I've seen posts which suggested that Moore owned up to spinning the story as a publicity stunt, just to grab attention and marshal outrage. Which, if it's true, shows that we're living in the age of Rupert Murdoch and Alistair Campbell, where spin is everything and only suckers still care about anything resembling honesty or integrity.
Everybody hates the extremist, and there they are, waving a banner on every front. The Michael Moore backlash started a few years ago, as people seemed to get over the initial excitement of having politics chewed up for them, the gristly bits included, and force fed down their baby bird maws, and started the nit-picking. Despite MM's own bad behaviour in publicity stunting, and despite his simplifications (or even melodramatic fabrications) of the 'truth', I for one believe it's important to view the aftermath of his work - that people (Americans included) are discovering a renewed interest in what shapes their world (other than the latest American Idol competitors), and possibly even forming opinions. Possibly even finding outrage. Hopefully it will transcend, and last. MM's no genius, he himself will admit it, but in the same way that shows like Queer Eye For The Straight Guy are bringing a certain acceptance of homosexuals into people's (American's) loungerooms, no matter how stylised or unrealistic, AN
Possibly.
I saw a book today titled _The Middle Mind_, which probably ties in with this. Its gist seems to be the recent trend in dumbing down, and the rise of predigested, simplified ideas leading to the breakdown of serious thought and analysis. (I looked in it, and landed on a page about why Radiohead's _Kid A_ was all affectation and no substance, or something like that.) Anyway, Moore seems to be the Middle Mind form of left-wing politics.
The question is: do people who got into activism via Michael Moore start getting deeper into thinking critically about issues, or do they just shout leftist slogans and then grow out of it and become equally superficial Republicans or NIMBYs or pro-lifers?
Dunno. A lot of boofheads like their Midnight Oil, but they're not exactly greenies.
It depends which paper you read. Some have already changed their headlines on this issue...Moore says his _agent_ knew that Disney was not going to distribute his film but didn't tell more, and Miramax kept the money flowing, so Moore was unaware of the problem. Tax breaks exist on a lot of the agricultural, and former-agricultural land Disney owns, apparently.
Of course, Moore making money for Disney is a problem in its own right, if Disney are in bed with the Bushes...