The Moviegoer

That documentary films rarely make it into the movie theaters is an unfortunate reality of modern cinema. Documentaries offer unparalleled insight: their creators are not forced to condense social issues down to the sound bites of magazine articles and television programs.

At the Kennedy School's ARCO Forum last Wednesday, Michael Moore demonstrated the power of this unique medium. Moore, the creator of Roger and Me and "TV Nation," screened and fielded questions about his new movie, The Big One. In the film, Moore displays his unique brand of comedy and social commentary which has made him one of America's few commercially successful documentary filmmakers.

In the film, Moore (while ostensibly on a book tour for his recent best seller Downsize This!) travels across the country seeking corporate executives who have laid off American workers despite record corporate profits.

Along the way, Moore also interviews numerous unemployed workers who have been victimized by downsizing. In Centralia, Mo., Moore speaks with workers who were recently laid off by the makers of the PayDay candy bar. PayDay was one of the largest employers in Centralia, and many of the fired workers had labored at the plant for more than 20 years. At Brooks & Johnson, an automobile parts manufacturer in Milwaukee, Moore interviews workers who were terminated after the company relocated its branch to Mexico.

Upon reaching Portland, Ore., Moore is at his best as he interviews Nike CEO Phil Knight, the only CEO who agreed to talk with Moore on camera. Moore asks Knight why Nike refuses to let Americans manufacture Nike shoes. (At the IOP, Moore claimed Nike tried to pressure him into editing out much of this interview.) Nike, like the other companies Moore features reaped substantial profits during the documentary's filming.

By allowing workers to air their grievances on the big screen, Moore demonstrates that America's rising economic tide has not raised all boats. He says that widespread downsizing among American businesses has resulted in a reduction of jobs in which people can earn a livable wage.

Moore challenges statistics that show rising employment rates by asserting that many of the new jobs created pay minimum wage and do not allow individuals to support their families or themselves. He also says that more Americans need to work two jobs and that these people count as two individuals in employment statistics.

Moore does not limit his attacks to corporate America, putting national and state governments on the spot as well for giving out "three times as much corporate welfare as social welfare." In Wisconsin, Moore brings three women who have been kicked off welfare to the offices of Tommy Thompson, the state's Republican governor. Thompson signed legislation limiting the time Wisconsin residents can stay on the dole.

Moore uses a barrage of statistical analyses and interviews with unemployed workers to advance his radically (and unabashedly so) leftist political agenda. Hence, it is not surprising that many students at the screening challenged the politics of Moore's film in the question and answer period. One student asked the filmmaker if he wished America had the same socialist reforms that have led to economic distress in several European nations. Moore answered the question vaguely, stating that America needs more "economic democracy" and that more people needed to earn a "livable wage." The student seemed disappointed with Moore's answer.

Viewers should not look for a coherent rationale for economic or political reform in this film. If they do, they will miss its true value. Moore is not an economist, nor is he a politician; he does not have the expertise of Martin S. Feldstein or Milton Friedman. Nor is this his goal. When someone in the film suggests he run for President to send a message, Moore himself quipped, "What would be the message--eat out more?"

Yet Moore can give us something that politicians and economists cannot: the ability to see the disadvantages of downsizing programs and other cost-cutting initiatives. We are constantly bombarded with sound bites from boisterous politicians and business executives who praise increased efficiency as the reason America has pulled out of its economic doldrums. The politicians' comments make it easy to ignore the fact that people are inevitably hurt by cost-cutting programs.

Perhaps optimal efficiency is the highest economic virtue--I, for one, have no desire to throw off my capitalist chains--but we must not forget about those whom efficiency leaves on the side-lines of American economic life.

If you see The Big One (and I advise you to), pay attention to the plight of workers who have lost their jobs and ignore Moore's vague prescriptions for change. Like many important artistic works, the merit of the film lies in its ability to bring pressing issues to light, not in its attempts to solve them.

Alex M. Carter '00, a history and literature concentrator in Dunster House, is The Crimson's resident moviegoer.