Moore hypocrisy, and no one is surprised
Not that it should come as a surprise to anyone reading this site, but let me tell you a “secret;” Michael Moore is a complete hypocrite.
The event, hosted by Esquire, doubled as the launch of the magazine’s “Ultimate Bachelor Pad,” a fully tricked-out, 11-room, nine-bathroom, 9,200-square-foot signature penthouse in SoHo, filled with flatscreens, sleek, modern furniture and luxury brands—each room meticulously designed around an advertisers’ theme. (The Hugo Boss bedroom! The Heineken lounge! The Lufthansa kitchen!)
As Esquire publisher Kevin O’Malley explains in the Esquire SoHo brochure, part of the reason that the magazine does this every year—alternating between New York and L.A.—is to meet its “advertisers’ growing need to create relevant and innovative new consumer touchpoints for their brands. Our affluent readers share a range of passions: a real desire for the best-of-class products and services that our advertisers represent.”
In other words, the pinnacle of capitalism. A fantasy in capital excess. A byproduct of the corporate greed Moore rails against in the film.
By the time Moore arrived, the party was in full swing, with revelers enjoying the 360-degree views of Lower Manhattan on the 3,000-square-foot terrace, top-shelf themed bars, sipping signature cocktails (there was a guy hired to blow dry ice on one pomegranate-and-melon-martini thing) and devouring skewers of filet mignon.
Esquire even hired models to strip down and slip into the obligatory hot tub.
Wait what? Seriously? For this movie, Moore allowed this to be his premiere after party? How fucking dumb is this guy?
Answer; not dumb at all. However, to his fans and defenders: MOORE THINK YOU ARE DUMB AS HELL. He thinks so little of you that he flaunts his own personal excesses—and has for years—all the while chiding and criticizing everyone else for living far less extravagantly. He’s the precise and exact thing he rails against—which is an interesting psychological case study in self-loathing, but I digress—and should not be taken seriously by anyone with two brain cells to rub together. Moore thinks you people will sit back and take it over and over and over again, because you are either too stupid to call him out on his bullshit, or you are as devious and dishonest as he is, and you believe that lying and being a hypocrite are okay as long as your “message is good.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, “Capitalism” is being co-financed by John Malone, “master of the tax-free deal, a champion of unfettered free markets, completely disdains government and most federal regulations and has expressed a fondness for Rush Limbaugh” who was recently “slapped with a $1.4-million fine by the Justice Department for illegal stock purchases.”
It seems that Moore is able to separate the marketing with the message.
This is not unlike Moore screaming about certain companies, only to find out he was heavily invested in them. Again, he thinks you are too stupid or too much like him to care about such mundane details as doing business with criminal financiers who are, by all reports, very, very Republican. Why would Moore get in bed with a guy like John Malone? Isn’t that sort of contradictory to the entire point of the film? Doesn’t it violate the very principles Moore is espousing?
Well of course it does. But that’s Moore all over: whatever gets him to the honeypot. Mikey would lick George W. Bush’s dirty bunghole if it would net Moore another million. He’s a greedy bastard just like all the others. He’s found the perfect situation here. He can dick around with a movie ever couple of years, underpay young, idealistic staff to do most of the work for him, raid the pockets of his die-hard fan base and whatever new crop of college freshmen are still impressed by idiotic rhetoric and stunts like wrapping buildings in crime scene tape, live a lavish, extravagant, jet-setting lifestyle and get bigger and bigger, both literally and financially.
If you self-identify as being anything left of center and are now or have ever been a Michael Moore fan, I urge you to look closer. Is this really the man you want out in front of your movement?
Comments
Isn’t that why we call ‘em Moore-ons?
Hello there,
I would like to ask you something: If a serial killer says that killing is bad, because of who he is, should we discredit the message?
It is the same with Michael Moore. While it is true that he has earned a lot of money thanks to the capitalist system, it does not mean that he cannot make a great point against it.
