Friday, June 02, 2006

"Liberal" Movies in the Culture Wars

It has been well documented that so-called "conservatives" (who no longer fit any traditional definition of "conservative," as they seek to radically alter society rather than "conserve" it) are much better than so-called "liberals" at propaganda. But, ever since Michael Moore's landmark 1989 film Roger and Me, "liberals" have been catching up. We now have our own cottage industry of books, movies, and television and radio programs designed to tell the untold stories.

I don't have the time or energy to do an in-depth analysis of this trend here, but, lucky you, I don't have to. Check out this article from the Christian Science Monitor. While not quite as in depth as I would like, it is a pretty good look at the new(ish) genre, "docu-ganda" films.

4 comments:

Amy said...

Chris,
I actually read that right before I headed over to your blog. It was interesting - I think my only concern by saying their not really "documentaries" is then the automatically become fiction, as that is the only current non-fiction movie category...

Anyway, did you see this article in Rolling Stone. All I can say right now is "HOLY $#!+"

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen

Sandalstraps said...

Amy,

I'm reading the Rolling Stone piece as soon as I finish typing this.

I share your concern, and want to add to it another one: The "mainstream" (for lack of a better term at the moment) view of documentary filmaking rests on a dangerous assumption often made by the news media: that is, that every story has two equal and opposite sides. This assumption is false in at least two respects:

1. There are often many more than two sides to a story, and

2. The sides are rarely equal.

The best critique of this was in the outstanding film Goodnight, and Good Luck, in which it was clear that McCarthyism did not merit such a "balanced" treatment, but, in fact, needed to be roundly and unequivocally condemned.

While some of my favorite "docu-ganda" films (including and especially anything by Michael Moore!) are unbalanced and often unfair, they do ring out in the sort of morally prophetic voice which has been missing from the "mainstream" media. But, the lack of balance does have a serious downside: the occaisional loss of the moral high ground.

Conservatives have been using their propoganda machinery for years, dominating the national discussion on social issues and demonizing their opponents with little or no conscience. Perhaps the best example of this is the career of Rus Limbaugh. But, with the rise of Michael Moore and his ilk we "liberals" forfeit the right to claim this mode of discourse is unfair.

As Ellen Goodman once said, "Micheal Moore is the liberal Rush Limbaugh, but I have to ask, do we liberals really want our own Rush Limbaugh?"

I can't answer that question. On the one hand, we are finally fighting back. On the other hand, in our fight we are using weapons which for idealogical reasons we have often condemned.

Sandalstraps said...

Brian,

But I want to ask... really I do... (whining)

Sandalstraps said...

Pretty good. You got me interested, anyway. Nice tease.