Customer Reviews

Manufacturing Dissent

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I agree with most of Michael Moore's politics and appreciate that he has helped bring many vital issues into the mainstream. He's done a ton to raise awareness. That said I also think the film "Manufacturing Dissent" is fair and has very legitimate criticisms of Moore's tactics. I would hope that Michael Moore would welcome the criticism. Many people will undoubtedly have a strong opinion about this film without watching it just as most conservatives have very strong opinions about Moore without ever having watched his films (Like the previous reviewer "Bob K" who thinks this is actually a Michael Moore film). I say it is wiser to keep silent until you can speak intelligently on a subject.

The one thing the film is lacking is context. Moore is popular because the mainstream media feeds off highly polarized simplistic politics. So to talk about Michael Moore with out talking about the mainstream media and its manufactured culture is like making a film about a football player without mentioning the football game.

Watch this film but also watch Michael Moore's films. For all the criticisms, Moore's films are worth watching but with the understanding he sometimes plays tricks to make his point. Even knowing about his tricks I still believe that most his points are valid.

First off, I am very sympathetic to Michael Moore's ideas. I would love to see more gun control in the US, the Iraq war come to an end, and health care for everyone. I enjoy his movies for their entertainment value and because they champion causes I believe in. His methods, however, are disturbing. How can you trust anything the guy says knowing the following: The premise of "Roger & Me" was Moore's quest and ultimate failure to get an interview with Roger Smith. Turns out he did interview Roger Smith but decided to cover it up since it didn't make for a compelling movie.

Manufacturing Dissent is a fair documentary. The interviews are with people from both sides. Some love Michael Moore, some hate him. But the important thing is that a lot of the people interviewed worked with Michael Moore. The movie reveals that Moore is not necessarily in search of the truth, just in search of a way to validate things he already believes to be true. This movie is great for anyone who values intellectual honesty.

See Manufacturing Dissent for its content, because its production quality will not impress.

Not really interested in Moore and how he manipulates the subject to meet his desired outcomes. At the end of the day his objectors need to answer his criticisms of American policy.

They cant because gun control , universal medical care , workers rights ,the lack of WMD in Iraq,the Wall street created the global recession but didnt have to carry the cost scenario, you did are points accepted all around the globe in advanced democracies except one .

The United States.

Wake up America you have been sold a lemon.
Increasing the gap between the poor and the wealthy will ultimately cost your society a price that you cant afford. Don't belive the BS. Michael Moore the person is irrelevant. Only the argument counts.

What is interesting about this documentary is that it is made not by conservatives, but by Canadian liberals who largely share Moore's left-wing perspective. They start out sympathetic to Moore, but, by the end, are finally forced to admit that Moore is a self-aggrandizing liar whose films, while entertaining and well made, are certainly not "documentaries."

The filmmakers are clearly not hostile to Moore or his politics. For example, they point out that Moore was absurdly and unfairly prevented from being admitted to his high school's "hall of fame." And one of their critiques of "Bowling for Columbine" was that Moore, instead of calling for a ban on the handguns which are involved in most gun crimes, launched into a convoluted critique of American culture. Most of the interviewees were left-wing activists who totally share Moore's politics, and worked with him at places like "Mother Jones."

So it is all the more damning when they expose Moore's shoddy propaganda. The film most comprehensively dismantled is the one that made Moore's reputation--1989's "Roger and Me." The whole conceit of the film is that Moore chases GM CEO Roger Smith around with a camera and microphone, but never gets an interview. In reality, Moore got a 10 minute interview with Smith, the transcript of which still exists, although Moore tried to get his left-wing colleague to deny its existence. Moore crafted the movie to make it appear that he was alone in his quest to call GM to account, when in reality, there was a huge union and activist movement calling for the same things Moore was calling or. Moreover, Moore changed around chronology and invented out of whole cloth a story about a stolen news van (and shot a fake local new segment reporting the "story"). He also created a scene to make it appear that he had been cut off from speaking at GM shareholder's meeting when, in fact, that never happened.

Then there is "Bowling for Columbine," in which Moore staged a scene in which he receives a gun in return for opening a bank account, making it appear that you could get the gun right there in the bank, when he knew very well that that was not how it worked. And his ambush of Charlton Heston, who was already suffering from Alzheimers, is aptly decribed by another left-wing activist as "mean," which it certainly was.

Moore is a good and entertaining propagandist, but he is no journalist and he has never made documentary in his life.

