Quote:
Originally posted by Timber Loftis:
I do think it's relevant that he's overweight slovenly unshaven and be-capped. I recall the words of one of my law professors commenting at our tendancy to wear sandals at Vermont Law School:
"Don't these people know that they're going to have to wear actual shoes and put on a tie someday if they want to be taken seriously?"
I'm not big on the "challenge the status quo" and "look at them for their ideas, not appearance" excuses either. It's all one big picture for me. Moore dresses like he directs: a quick tossing together of a hodgepodge of random and only seemingly-related things -- just enough effort to let us know he may be witty, but not enough to convey any clear picture or theme.
You may say I'm superficial. I'll just say he's a lazy slob -- which is by far a worse thing to be.
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In my opinion the kind of people who'll only listen to a guy in shoes and a tie are only going to listen to the kind of things a guy in shoes and a tie would say. And if you can't see a clear theme in Fahrenheit 9/11 then you're
really not looking hard enough. Or maybe you're looking at the wrong things - like how the people involved are dressing...
As for Moore's directing style being a "hodgepodge" I'd like to say that he builds from real peoples liveas and experiences of concrete events like job losses or election scandals and progresses from them ultimately to Orwellian anti-capitalism. Thats a hell of a lot more sophisticated than a lot of people give him credit for. His argument is constructed mostly through the use of examples, not polemic, yet clearly conveys the largely abstract points he wants to make about authority in a capitalist society whilst remaining grounded in everyday peoples lives. He knew who and what he was making this film for, and it wasn't to persuade middle america, or the right, or even the left leaning intellectuals - it was made for, and aimed at, the working class.
Also while Moore may be a slob I think calling him lazy is possibly a little misguided. From what I know of him he's a shrewd and energetic campaigner on a number of issues. I think anyone who pulls the kind of stunts he did on TV Nation can't really be considered lazy.