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Moore Media Problems 7 May 2004 By: Todd Bauerle Just to inform everyone, Michael Moore is a filmmaker and official political opinion-giver. He's the guy in the ball cap that talked about "fictitious times" and a "fictitious president" at the 2003 Academy Awards when he accepted his Oscar for Best Documentary Bowling for Columbine. If that doesn't ring any bells, he also directed the hit film Roger and Me about the effect General Motors' decision to leave his home town of Flint, Michigan had on the city. Lets just say it wasn't pretty. Moore has also written books like "Dude, Where's My Country" and produced the TV series TV Nation. Still no whistles? Well lets just say this is an ordinary guy with big silver ones who stands up for his rights and the rights of others in the face of opposition...from anyone. After his it movie Bowling for Columbine and its outstanding reception, Moore found himself disgusted at the current 'War in Iraq'. Further compounded by his belief that President Bush, Jr. stole the election four years ago, he set out to make a film about the man...and lets just say it didn't sing praises unto him. In Mike's own words, Fahrenheit 9/11 is about "what has happened to the country since September 11 and how the Bush Administration used this tragic event to push its agenda. It certainly does deal with the Bush and bin Laden ties. It asks a number of questions that I don't have the answers to yet, but which I intend to find out." Needless to say its a controversial film. Fast forward to today, and the film is done and its supposed to be good. So good in fact that the prestigious Cannes Film Festival wants it. What more could Moore and his production company Miramax want? Well apparently they want more than Disney, Miramax's parent company. But this is great publicity for the film, right? After all Mike won an Oscar for his last! Right? Wrong. Officially Michael Eisner, who we all know and love from introducing the Wonderful World of Disney to America on Sunday night, says the reason for not distributing Moore's Fahrenheit was because Disney doesn't want to upset Jeb Bush, governor of Florida. You remember Florida, right? The place where all the voting discrepancies happened in 2000? To some that might make sense in a logical, good for business way. After all Disney World is in Florida and don't they need more government tax breaks. (If you don't believe me, google the web and see the quotes for yourself!). Another explanation might be that this is an election year, and Disney is getting leaned on to not make Bush look bad this year. Or maybe Eisner and his cohorts want Bush to win...and I can think of a few reasons for that, but we won't talk about how government really gets the job done in this little rant. Perhaps Disney wants to stay politically neutral. That would make perfect sense if they hadn't released Michael Moore's The Big One in an election year during the 90's and help syndicate right wing talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh. Maybe Disney sees Fahrenheit as a non-family film like all of their cartoons that mysteriously have only one parent. Of course if you want to talk about family films, take your kids to go see the latest Disney produced hit, Kill Bill, Volume 2. I hear that one is a real cut up! For you conspiracy theorists out there, maybe Moore's flick is hitting a little too close to the mark. Maybe Bush is the mastermind behind the best thing that ever happened to his Presidency...9/11! I don't believe that, but its thrown in their for ***** and giggles. The bottom line is Disney has an agenda and they are using their full weight to carry it out. Maybe this is okay for some people who think money is power and those with money can make decisions for the rest of it. However, I find this to be a little too close to book burning myself. Call it what you will, but know in your hear this is censorship at its most blatant. For a refresher, a CENSOR is:
Reminder: The Freedom of the Press is:
The First Amendment gives the press the right to publish news, information and opinions without government interference. This also means people have the right to publish their own newspapers, newsletters, magazines, etc.
So now, please call it what it is! Why else would Disney be concerned about Jeb Bush's opinion if they weren't given it, especially when the President himself claims he doesn't have time for whiny political commentary. Furthermore I call attention to the stupidity of Eisner publicly stating the need to protect their financial interests in Florida. Apparently Disney executives aren't that bright considering the COO at Miramax made a statement about how they do business and sucker the public. See below for that one!
Ultimately this case is the result of large media conglomerates forcing the public into complacency, ignorance, and feeding them propaganda. Not only is the wrong on a fundamental 'rights' level, but media conglomeration is against anti-monopoly laws. Not only that, but THIS IS WHERE YOU GET YOUR NEWS! Every time you turn on a TV or radio, you hear what the powers that be want you to hear. NOTHING ELSE! What do you think will happen when the wealth, information, and power reside in 1% of the country. The first amendment will be a thing of the past...and right now the ink is fading.
As for Michael Moore, you should hear what he has to say about this at his website. Hopefully this will be resolved and we'll all get to see this film sometime soon, and hopefully this summer!
- Todd
[In an interview Rick Sands, COO of Miramax talked about the benefit of releasing Kill Bill, a two part movie, on standard editions DVDs, followed by Special Editions, followed by Boxed Sets. And I quote: Its called multiple bites at the apple. And you multiply this internationally." People say this stuff knowing it ends up in print...I think there will be a future for all you executive wannabes that can use your brain!]
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