Michael Moore

[low_delta]

Michael Moore deserves to lose respect over this thing. He lied about what went on with his movie, trying to drum up publicity or outrage (or both).

He also deserves to lose respect because his little stunt has obscured the real issue. Disney really is refusing to distribute his film. It's censorship, of a sort.

Comments

[shoo.livejournal.com]

It's unfortunate because he has good points and looks for the truth...
So many people find him not credible here...but many in other countries do....
I wish he would stick to his story and not get so carried away.

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

huh what? What did I miss?

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Michael Moore made a big stink earlier this week when he accused Disney of pulling the plug on his latest film, “Fahrenheit 911”. He decried Disney’s decision not to distribute the film as politically motivate censorship. However, Moore was crying wolf. He admitted in a CNN interview that he knew almost a year ago that Disney would not distribute the film, according to a report from independent.co.uk. Moore told CNN, "Almost a year ago, after we'd started making the film, the chairman of Disney, Michael Eisner, told my agent he was upset Miramax had made the film and he will not distribute it."

The lightning rod film producer claims that he had a contract with Disney for distribution, but according to independent.co.uk, a source close to Miramax (the subsidiary involved in the film) said that the deal was for financing, not for distribution.

In a statement Moore made Wednesday on his website, he told his fans that he was informed on Tuesday that Disney had “officially” decided to prohibit Miramax from distributing the film. Moore then pointed to a New York Times article for a possible reason for Disney's decision, "According to today's (May 5) New York Times, it might 'endanger' millions of dollars of tax breaks Disney receives from the state of Florida because the film will 'anger' the Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush." Moore however, did not disclose that New York Times source was actually his agent. The Times article reported that Moore's agent said that Eisner told him that Disney was afraid to lose tax breaks from Florida. The article then quoted a senior Disney executive that said the reason Disney did not want to distribute the film is because the company, "caters to families of all political stripes and that many of them might be alienated by the film." Moore then made the statements in the interview with CNN, where he expanded his story and admitted that Disney chairman, Michael Eisner, had informed his agent almost a year ago that Disney would not distribute the film.

[acedia.livejournal.com]

Freekee, the echo chamber is bad enough without us participating in it. The story in the Independent is a deliberate misinterpretation of Moore's quote. He never 'admitted' anything. All he said in the CNN interview was that he suspected this might happen when he signed the deal, was warned as much by his agent, but that Miramax kept reassuring him that it would work out. He trusted Miramax, and now he's lost his distributor.

The UK newspaper has already started backtracking. Their 'story' has been edited from last night.

[(Anonymous)]

Michael will be tortured like them Iraqis, as he speaks like a true American, his mind....heres a snip off his web

The Disney spin machine has been working overtime dealing with this censorship debacle of theirs. I don't think they thought they would ever be outed. After all, they know that all of us are supposed to adhere to the unwritten Hollywood Code: Never tell the public how business is done here, never let them have a peek at the man behind the curtain.

I'm not defending MM but hey, he will be hit hard, as he goes against the status quo, I hope everyone is suspisious of everything written about this guy....heres his url

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

Hey Freekee, I'm so happy you and Cynth got married, that is so great!!

dadnerd

[rivendweller.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I gotta disagree with you on this one. I think Michael deserves a lot of respect for having the courage to speak out against the neo con propaganda. I think this whole thing has been spun like crazy by the Bush people, and I think anything they say is suspect. Please read his response at his web page today. I think it clearly explains what happened.

He was just trying to point out the connection of big corporate interests to the Bush administration, and the censoring of progressive speech. Censorship could become a much bigger problem in our society if we don't pay attention.

They've been trying to discredit Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," and going into painstaking detail about him having taken things out of context and the selective editing of his film. I'm sure he's done the same thing with "Fahrenheit 9/11." But that's his style, and the way he tries to make a point. He's a satirist as well as a serious filmmaker. He had the courage to call Bush on the Iraqi war last year at the Academy Awards, and I respect him for that. After all, he'd just been honored for a film about the deceptions of the far right, so he had every right to use that forum the way he did.

And what next from these guys? Al Franken "lied" when he said Bill O'Reilly's latest book was entitled Living With Herpes. Are we supposed to lose respect for him, too? What about Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show?" They lie all the time.

