Fahrenheit 9/11 Attacks
I recently saw Michael Moore’s new film Fahrenheit 9/11 but have been reluctant to write about it since every blogger and her brother has already weighed in on the topic. I do feel like I need to respond to this critique, however, from blogcritics.org’s David Flanagan. In addition to making several incorrect assertions about the scope of copyright law that I won’t address here, Flanagan writes:
Really, though, what can you expect from Michael Moore? Michael is not interested in an issue or a cause, he is interested in the bottom line question, what will this film produce for him in the way of fame and fortune? In this sense, then, Moore is no different from any of the so-called “greedy” corporations so reviled by liberals (including Moore).
This sort of attack on progressive writers and filmmakers always strikes me as totally hollow. It can be generalized as: if someone writes a book or creates a film I disagree with, I can attack them as “just trying to sell more books and movies,” and thus impugn their motive in creating the work.
Of course Michael Moore wants people to see his movie, and Noam Chomsky wants people to read his books. I’m sure Van Gogh wanted a lot of people to see his paintings, and Beethoven for many people to hear his sonatas. Publius wrote the Federalist Papers with the hope that a lot of people would read them. Why else do people create?
If the best attack someone has on some political message is that the speaker is just trying to spread their political message, I suggest we just stop listening to that person.
Even weaker critiques, I suppose, are found in virulently ad hominem attack books like Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man (I shudder to even create the link). This book includes gems like “Moore shows the greatest disdain for that which he actually is… a very rich, pasty white American male.” I wonder if these people realize that they strengthen their enemy with such ridiculous attacks. If I’m white and antiracist, or Jewish and pro-Palestinian, does that make me a hypocrite?
Relatedly, here is a video clip of Michael Moore explaining his views on file sharing. He basically says he wants more people to see his movies, so if people share them online in a noncommercial fashion, that’s fine with him.