Michael Moore knows how to talk: All in all, white comedians are better off not making jokes involving race. Last week, on The View, Michael Moore quoted a Bill Maher joke about Obama, then explained what Maher meant by the joke.
His explanation didn’t make any sense. Some people got upset. For the most part, white comedians would be better off dropping racial references in jokes.
On the other hand, we thought Moore was extremely good last night on Last Word. He was speaking from the Wall Street demonstrations. We thought he expressed a lot of good frameworks, but we’ll highlight the part we liked best:
MOORE (9/28/11): What you have to understand about this protest is this is unlike any other protest that you’ve seen in your lifetime, because there’s no dues- paying organization that we all belong to. You know, there’s no membership form. There’s no one person that comes in here and says, now, this is our agenda and this is the way it’s going to be.We think the highlighted parts are very strong. Everyone is getting ripped by the Masters of the Universe. As long as the tribes stay at each others’ throats, the Masters will continue to win.
There are a variety of demands and concerns within this group. I can, I can say what some of mine are, but don’t mistake that for what the broad, for the breadth of this group here. Because there are—I saw Ron Paul people here. I mean, there’s all kinds of them. There’s all, there’s all kinds of Americans here. There’s all kinds of Americans here.
And nobody here is calling themselves a Democrat or a Republican or a liberal or a conservative. We’re beyond that. That’s right.
This is the people and everyone here represents thousands of Americans who can’t be here tonight who feel the same exact way.
So, I mean, I’ve said what I’ve said for a long time. Tax the rich, jail the bankers, end corporate welfare, end these wars which are costing us $2 billion a week.
You know, it goes on and on. And if we pass the microphone around, you’d hear 15 other things that need to get done.
And you know what? They’re going to get done because this is our country. We’re the majority—the majority. We’re the majority. Never forget that.
The people who work for a living in this country, we are the people. Not the people up here who are taking people’s pensions and their bank accounts and ruining it and destroying their lives.
This is—they are not running this country anymore. They think they are, but that’s going to come to an end right now.
We thought Moore was very smart to start tearing down those presumptive walls. Everyone is getting ripped. It doesn’t hurt to say so.
Every person I know who's mentioned Michael Moore who isn't that political always prefaces it with "I know his movies are exaggerations, but...." The propaganda campaign against Moore, to keep him marginalized and outside the mainstream discourse, has been relentless and successful.
ReplyDeleteYou'll never see the powers that be waging such a war against Rachel Maddow. It's not hard to see why.
"All in all, white comedians are better off not making jokes involving race."
ReplyDeleteI agree with that. Some whites think they are being edgy when they make some sort of clever racial reference. Whether it is clever or stupid, it always ends up in a discussion about whether it was racist to say it and distracts attention from whatever point the person meant to make.
Oh, I agree with your main point too. Good for Moore.
ReplyDeleteStrangely enough, Moore's words apply pretty well to the Tea Parties. The Tea Parties also organized demonstrations without a dues-paying organization. They also represent working people, who are being treated unfairly by the government. They also favor an end to corporate welfare.
ReplyDeleteI see two major differences. The Tea Parties oppose increasing taxes on any group of Americans, including the rich. The Tea Parties believe that in the name of increasing taxes on the rich, our President plans to also increase taxes on the upper middle class and even some of the middle class. Tea Parties see the middle class and upper middle class as working Americans -- a group they claim to represent.
The other difference is that the Tea Parties have rappidly become major political players. Michael Moore's group have not.
Michael Moore doesn't really have a "group." He speaks for himself; it just happens that some people agree with him.
ReplyDeleteHey, David - did you ever think that this:
ReplyDelete"The Tea Parties believe that in the name of increasing taxes on the rich, our President plans to also increase taxes on the upper middle class and even some of the middle class. Tea Parties see the middle class and upper middle class as working Americans -- a group they claim to represent..."
And this:
"The other difference is that the Tea Parties have rappidly become major political players."
Just might be related in ways that have nothing to do with their actual levels of support among the American people?
I'd be interested in exactly how teabaggers feel they are being mis-treated by the government. Not to inject logic but the obvious end to the end of all taxes is the end of all society.
ReplyDeleteTwo points theotherjimmyolson,
ReplyDelete1. Teabagging is an uncommon sexual practice most often used by gay men. Calling Tea Party people "teabaggers" is something like calling them "faggots". Slurs like that interfere with a civil exchange of opinions and values.
2. It's a mistake of logic to equate not wanting taxes to go higher with wanting an end to all taxes.