Dollar: Hitchens on Michael Moore's Latest "Documentary" (June 22, 2004)
The Left's Christopher Hitchens (columnist for Vanity Fair) on Michael Moore's latest movie: http://slate.msn.com/id/2102723/?GT1=3584#correct
The money quote:
Moore's movie is "a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of 'dissenting' bravery."
On Moore and his admirers:
"To [Moore], easy applause, in front of credulous audiences, is everything."
On Moore's 'history' of Iraq:
"We are introduced to Iraq, 'a sovereign nation.' (In fact, Iraq's 'sovereignty' was heavily qualified by international sanctions, however questionable, which reflected its noncompliance with important U.N. resolutions.) In this peaceable kingdom, according to Moore's flabbergasting choice of film shots, children are flying little kites, shoppers are smiling in the sunshine, and the gentle rhythms of life are undisturbed. Then?wham! From the night sky come the terror weapons of American imperialism...I don't think Al Jazeera would, on a bad day, have transmitted anything so utterly propagandistic. You would also be led to think that the term 'civilian casualty' had not even been in the Iraqi vocabulary until March 2003..."
On debating Moore:
"...I think we can agree that the film is so flat-out phony that 'fact-checking' is beside the point. And as for the scary lawyers--get a life, or maybe see me in court. But I offer this, to Moore and to his rapid response rabble. Any time, Michael my boy. Let's redo Telluride. Any show. Any place. Any platform. Let's see what you're made of."
On Moore's documentary standards:
"But if you leave out absolutely everything that might give your 'narrative' a problem and throw in any old rubbish that might support it, and you don't even care that one bit of that rubbish flatly contradicts the next bit, and you give no chance to those who might differ, then you have betrayed your craft. ... At no point does Michael Moore make the smallest effort to be objective. At no moment does he pass up the chance of a cheap sneer or a jeer."
The Left's Christopher Hitchens (columnist for Vanity Fair) on Michael Moore's latest movie: http://slate.msn.com/id/2102723/?GT1=3584#correct
The money quote:
Moore's movie is "a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of 'dissenting' bravery."
On Moore and his admirers:
"To [Moore], easy applause, in front of credulous audiences, is everything."
On Moore's 'history' of Iraq:
"We are introduced to Iraq, 'a sovereign nation.' (In fact, Iraq's 'sovereignty' was heavily qualified by international sanctions, however questionable, which reflected its noncompliance with important U.N. resolutions.) In this peaceable kingdom, according to Moore's flabbergasting choice of film shots, children are flying little kites, shoppers are smiling in the sunshine, and the gentle rhythms of life are undisturbed. Then?wham! From the night sky come the terror weapons of American imperialism...I don't think Al Jazeera would, on a bad day, have transmitted anything so utterly propagandistic. You would also be led to think that the term 'civilian casualty' had not even been in the Iraqi vocabulary until March 2003..."
On debating Moore:
"...I think we can agree that the film is so flat-out phony that 'fact-checking' is beside the point. And as for the scary lawyers--get a life, or maybe see me in court. But I offer this, to Moore and to his rapid response rabble. Any time, Michael my boy. Let's redo Telluride. Any show. Any place. Any platform. Let's see what you're made of."
On Moore's documentary standards:
"But if you leave out absolutely everything that might give your 'narrative' a problem and throw in any old rubbish that might support it, and you don't even care that one bit of that rubbish flatly contradicts the next bit, and you give no chance to those who might differ, then you have betrayed your craft. ... At no point does Michael Moore make the smallest effort to be objective. At no moment does he pass up the chance of a cheap sneer or a jeer."
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