Capitalism causes serious problemas, and it is a system that is flawed as hell. It is something that needs reform and needs a debate between everybody to figure out the best way to fix this. That is why this movie is so important: it tells a truth, it makes people think.
Do not shot the messenger if the message is a powerful and honest one. No one is free of sin.
Thanks for reading
PS: I am not an american, so before you mock my english, take that into account.
jkrincon,
Congratulations. You’re the first leftist Moore-on to stand up and say that being a TOTAL hypocrite is okay if the message is good.
Actually you called it truth, which it isn’t, but still. You think it’s okay to be PRECISELY and exactly the kind of thing that he condemns as long as he condemns it in others?
Bull. Shit. That is the worst kind of hypocrisy, one that demonstrates the most selfish kind of thinking: the kind that says “YOU have to obey the rules but *I* don’t because *I* am special.”
I have a guess: you think Roman Polanski shouldn’t pay for drugging and raping a 13 year old girl either because he makes good movies.
Capitalism causes serious problemas, and it is a system that is flawed as hell. It is something that needs reform and needs a debate between everybody to figure out the best way to fix this. That is why this movie is so important: it tells a truth, it makes people think.
Capitalism may be somewhat flawed, and we can always debate improving the system, but my bet is Michael Moore will have very little to say in this movie that will have any value toward that end. His movies seldom contribute anything of substance to any real debate.
Jkrincon:
Capitalism causes serious problemas, and it is a system that is flawed as hell.
What other economic system exists that isn’t flawed? Other than capitalism, what form of economy do you endorse? I keep hearing moore and his followers speak against capitalism because it promotes greed. Greed has existed in all societies long before capitalism was invented/created/practiced.
Speaking of Polanski, I heard Whoopi Goldberg go on record saying “I am sure that it wasn’t ‘rape’ rape.” As if there is a degree of rape that’s acceptable to the average feminist.
If a killer says that killing is bad, we don’t discredit the message. We discredit the messenger. If a killer says killing is bad, but he’s doing it anyway, he’s either lying about his feelings about killing, or he’s not in control of his faculties. Either way, we really can’t put our trust in this person. Naturally, there are killers (such as scout snipers and other military people) who kill while simultaneously believeing that killing is bad. However, these people will probably concede that killing is sometimes necessary.
If Moore acheives financial success because of capitalism, and he rails against it while simultanously benefiting from the free market, he’s either lying about not liking it, or he’s abandoned basic reason. If he truly thought capitalism was bad, he would solicit donations to make his films and then give his movies away for free. Since he obviously doesn’t do that, we can reasonably surmise that he enjoys the large sums of money that he earns from his films.
So tell me, Jrincon, why should we trust anything Moore says about economics?
By the way, your English is fine.
*Side note* I’m glad I can post again!*
Hello There,
First of all, I want to thank you all, you were -to some degree- very polite, and that it’s something you don’t see on internet very often.
So, to answer what you’ve said:
JimK
My point is not so much to give Moore a free ride because he gives a good message, but to give the message an opportunity. When you call Moore an hypocrite, most people will think that the message is the same, and won’t care to listen...and lets be honest, altough I haven’t seen the movie (and I won’t be able to for a while, it’s close to impossible to watch an american documentary where I live) he does raise some important questions in the trailer...where the F___ is our money? why the hell are we paying for some rich guy mistakes? And that makes people think. It’s like the Sicko movie, there is something terribly wrong about the health care industry and no one had cared to speak up!
Polanski is a criminal, and he deserves to go to jail and pay for what he did. But that doesn’t mean that his movies are no longer good or worth seeing.
There’s a dicotomy, a fundamental difference between Message and Messenger.
Buzz
Altough I do think that Moore’s movies contribute to the debate, let me stay with your point of view and tell you something...even if he doesn’t contribute any powerful idea to the debate...at least he is making the debate go public. Most people are not aware or usually don’t care to think until someone tells them “Hey! It’s time to think, there is something worng with this!”
