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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Intellectual Capitalism, 15 Nov 2005
Writer Jesse Larner through Moore & Us comes across as a protagonist of the film Primary Colors; a naïve Democrat, in the sense that not only does he believe in rising above the Right, but also in the perception of the Democrats as any real alternative at all. Given that the book's subject has at various points in his career heavily criticised the Democrats, this may provide the motivation behind this book itself. In fact, the title's pun on Roger & Me itself demonstrates a pettiness Larner claims to detest. But beyond that, more simplistically, it's a cynical attempt to conveniently cash in on the Moore name. A book on the manipulation by the right-wing media (which takes place 24 hours a day) was clearly not going to set Larner apart from the pack on the bookstore shelves that are these days full of anti-capitalist literature from naturally left-wing academics.
Whilst Larner on one hand represents the proud ability of the left as a whole to diplomatically debate and challenge, on the other hand he plays the intellectual capitalism the Left has ironically become known for while the Right were simply winning elections.
Larner's main point (of the whole book, in fact) is that Moore is utterly and totally discredited because of his continuous use of clever editing and choice of content to favour his viewpoint, something Fox News – in the name of “objective journalism” – does every hour of every day, but for far more cynical motives: power and money. Moore’s choice of shots of Charlton Heston at his house, footage of George Bush at a banquet, or even his emphasis on a culture of fear and the War on Terror™ as a distraction and imperialistic excuse do not at all damage the fact that Moore’s agenda is a far more selfless one (albeit with recently healthy rewards).
Right-wing media moguls and their minions, meanwhile, are all fighting to save their own skins through the perpetuation of Profit over People. Larner gushes over filmmaker Michael Wilson and his attempts to find and question the Questioner himself, Michael Moore, a man whose time and money and effort and career has been spent questioning those who royally screw us - though Wilson, misty-eyed, would rather have us believe that all Americans are fighters, and thus each of them, even black or poor, can become as successful as the next man if they’d just get off their fat, Moore-like backsides (which of course is nonsense and even quite fascist, but instead it is Moore’s film, not Wilson’s, that Larner calls a “joke.”)
There is never any focus on Moore’s achievements in terms of bringing very important issues to the attention of the general public through playing the capitalists at their own game by creating entertaining yet thought-provoking comedies that make money for the studios therefore guarantee his funding. Not once does Larner take more than a fleeting look at Moore’s restraint in his films, such as the black-screen sequence covering the attacks on the World Trade Center in Fahrenheit 9/11. Granted, there have been use of racist stereotypes in that film’s coverage of the Coalition of the Willing and in Bowling for Columbine’s look at worldwide gun crime. But, again, Moore’s attempt is to reach the people who read the New York Times, The Sun, and watch Fox and Sky News – something your usual left-wing academic can never do.
Whilst Larner has a great point in claiming left-wing media must remain both exemplary and accountable, he demonstrates both naivety and bitterness in criticising Moore for occasional discrepancies, factual errors, or even his blatant tit-for-tat media manipulation. After all, given such a yardstick, Larner would also be a “joke,” at the very least for such a massive mistake as describing Moore’s Oscar acceptance speech as being in “tuxedo and baseball cap” (Moore never wore a cap at the Academy Awards ceremony).
Overall, even aside from the cynical motivation of the book’s rushed release itself, Moore & Us typifies the never-ending failures of the self-destructive, nit-picking Left, if indeed you can call a self-confessed Democrat a member of the Left at all.
Larner is right to strive for a world of unbiased information, but essentially wrong to go after Moore when the Left’s only ulterior motive in the little media it has access to is to make the world a better place for the many and not just the few. Maybe I’ll try and find and question Larner about this and his many typos, errors, and un-credited facts. But will it make him such a bad person if he, as a superior journalist than I, doesn’t get back to me? Let’s not play that game like Larner does.
Ultimately, if you’re an anorak who enjoys attending meetings to discuss Ernesto “Che” Guevara or the Russian Revolution, and playing games of intellectual capitalism, or are even interested to know the origins of Michael Moore and the reasons for his rise, you’ll find this book interesting. But if you already know the score, are aware of the right-wing capitalists behind the production of books like Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man or films like Celsius 41:11, and would rather enjoy the few successes of the Left largely led by Moore himself and getting off your Moore-like backside to contribute to them, then this really is a waste of your time.
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