Finally, I Can Join the Rest of the Civilized World
posted by kate @ 2:00 PM
6 comments
Out in Left Field
Where parenting and politics meet, but don't always play nice.
Friday, July 06, 2007
kate
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6 Comments:
Back here in the Sticks of Tampa Bay, the St. Pete Times had a couple of editorial letters today singing the praises of SiCKO. I bet the negative "propaganda" claims show up in the paper in the next few days as an answer to this pro-Moore press.
Third and Second to last letters on the page.
Negative "propaganda?" Well, there are 2 sides to every story. Maybe that's to what you are making reference.
Those were good letters. However, did the St. Pete Times really run an anti-gay pride parade ad?
WTF?
Some negative reviews I've read call his trip to Cuba a "stunt"
Which is nothing more than a distraction from the fact that sick 9/11 workers finally got the health care they couldn't get here. It's a great movie.
Well, but his trip to Cuba is a stunt. That's undeniable. It's what Michael Moore does. The question is, is it a stunt that focuses on the point or detracts from it? I haven't seen the movie, so I can't really say, but his past movies have shown that he's more than willing to cross the line with his stunts, which weakens his points because his actions overshadow them. He doesn't trust the innate importance and validity of his material like a true documentarian, preferring to manufacture situations and sometimes facts in order to add shock value. When these add-ons are debunked, then it makes the original, legitimate point seem weaker.
I'm going to go see it, but anything Moore says I take with a grain of salt. Megalomania is unattractive no matter what side of the political spectrum it comes from.
The problem with the Cuba 'stunt' is that it is portrayed (disclaimer: so I am told as I have not seen it) as if the avg Cuban is getting great medical care. They aren't. They are living in squalid poverty and strapping milk cartons together in an effort to float to Miami. How many ever floated from South Beach in the opposite direction?
Many critics I read also said he ignored the obvious problems with the EURO and Canadian systems as well. But he has people talking about a real problem and that is what Moore does.
The Cuba thing bothers me the same way seeing asshole undergrads on campus blathering on about Castro and Chavez does. Since when did dictators become the answer to shrinking the gap between the rich and the poor?
Maybe I should see the movie and then comment...
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