Crichton
All human inventions are flawed, because the human race itself it’s flawed by nature.
Capitalism, as it is, needs to be fixed. That something is the best option doesn’t mean that we can’t make it even better. That’s why it’s important to talk about it, and to work for it.
Now, If you want to know my personal ideas, I think that there should be a mix between the private sector (where capitalism can run wild and free) and a public sector that guarantees the basic needs of people (education and health care should never be another “bussiness”, they should be always provided by the government, and have a high quality. We cannot put a price on somebody’s health or education)
Belcatar
Thanks for your respones :)
Why should we trust anything he says? Because, I believe, we are able to judge the message by itself. Yes, he can be sick, or a plain-hypocrite...but if the killer says that killing is bad, it makes sense to you, and killing will not stop being a bad thing just because the messenger is a complete A-Hole.
Same with Moore, it is easy to find some truth in what he says :)
Cheers to all!
Oh, and one more thing.
JimK, before you put me in the “leftist Moore-on” group, I want you to know that, like you, “I am a registered nothing”. I can think my own ideas without any party or person imposing them on me.
J, I’ll have to go ahead and disagree with you about Moore. (I agree about killing. It’s usually bad. Unless you happen to have a fox stealing your chickens. Then killing doesn’t seem so bad.)
You can’t separate Moore from Moore’s message, because HE can’t separate Moore from Moore’s message.
Michael Moore has made a lucrative career out of making opinion pieces that masquerade as documentaries. When you add falsehoods to the debate as Moore repeatedly does, everyone else has to waste time and energy sifting through the lies before we can even begin having a discussion. I don’t find this helpful at all.
Moore has had ample opportunity to make films that address actual issues, but instead he ignores what’s really going on and focuses on proving some overly simplified view. Once he has his opinion, he twists facts, omits important details, and often fabricates things out of thin air to support his flawed thesis. Moore is a side-show huckster who isn’t interested in anything but lining his own pockets at the expense of the people he claims to “defend.”
Here’s where the independent thinking comes in. We’ll use the killing analogy just for continuity. If I go around saying, “Killing is bad! And most killing occurs because of salad tongs! We need to get rid of those salad tongs and replace them with phonemic awareness!”
You’d say, “That’s nonsense. Salad tongs? What do salad tongs have to do with killing? And what does phonemic awareness have to do with salad tongs?”
Welcome to the world of Michael Moore.
Remember, my message was “Killing is bad.” While you might agree with that, you’re probably scratching your head about the rest of my utensil-laced gibberish. My salad-inspired anti-killing diatribe did nothing to further or even encourage debate of any kind, because it makes no sense, even though the basic message does.
And that’s why I think Moore is a worthless filmmaker.
Here’s where the independent thinking comes in. We’ll use the killing analogy just for continuity. If I go around saying, “Killing is bad! And most killing occurs because of salad tongs! We need to get rid of those salad tongs and replace them with phonemic awareness!”
You’d say, “That’s nonsense. Salad tongs? What do salad tongs have to do with killing? And what does phonemic awareness have to do with salad tongs?”
Welcome to the world of Michael Moore.
Remember, my message was “Killing is bad.” While you might agree with that, you’re probably scratching your head about the rest of my utensil-laced gibberish. My salad-inspired anti-killing diatribe did nothing to further or even encourage debate of any kind, because it makes no sense, even though the basic message does.
And that’s why I think Moore is a worthless filmmaker.
Belcatar:
That is perhaps the best description of Michael Moore and how he delivers his message that I’ve ever read. Love it! :)
Actually, it does sound like a fun party. While I prefer the kind that ends up in a free-for-all orgy, this sort of thing’ll do.
Donna- Thanks! I’m just happy I can post again on Moorewatch!
