For OpEdNews: Teresa Albano - Writer
PITTSBURGH -- On the year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, filmmaker and slacker hero Michael Moore gave a gift to working America: an explanation of what happened.
In short, capitalism happened.
Moore was invited by the California Nurses Association and the AFL-CIO to show his newest movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story," and lead a march for single-payer health care at the labor convention here on Sept. 14. He accepted and re-arranged his schedule to do it, delaying the planned Los Angeles premiere.
Instead of stars parading down the red carpet waving to the paparazzi like with other movie premieres, mineworkers, steelworkers, nurses and lots of other workers and professionals marched with the Academy Award winner demanding health care for all. It was a celebration of, by and for ordinary hard-working people who have odds stacked against them.
It was a movie premiere like no other, for a movie like no other. Moore masterfully splices together the absurdities of free market propaganda with the real life stories of what happens when a whole system is just about "maximizing profit."
The audience exploded into clapping, or booing and hissing, depending on who was on the screen through out the feature.
The next day Moore sent out this e-mail: "But it wasn't till last night, at the annual convention of the AFL-CIO in downtown Pittsburgh that a packed house of rank-and-file union members -- plumbers and nurses and steelworkers and 73 other trades -- watched the U.S. premiere of our film and, I kid you not, the roof practically came off the place as the credits rolled. I've never witnessed, in my 20 years as a filmmaker, such a response to one of my movies. I'm sure the theater management must have been thinking a riot was going to break out. After years of having the crap kicked out of working people of this country, the crowd in Pittsburgh was ready to rumble after watching two hours of cinema that laid it all out about how Corporate America has gotten away with murder. I was profoundly moved by this overwhelming and enthusiastic response. I simply can't wait to bring this movie to your town and for you to see it! I know you will be shocked and surprised by a lot of what you will see in it. Once again, I've set out to show you things the nightly news doesn't dare show you. There will be some very wealthy men who will not be happy about this film's release. So be it. It's a free country, but more importantly, it's OUR country. It doesn't belong to the richest 1% who now -- are you ready for this -- have more financial wealth than the entire bottom 95% of the country combined!! "
Moore chooses to delve into the last 30 years after the rise of Ronald Reagan and the far-right, corporate crowd which went to town privatizing, deregulating and cutting taxes for the super-wealthy. Moore shows production and profits skyrocketing, while jobs are cut and wages are frozen.
Cutting away to his 1989 Roger and Me, he has GM executive saying they will cut all the jobs for the company's health. Guess that strategy didn't work too good.
But it's the irresponsible Bush administration and the inevitable global financial and housing collapse in September last year that is at the heart of the movie. The rush for a $700 billion bailout for the largest banks and financial institutions in the country is rightly portrayed as a well-planned heist by these liars, thieves and vultures.
Continued>>>
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Michael-Moore-s-Capitalis-by-Terrie-Albano-091001-948.html
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