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Broco
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Headquarters
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 Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 1:24 am Post subject: Re: SICKO |
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| GcDiaz wrote: |
| So, I learned a while back to just ignore the tear-jerking and focus on the actual facts being presented. |
That makes no sense. Moore has shown that he's willing to play very fast and loose with the facts, and you can't tell as a layman whether he isn't distorting them and omitting crucial context. He will mislead you if he's your only source, even if you go in there intending to be skeptical. The only way anything can be learned from the likes of Moore is if you already have enough knowledge to see through his bullshit -- and then what you'll learn of course is not about the subject matter but about techniques of manipulation.
There are sources, for example the New York Times, that even though you know they have a slant you can trust to not lie to you. Moore isn't one of those sources. |
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Broco
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Headquarters
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| Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 2:08 am |
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| Ratoslov wrote: |
| Because everything is at least a little subjective I will act as though there is no difference between inadvertent slant and outright lies. |
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Broco
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Headquarters
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| Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 1:36 am |
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| CubaLibre wrote: |
| I'm pretty invested, and seeing well-reasoned and nuanced solutions blown to the sidelines in favor of some "let's yell at Guantanamo" bullshit is pretty infuriating. |
That is exactly why I hated Fahrenheit 9/11. I was against Bush at the time but in his two-hour film Moore failed to enunciate a single one of my good reasons for being so. It spent all its time insinuating Saudi connections on flimsy circumstantial evidence, implying that Iraq was a little paradise where kids played with kites before the American invasion, etc etc. |
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Broco
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Headquarters
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 11:34 pm |
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Although it's a moot point now, at the time that F9/11 was released the civil war hadn't yet picked up steam (remember the days when Iraqis fought only Americans, not each other?) and it wasn't clear that the invasion had in fact made things worse for Iraqis.
Yeah I know Moore wasn't seriously intending to claim that Iraq was a paradise by showing that brief clip, even though that's the only possible impression one could take away from it (wasn't there peaceful music too?). It was just more of his cheap hyperbole for emotional effect, like when he listed the Coalition of the Willing while conveniently omitting Britain. I don't know how misleading it is to most people, probably not too much, but at any rate it's just cheap, crude sniping that isn't (shouldn't be) funny or convincing because it has to deny reality in order not to lose its punch.
Anyway I guess what angered me most about F9/11 was that the theater I watched it in was filled with left-wing "critical thinkers" that laughed and clapped enthusiastically at his every cheap attack and transparent manipulation, while I seemed to be the only one sitting there fuming. A very alienating experience.
I think that Moore's goals notwithstanding, F9/11 may have had the net effect of pushing a few votes towards Bush, because its energizing of Democrats may have been outweighed by its angering Republicans. Heck after that film I almost wanted to Bush to win just so Moore would be pissed off. |
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