If you are anywhere near Vancouver and have any interest in the effect that Michael Moore’s films have had on the state of current documentaries and/or political discourse, then make a point of catching Manufacturing Dissent at the VanCity Theatre while you still can, i.e. before its final performance Wednesday night.
The film, directed by Debbie Melnyk (seen above with Moore) and Rick Caine, is not perfect by any stretch, but it is an absolutely necessary critique of Michael Moore and the effect, both positive and negative, that he has had on the public perception of documentary films and various other issues besides. And what makes the film especially potent is that it is produced by a couple of left-leaning Canadians who actually share Moore’s politics, but find that his paranoid egomania and his shallow handling of complex political issues consistently get in the way of any actual dialogue that might otherwise be taking place in his country.
No matter what your politics, there is a very human story that comes through in this film, and that is a story about a man who has turned his back on friends and allies time and again, mocking them and making a hash out of what was supposed to be their common struggles. Even if you don’t share the agenda behind those struggles, you have to feel at least a little sympathy for the people who feel that their causes were hijacked and marginalized and ultimately disparaged, all because Moore wanted to be a celebrity.
One of the most damning revelations — though it’s not entirely new — is that Moore actually interviewed Roger Smith, the General Motors CEO who was supposedly impossible to reach when Moore made his first feature film, Roger & Me (1989). The whole premise of the film was that Moore couldn’t get the interview, but according to activist James Musselman — and Smith himself — Moore did get the interview but left it on the cutting-room floor because the movie was more entertaining without it.
Moore disputed this claim last month, telling the Associated Press that “Anybody who says that is a (expletive) liar.” But, well, hmmm. Who should we trust, Musselman or Moore? John Pierson, who helped make Moore the multimillionaire celebrity that he is now by selling Roger & Me to Warner Brothers for $3 million back in 1989, definitely trusts Musselman. And so do I.
The film includes video footage of Moore sharing the stage with Musselman and other activists in the mid-1980s, and then denying he had any affiliation with those same people a few years later when Phil Donahue, of all people, recites their names during an appearance by Moore on his show. In this and other scenes, Moore proves himself to be a dishonest and disloyal person. It may be that Musselman and Smith are no better than Moore — I wouldn’t know, as I have never met any of them myself — but as it stands right now, the evidence does not tilt in Moore’s favour.
Among other things, the film also touches on Moore’s short-lived stint as the editor of Mother Jones in 1986. Apparently Moore left the magazine — or was forced out — partly because he and his publishers clashed over an article that was critical of the Sandinistas. One of the film’s interviewees says Moore couldn’t see how people on the Left could be critical of both Ronald Reagan and the Sandinistas; opposition to one required loyalty to the other. Presumably some liberals will share that attitude when it comes to Manufacturing Dissent; they will think that opposition to Bush and the like requires loyalty to Moore and thus a boycott of this film. But I sincerely hope that those liberals are in the minority, and that films like Manufacturing Dissent will encourage greater honesty and skepticism and discussion and even, yes, compassion for those whose beliefs do not match our own.
I might write more on this later, especially if I get around to seeing Sicko — a film that, based on the reviews I’ve read, seems to perpetuate a number of the problems that have afflicted Moore’s other films. I wonder if Melnyk and Caine will provide any updates on that film when they put their own film out on DVD.
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