough to have not considered it, he specifically didn't mention the information because it would have made his conclusion seem less plausible. And that's a very dishonest way to make a point. It relies on the audience being too dumb or too lazy to think outside the line of reasoning you're feeding them. I get that the plan is to gather to your side all those who are too dumb or lazy to do that, and then let some of the more moderate campaigners turn the intelligent people. And hey, it's awfully effective. The existence of Moore and NBC, just like the existence of FOX and Limbaugh, allow people who don't want their beliefs challenged to feel more confident in their beliefs without actually being exposed to any real information. This allows both parties to pick up the "zombie vote."

His latest movie, like Farenheit, hits on a few potentially valid points, but there were so many questions that he very conspicuously did not answer that I had a hard time buying anything he said. He would show some truly gut-wrenching scenes of a hard-working family being kicked out of the house they lived in for 40 years because they couldn't pay their mortgage. Presumably, this was due to predatory lending, and honestly, given the crap that got pulled in the banking industry, Moore wouldn't have had to look very hard to find a perfectly legitimate example of exactly that. But he almost completely avoids explaining why the bank is foreclosing on their home. I'm not trying to suggest that that family deserved it, but all the information he doesn't give his audience eventually became so present that, for me, it overshadowed most of his general thesis. Which is a shame, because I think his intentions really were pure. I believe that he genuinely feels for the plight of those chewed up and spit out by our economic system. And had two whole hours of my time to explain his viewpoint, but he wasted those hours largely on what boils down to propaganda. As far as I'm concerned, when somebody does that, they're wrong. Even if they're actually right.

Unfortunately, I've come to feel the same way about Bill Maher, who used to be one of my more favorite comedians. At first, it was just little "hey, I'm not sure that's fair" moments when I watched his show, but then those moments came more and more frequently, and then it culminated when I saw his movie, Religulous, and I found his logic wholly unsatisfying. He's still funny, but his humor is so heavily interspersed with poorly supported arguments that it takes most of the fun out of watching it.

My distaste for the crap spewed by people like Rush or the garbage that FOX likes to call "fair and balanced" has not lessened by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel I'm growing more centrist as I age, and that distaste is suddenly spreading to the left-wing psychos as well.

In other news, Brutal Legend comes out today. I specifically made sure that my latest game was returned earlier this week, and that it was the only available game in my queue, and wonder of wonders my plan seems to have worked. Gamefly mailed it to me this morning, and I should have it in my hands on the very day that I take my last midterm. I have the entire following day off, and the day after that is the final weekend of the Ren Fair. Enough people have found time to make the trip to KC that it will be a verifiable party.

Life is good.

-BS