LA Weekly on Michael Moore

Posted by Ed

LA Weekly has published two articles on Michael Moore. I'd strongly recommend the second, by Marc Cooper; Cooper begins by explaining how the comic Mort Sahl won him over to liberalism in the 1960s, concluding:

I cannot imagine Michael Moore having that sort of transformational effect on anyone. Moore arrives before us not with a newspaper under his arm, but rather with a bullhorn and a sledgehammer. Sahl engaged his audience in subtle, complicated dialogue, enticing his fans to think beyond the conventional wisdom. Moore's style is to bully and bluster. Sahl helped teach me how to think. Moore purports to tell us what to think.

Which wouldn't be so objectionable if there was evidence that Moore had any depth, any nuance or at least some consistency to his own thought.

Cooper strikes just the right tone in his article. I've always found Moore intellectually dishonest and I've never considered him funny; I realize, however, that I'm not part of Moore's audience and that activists, writers, and comedians can help win people over to liberalism without producing the sort of sophisticated arguments that would appeal to someone steeped in politics. Even by that standard, I think that Moore falls short. I strongly doubt that he's won anyone over to his left-wing views--instead, I think he plays to people who want to be confirmed in what they already believe--and he helps cheapen political discussion in a day when there are already too many Ann Coulters out there.

Posted by Ed at March 4, 2004 04:13 PM