Showmanship Moore's top commodity in 'Capitalism'

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4thEstateDotCom at 09:15 PM JST - 27th September
- - "the ones who like to remind people that America is not a democracy."
It's a constitutional republic.
- - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8I9pLmuyyA
Klein2 at 11:34 PM JST - 27th September

Ha. Yabits and I even agree on the scenes of the movies that made us wince. It is part of the theater. It is all good. I feel a little sorry for Dick Clark, George Bush, and Charlton Heston, and then think... naaaaah!.. they still had it coming. It is not as though Mr. Moore is asking questions that people SHOULD NOT BE asking. He is polite enough to get the job done, but not one bit more polite. And he is ALWAYS respectful of common people, as Studs Terkel was. That is to be admired.

In fact, in a constitutional republic, M. Moore is even more necessary than in a democracy. These people who get voted in to make decisions on behalf of the people must be questioned and held accountable. Five minutes with M. Moore is intolerable to them? Puh leeze. And if capitalism will come tumbling down because Mr. Moore goes jousting with it, then it never had a purpose in the first place, right?

Why is Borat funny and Michael Moore is often disturbing? It is because we know that Borat is just doing it for fun and outrage. Michael Moore is either sincere or fakes it so well that we can't tell, but more than that, he chooses the material carefully enough to make the process of education interesting. He obfuscates things about twice as much as liberals believe, but about a quarter as much as conservatives believe. Also, as far as I can tell, he is a loose cannon, blasting Hillary in Sicko. He gets Matt Stone and M. Manson to talk about Columbine. There are so many stories to tell that finding new ones is a valuable service he provides.

Finally, Moore was opposed to the Bush bailout of GM. It rewarded management for their absurdly inept performance that he portrayed in Roger and Me decades ago. He has been right about a lot of things. He is America's Cassandra.
sf2k at 08:29 AM JST - 28th September

no doubt I'll see this and enjoy it. When someone is free to complain, AND makes millions doing it, that is America. America used to fight the rich, the train barons, imperial oil but no more. The fat and lazy brains out there must support their corporations now. Whatever.

He has a right to make his movies and you have the right to pay for it or not. If most Americans bothered to even vote, they wouldn't be in this mess to begin with
zurcronium at 08:36 AM JST - 28th September

Moore was right about GM falling to the accountants with Smith, right about bush being a total failure in every respect leading to the collapse of American style capitalism, right about the American health industry being a con game rigged to profit from the illness of working people. And on and on.

So no doubt this movie will expose the lies that the wingers tell themselves about the failed free enterprise storytale and how that story is used to extract money from the poor and middleclass to make the rich richer.

Of course Moore is right, capitalism is the enemy of democracy. Read Kevin Phillips book on this topic (Wealth and Democracy) that came out years ago. 500 pages proving how money has fought democracy from day one in the USA. Google has it online for those that want to learn the truth-not for Fox news addicts as it will just confuse them.
4thEstateDotCom at 11:34 AM JST - 28th September
- - "Of course Moore is right, capitalism is the enemy of democracy."
I have to ask - are you in Japan? If you actually believe that capitalism is the enemy of democracy do you imagine yourself, with your broken Japanese, converting the natives to your misguided way of thinking?
LFRAgain at 04:08 PM JST - 28th September

4thEstateDotCom,

"If you actually believe that capitalism is the enemy of democracy do you imagine yourself, with your broken Japanese, converting the natives to your misguided way of thinking?"

Misguided? Japan has an extensive social welfare system, complete with socialized medicine, and intricate government controls (interference) at all levels of the economy to regulate and maintain Japanese "capitalism." Please see yesterday's news about the government bailout of JAL.

You couldn't have picked a worse example to drive home your pointless baiting, complete with the unnecessary insult of another poster's Japanese ability, as if that had anything to do with anything.
4thEstateDotCom at 09:14 AM JST - 29th September

"capitalism is the enemy of democracy."

I chuckle every time I read that.
Sarge at 09:21 AM JST - 29th September

"capitalism is the enemy of democracy"

Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk!
cow76 at 10:27 AM JST - 29th September

I personally know hundreds of Canadians who moved to Cuba after watching Sicko. And the Prime Minister's wife went to Venus for a night. It's a magical, mystical world.
zurcronium at 03:31 AM JST - 30th September

Hey guys, being wrong all the time makes one giddy. If you both tripped over the truth by accident you would not be any wiser unfortunately. If you do have the courage to learn google the book I mentioned above. But you will not do that as being ignorant and silly is just so much easier. Lets you predict a LDP landslide a few weeks ago or that WMD are still in Iraq. Nice. Try.
WilliB at 11:38 AM JST - 2nd October

Michael Moore, the multi-millionaire, thinks that capitalism has done nothing for him.

I´d advise him to make his next movie in North Korea.
xrc at 11:45 AM JST - 3rd October

Is he a multi-millionaire? anyway, "Capitalism" can have many meanings, not just the economic textbook one. Yes, the Japanese are very capitalistic but they share...my students pitched in this Feb. when my Mom passed away so I could get back to America. They give me gifts, uni from Hokkaido, Cheese from France/Britain, etc. when I was back in America in Feb. all I heard was "Oh, I make $200,000 annually but I can't live on that"! So many examples I can't even write them. I've never seen a country (my own) go off in such a spruge of spending on worthless things. This to me is "Capitalism". The sports and entertainment people change teams get millions and the public loves them. Well, MM has a ??? year old car and is not driving around in a Ferrari or Lexus like the Wall Streeters. It can go on & on...
yabits at 09:08 PM JST - 3rd October

Michael Moore, the multi-millionaire, thinks that capitalism has done nothing for him.

The film opened yesterday in a theater near my home so I went and saw it. It is really very well done. I was impressed at how the religious leaders in the communities Moore went to all expounded on the evils of capitalism. In fact, Moore lets other people do most of the telling of the story in this film.

Moore showed two good examples of successful businesses operating in the U.S. using the principles of workplace democracy. What a breath of fresh air those places seemed, judging by the comments of the employees/associates.

Moore appears to channel his "wealth" into telling the stories that he hopes will help make the United States a nation we all can be proud of again. I am all for him for that. The things he's bringing front and center need to be told.
seijichuudo9sha at 01:31 PM JST - 4th October

What is wrong with America? I read today that the movie has tanked in its first weekend.Doesnt that mean it wont play in theaters in Japan?

Moderator: It opens in Japan in January.
yabits at 09:38 PM JST - 4th October

It is funny to see the loony right-wingers claiming that Moore's film has "tanked." Especially since the film is in limited release and has nonetheless gotten the numbers which indicate that it is the #1 or #2 top-grossing movie at the theater complexes in which it is showing. It's still Sunday morning and yet over 5 million Americans have seen the film, according to box office reports.

The folks here who criticize Moore and who prostrate themselves in defense of the corporate-political masters who are screwing them blind are indeed given some time in the film. Any attempt by ordinary people to organize themselves to build a better, "more perfect union" is seen as a threat to be reckoned with. So much do they fear freedom and democracy.

That's why a lot of those folks must have been seeing a movie that they can better relate to: Zombieland.