Sunday, July 01, 2007

Sicko

I have not yet seen the Michael Moore movie Sicko which came out this weekend. I was kind of interested in seeing it, and then I heard an interview with Moore on CNBC on Friday afternoon which kind of turned me off. He was perturbed and seemed convinced that it was a conspiracy because the interview was held on the steps of Wall Street and not actually inside the building on the trading floor as he apparently had intended. But, Paula saw it and raved about it and encouraged me to see it so maybe I will try to do so. Moore did make a very sensible comment in his interview that his goal is not to advocate adopting another particular country's policies, but to try to learn the best practices of each and adopt those here. The Wall Street Journal ran the following article in response to the film.

3 comments:

Jeff the Baptist said...

The problem is that while Moore's movies are made skillfully and cleverly, ultimately they are not documentaries. They are works of propaganda for whatever Moore wants to see implemented. There are multiple websites out there which document the ways Moore manipulates the truth to suit his own ends.

Paula said...

Ummm . . . and the "multiple websites" don't have an agenda either, right?

Anonymous said...

Irrelevant. The point is that Michael Moore has his own ideas about how he wants the world to be, and they are not always right.

People lap up documentaries like they are some kind of hard fact, untainted by propaganda of any sort. I have found that is the farthest thing from the truth. "Documentaries" are FULL of propaganda, and certain filming choices made to push you towards the creator's ideals. Be careful just how "open minded" and accepting you are when you go wo watch stuff like this.

Seeing "Jesus Camp" a few months ago made me dislike evangelical Christians. But, oh wait, I AM an evangelical Christian! Isn't that just curious now? I wonder what the point of that documentary was? Oh, and the numbers they played with, making it look like the "crazy" Pentacostal Christians made up a huge percentage of the popuation by lumping them in with "Evangelical Christians".

Documentaries twist things and color lenses so that you see them the way the director wants you to. Plain and simple. Don't IGNORE what they're presenting- but take it with a grain of salt. If there is a problem with the medical system, so be it- but don't act on Michael Moore's take on the situation. Do you own research before you start voting and throwing carbon copy opinions out.