Let's not let the bad guys win this one.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I don't want to let the bad guys win, but I don't want to excuse Moore for his crime (if a crime was committed). We can't lower ourselves to their standards. We can't win at that game, and we shouldn't be playing it anyway. Anyway, keep reminding the right-wingers that Disney is still refusing to release the movie. That's the whole point.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads-up.

[rivendweller.livejournal.com]

I'm just not convinced Moore has done anything wrong. It seems to me his words were twisted unfairly. I certainly hope I wouldn't be as mean-spirited and cynical as the right-wing; but I get pretty upset sometimes.

You're right, of course. The real issue is the refusal to release the movie and the reasons behind the refusal. The rest of the flap is a deliberate distraction.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Thanks, dadnerd!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Yes, I probably jumped the gun on Moore's fault. Rumors are still going around, I think.

[(Anonymous)]

how is disney not releasing it censorship????? if Moore wants it out, then pony up his own money like Mel Gibson did..

John T Clark

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

No, it's not censorship. That's why I used the words, "of a sort."

The point is that, yet again, big business doesn't want to do anything that might make the Republicans look bad.

[(Anonymous)]

define "big business", because i see GE bashing republicans every night through NBC, Viacom using CBS, and yes even Disney using ABC..and what about all the publishing companies that are releasing all these books that should be classified as FICTION, ie Richard Clarke...hmmm...those seem like big businesses to me...what about the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and all the over newspapers that are nothing more than mouthpieces for the democratic party..hmmm...and what about all the college professors that would love nothing more than for it to be 1969 again..hmmmm...and what about the majority of reporters in this country that have never even thought about voting republican..hmmmm...yeah, big business won't make republicans look bad...no never happen...and please don't come back with talk radio, yeah, i know, conservatives rule it...wonder why that is...couldn't have anything to do with the FACT that the majority of REAL AMERICANS are conservative and can't stand the garbage they see and hear out of the left coast and the wrong coast...na, couldn't be...



John T Clark


ps.. i forgot to add that only the government can use censorship...so its not even SORT A...

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Big business like.. Enron. The oil companies. Any industry that relies on labor unions for its workforce. The news media is only one, and I wouldn't count college professors as another. Talk radio is small business. It's interesting that most liberal news outlets are that way because of profit motives, while almost all conservative news outlets are that way because of ideology.

And if the media is so liberal, why doesn't Disney want that movie shown?

the FACT that the majority of REAL AMERICANS are conservative and can't stand the garbage they see and hear out of the left coast and the wrong coast...

You're trying to imply something here, and I can't quite figure out what. Are you saying that liberals are not real Americans? Or are yuo just referring the the slim majority of people who vote? You're pretty much saying outright that liberal ideas are crap. I'd like to know which ones.

[(Anonymous)]

"Liberal Ideas" hmmmm that's the biggest oxymoron i've heard in a long long time...that's the crux of the problem, liberals don't think, they "feel"...face it, Liberalism is dying, if not dead already...it FAILED...nothing good has every come from a liberal ...NOTHING... abortion, drugs, teenage pregnancy, higher crime rate, poverty, racism..all these problems can be traced to liberal policies...the reason Disney didn't want to put out the lies of Michael Moore is because they know that most AMERICANS won't go see it...in contrast, a movie like The Passion of the Christ, is close to becoming the most seen movie of all time...of course, it will be Michael Moore standing on the stage getting the oscar, not Mel Gibson,..of course, what's the old saying, i wouldn't want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member..and i'm not "implying" liberals aren't real americans, i'm SAYING it...at its core, liberalism is anti american...try and prove me wrong and you will find, in the end, it's true...


John T Clark

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

In the past, you have always posted reasonable ideas. I disagreed with most of them, but did not find your ideas offensive. But now you've crossed the line. You've shown your true colors. Not only are you an asshole, but a stupid one.

You are no longer welcome in my journal.

And if you try to tell me that I'm the usual swort of liberal who buries his head in the sands of emotion by shutting out your "ideas," I will tell you that you started it. You are the one who has shown no regard for what I have to say.

Goodbye.

[(Anonymous)]

your journal, your rules...


John T Clark