It must have been a gruesome sight: the elite of the Cannes film festival applauding someone even more self-regarding than themselves. Michael Moore, portly archpriest of the anti-Bush cult, premiered his film Fahrenheit 9/11 at the festival this week. The American documentary-maker sent three undercover film crews to Iraq; they returned with footage - included in the film - claiming to show US soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.
| Wonder if he outsourced his filming to al-Jaz? |
If such abuse occurred, then it should be condemned. But no one should rush to judgment on the basis of allegations emanating from Mr Moore. Many of the claims made in Bowling for Columbine, his Oscar-winning film about America's gun culture, have unravelled spectacularly under scrutiny. His target audience of 20-year-old slackers will not hear a word against him, but many American commentators - including Left-wing ones - are embarrassed by the crudity of his rhetoric, the unreliability of his "facts" and the gulf between his claim to represent blue-collar America and his personal lifestyle. Mr Moore lives on New York's Upper West Side and travels in corporate jets with a rock-star entourage. Asked about this by the Los Angeles Times, he implied that only middle-class journalists were bothered by the contradiction - "the working class just thinks it's cool". This concern for the working classes is touching: it was on display again at Cannes, where Mr Moore took time out from gobbling canapés to address a local protest over benefit cuts. "I'm here to support workers in France, the United States and all around the world," he declared.
| They were not really "workers", they were French actors. |
This folie de grandeur might be forgivable if Mr Moore were funny. And, to be fair, some people think he is. In a recent live show in London, he suggested that, if the September 11 hijack victims had been black, as opposed to pampered whites, they would have fought back and overcome their attackers. His right-on audience lapped this up. Relatives of those who died might not have laughed so heartily. The simple truth about Michael Moore is that this self-righteous critic of corporate America is one of its most bloated beneficiaries. It is time someone made a film about him - and, we are pleased to report, someone is. Forget Fahrenheit 9/11: later this year, a young film-maker called Mike Wilson will unveil a documentary entitled Michael Moore Hates America, in which the self-proclaimed "slob in a baseball cap" will find his techniques turned on himself. Don't miss it.
|