Jkrincon-Governments do a lousy job of providing health care and education for people. Even if there shouldn’t be a price on education and health care, there is. People don’t like teaching other people’s kids for free. And people really don’t like emptying other people’s bedpans for free. In order for the government to provide teachers and bedpan-dumpers to the general public, it has to use force. This force can be applied in a couple of ways. The first is directly compelling people to become teachers and bedpan-dumpers. Naturally, this leads to poor teaching and people who hide under hospital beds to avoid dumping bedpans.
The other solution is to offer people incentives to teach or dump bedpans. This involves paying people for their services. Since government doesn’t produce anything, it has to come up with the money by forcing other people to pay. We call this “taxes.”
The strange thing about taxes is that many of them are hidden, so that over time, taxpayers fail to notice the missing money. This creates the illusion of “free” services.
Nothing like “free” to get people out of the woodwork and into the handout line. Eventually, people begin to feel entitled to whatever is being handed out. This feeling of entitlement creates more demand for the free thing, which then requires the government to pour more resources into providing it. The people in line demand more, forgetting that they are the ones putting up the money.
All the money sucked up for the purposes of providing “free” stuff for people is money that isn’t being used to purchase the kinds of goods and services that provide jobs. Eventually, the government runs out of other people’s money, and so it starts borrowing.
Presto! Mediocre, overworked services, economic stangnation (not to mention the loss of incentive to innovate) and big fat deficits! Ta Da! Thank you! And please give a big round of applause to my lovely assistant, Federal Reserve!
Altough I do think that Moore’s movies contribute to the debate, let me stay with your point of view and tell you something...even if he doesn’t contribute any powerful idea to the debate...at least he is making the debate go public. Most people are not aware or usually don’t care to think until someone tells them “Hey! It’s time to think, there is something worng with this!”
No doubt Moore can light a fire, no matter how small it may be. However, in my observations of the guy, I haven’t seen much substance.
Mikey’s the kind of guy that would make a “documentary” about WWII and deliberately omit that part about Pearl Harbor so he could fault the U.S. for invading Iwo Jima.
Posted by Belcatar on 09/30/2009 at 08:57 AM (Link to this comment | )
“If a killer says that killing is bad, we don’t discredit the message.”
Heh, or when a serial murderer decides killing is bad while on the way to the electric chair, yes, I discount the message. :)
Posted by Jkrincon on 09/30/2009 at 11:28 AM
“JimK, before you put me in the “leftist Moore-on” group, I want you to know that, like you, “I am a registered nothing”. I can think my own ideas without any party or person imposing them on me.”
The concept that the free market is ‘a system’ as in ‘capitalism’ is a leftist idea.
Non leftists simply take it as the natural state of being for human exchanges. For contrast, when someone proposes a regulation my first thoughts are not ‘we need to do this to reign in capitalism’; they’re, do we need this to fix a problem, will it work, et cetera.
Michael Moore used some non-union crewmembers when union workers were available in the production of his latest film “Capitalism: A Love Story,” a documentary that argues the capitalist system allows for greedy corporations to exploit working-class people.
An internal AFT memo, obtained by ABCNews.com, added that the non-union workers hired for the film did not receive health insurance.
The organized labor source said Moore and IATSE were in talks about Moore’s decision, but did not know why Moore had used union labor for some jobs and non-union employees for other jobs for which he could have employed union workers.
Moore has been screening his films to union audiences for the past two weeks and made a name for himself by championing autoworkers, like his father, in his first documentary, 1989’s “Roger and Me.”
Chrichton:
Your link shows JabbaMoore STILL referring to himself as a “Documentary” film maker?
Bah..... Now THAT’S funny!
crichton,
I think he does stuff like this for the same reason video game designers do Easter eggs. To stir up buzz. I think he does some of his lies and falsehoods for the same reason. We criticize, his moreon fans defend, and we are all talking about HIM. He probably believes some himself… but others are so obviously bs he can’t believe them.
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It never ceases to amaze me how many people will pay to see a Moore film. You’re right, Jim, the folks who make up Moore’s audience are fools.