(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Michael Moore's latest movie Capitalism: A Love Story had premiered 13. November, and the film has received mixed reception from Norwegian critics. "A naive soup," is Dagbladet's conclusion. While VG's reviewer is thrilled and giving Moore a shot as "an unbelievably skilled propagandist".
The film is mainly a reboot of archive footage edited with Moore's comments. Admittedly, the corpulent inquisitor has come up with some interesting examples of the greed culture in the United States. But the cut and paste formula is more dominant than the genuinely journalistic work. At all, memories Capitalism, which should be Moore's magnum opus, most of all about a visual banter.
With a broad brush, Moore paints a striking black-and-white picture of capitalism. Absolutely every American Democrat shown in the film is portrayed as a champion of truth and justice, while Republicans are – all as one – evil, greedy and unreliable.
There is no room for nuances in Moore's portrait of capitalism. When you see the heads of Bush or Reagan, you know that something stupid and creepy comes out of their mouths. Jimmy Carter is the foresight philosopher who warns that a new raw capitalism is on the way. When Reagan was elected president of the 1980, according to Moore, it was the beginning of the age of vicious capitalism.
Jesus symbolism
Some of the most sensational in Capitalism: A Love Story is that Moore has led several Catholic priests, including a bishop, to stand up and support Moore's assertion that capitalism is Christian. Moore is himself a Catholic, and apparently had a desire to become a priest in his youth. Strikingly, Moore has not interviewed any Protestant priests to line up and curse capitalism.
In fact, it was the German philosopher Max Weber (1864-1920) who claimed that it was related to the rise of Protestantism and the development of capitalism. Ergo will probably have Protestants support Moore's assertion, and Moore probably has no desire to hear their assent. This illustrates how Moore's propaganda method works. His interview items are exclusively people who he can use for income for his cause, rather than seeking the truth.
The Messiah is used by Moore for everything he is worth Capitalism: A Love Story, with claims that Jesus was anti-capitalist. "Blessed are the poor" and "woe unto you that are rich!" Jesus is quoted in the film. Little is mentioned that the same Jesus also says: "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
In all his self-glorifying pomp, it may seem as if Michael Moore wants to draw parallels between the Messiah and himself. In one scene, he brings out his own father, who is looking at his old workplace at General Motors, which today is in ruins. Moore's father is "the good father". Like the Messiah, Moore is the misunderstood, opposed, and unarmed man who tries to speak for the poor and oppressed.
Moore points a reproachful finger at a small group of people, who he believes can be held responsible for the economic misery in the United States. Investment bank Goldman Sachs gets its wallet. Harvard record holder Lawrence Summers is blamed by Moore for demanding up to $ 100.000 to give lectures. But the hammer that Moore lifts strikes back hard at himself.
Required fortune for lectures
Michael Moore demanded exactly the same amount when he was asked to give a lecture at the Nordic Media Days in Bergen in 2005.
- The offer from Michael Moore's agent was 100.000 US dollars (approximately 600.000 kroner) for an approximately hour-long lecture, including travel and accommodation in Bergen, Guri Heftye, festival director at Nordic Media Days in Bergen, tells Ny Tid.
She has the correspondence with Moore five years ago.
- This was the autumn of 2004, so it was with the festival in mind in 2005. The agent also wrote to us that if we could not meet "full fee", then we had to present what we could manage, then they should present this to " Mr. Moore ».
- I do not know if it was done, or if it was all considered out of our league anyway. Moore was invited to talk about his projects. We have not tried him since. The fee requirements are a constant challenge for us as a non-profit foundation. It's a sigh of relief, says Heftye.
But not everyone is like Michael Moore. Cannons such as Matt Stone and Trey Parker (South Park) and Louis Theroux, Andrew De Vigal (Multimedia Editor in the NY Times) and Pulitzer winner Bob Drogin have found the program and the experience of Bergen and Norway so interesting that they have participated despite Nordic Media Days does not offer fees, Heftye points out.
From Michael Moore's film Bowling for Columbine was awarded the Audience Award at the Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF) in the autumn of 2002, they quickly received an inquiry from one of Moore's secretaries about the money that came with the award.
- That was what they were interested in, festival director Tor Fosse tells Ny Tid.
Money before principles
Moore's interest in scraping money may seem to overshadow his idealistic intentions. He has long since discovered that it is very good money to call oneself an idealist and anti-capitalist.
On September 11 this year, Ny Tid revealed how Michael Moore's agents demanded 2000 euros, about 17.000 kroner, for a simple interview with the filmmaker during the Venice Film Festival. When we confronted Moore directly with the rigid award, the director replied that this was unknown to him, and that it was something he wanted to address.
However, a journalist in a major German newspaper, with whom Ny Tid has been in contact, can tell that Moore was asked the same thing at Cannes in 2004, when he presented Fahrenheit 9/11. So there are many indications that Moore is lying when it suits him.
Moore's three most popular films, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9 / 11 og Sicko, has had a total turnover of approximately $ 320 million, while Capitalism: A Love Story so far has earned $ 12 million. The budget for producing such a documentary is less than 10 million dollars, so the risk is significantly less than on Hollywood feature films. Moore is both screenwriter, director and producer on these films, so obviously the man has to be left with a huge return.
Where is the idealism and solidarity, Moore? ■