First see all of Michael Moores Documentary's...(including BLOOD IN THE FACE and PETS OR MEAT) - then watch both of Moore's TV show Box sets.
Then watch this.
It will make more sense - since this film is not put together very well...but should be seen simply because someone who has had such an impact on modern film - as MM has - should have their tactics examined.
I think it's important to recognize that, for better or worse - the onslaught of Documentaries in recent years would have never gotten made or released or accepted if it werent for MM... (including this one).
He made the modern documentary appealing to the average person.
Also: Moore is a comedian - he makes very funny movies about very serious subjects. An overwhelming majority of comedians utilize social commentary in their acts. So why not a documentarist? If you want to look at Moore - you need to keep in mind that his style is directly linked to Will Rogers and Mark Twain. Is he 100% truthful? I'd say I believe undoubtedly that he believes in the points he makes. I would also say he does in editing what an Attorney does when presenting a case. Moore always makes a good case and always makes us laugh. This is something this documentary didn't understand.

It took awhile but Manufacturing Dissent eventually won me over. Ms. Melnyk illuminated a great many facts which Mr. Moore undoubtedly wishes remained hidden. First and foremost was the one regarding his place of origin. Moore, contrary to his claims, was not raised in working class Flint, but instead in middle class Davison, Michigan. Many other tidbits such as this one he certainly wishes remained suppressed. Fans regard him as being a regular guy who is approachable, but he is not. In fact, such a demeanor is the farthest thing from the truth. Moore is a smug, self-righteous radical who looks down on everybody else just as others of his kind do. This is highly evident in the context of the film as he refused to be interviewed by the director or even to talk to her privately--despite his initially giving his consent during a brief segment they recorded. His disdain for the low budget film director was so great that he actually had his security throw her and her crew out of his speaking events...continually. They were barred and tossed despite his claim of "liking Canadians."

Despite notable signs of slant--such as showing clips of battle in Iraq with a song playing lyrics like "another soldier dying"-- Debbie Melnyk does not do the standard leftist thing of completely ignoring her opposition. She interviews Moore's detractors and lets them speak clearly which is something that won my respect. Moore's megalomania is discernible in many ways as seen in the way that he refused to pay a music critic whose work he printed in The Flint Voice. The same thing can be said of the way he treated his coworkers at Mother Jones. Ultimately, Melnyk is honest enough to let the situation describe itself. Michael Moore, the supposed champion of the common person, is far above the masses and is too superior to allow the documentary crew to interact with him. If he is this much of a jerk to his allies on the left imagine how he treats the rest of the world.

Canadian television documentary detailing Michael Moore's rise to power by manipulating his films to prove his points. Mostly details the making of his first film "Roger & Me". This is not a one sided documentary. One of the problems I had with this is I asked myself the question why are people like Ralph Nader and Phil Donahue continuing to be friends with Moore. The footage of Moore on "Donahue" made me cringe. I have nothing against Moore's films and own all of them on dvd but this is well worth seeing. Partly funded with Australian money from SBS.

I have seen MM Hates America and I thought this was a better film for showing what M. Moore is really like. Good bio and good job of pointing out numerous hypocrisies.

...though, as a lot of the other reviews demonstrate, it's easier for some to look the other way. There's no getting past the reality that the ends justify the means for many people ("The True Believer" that Eric Hoffer dissected so brilliantly). As it happens, I caught this documentary recently on Sundance though it's now about two years old. No histrionics or transparent animus at work here. Just a steady-handed evisceration of your basic ethically-challenged narcissist. The film scores its points effectively through the testimony of former associates--supporters disillusioned and friends betrayed, going all the way back to Moore's slithering exit from Mother Jones in the early 1980s. No right wing bogeymen to aid and comfort the denial crowd, just the likes of publisher Adam Hochschild, labor attorney Guy Saperstein, Nader lieutenant Jim Musselman, film maker Kevin Rafferty, film critic Jack Matthews, writer Christopher Hitchens, Ralph Nader himself, and so on. Definitely worth viewing.

This Documentary presents a more "fair" look at MM,whatever that means. He doesn't deserve a Fair nothing. What he has done,his methods and deceit to justify his means has already been covered in Michael Moore Hates America(A Much superior film than this.)To give time to see anything michael moore related is too waste one's time. he doesn't represent the little guy,only the liberal establishment.he is in desperate need of help.If he represents the Left in this country I feel sorry for them.