"Our Moorean Dilemma"
That's one of the sub-headings of this interesting essay by Kevin Mattson on the drawbacks and pitfalls of Michael Moore's brand of Leftism. Eager to rescue the Left from the inanity and contentlessness embodied by "America's most prominent leftist," and echoing the "sell-out" debate that crops up whenever anyone makes a quarter (which I'm most familiar with from the punk rock world), Mattson frames the dilemma thus: "do leftists stay on the margins or do we bust through and play by the rules of the entertainment industry?"
I'm not sure you can blame the weaknesses of Moore's faux-activist schtick entirely on the "rules" of the entertainment industry. Perhaps the message has been dumbed down a bit for mass consumption, but it was pretty dumb to begin with. I doubt if a Michael Moore freed from the constraints of show biz would be any more compelling or persuasive than the one we're stuck with.
To be sure, Moore's sub-literate "book" is on a par with all those other flimsy, virtually content-free, large-type, best-selling "books" by celeb pundits (Coulter, Matthews, O'Reilly, The Rock, et al.) Whether it issues from the mouths of mascots of the left or those of the right (or from professional wrestlers), "all attitude, little substance" can be a bit more entertaining than dour, jargon-laden, political speechifying. Not for long, though. I usually don't find this sort of thing very entertaining, but there are obviously those who do. Yet sincere leftists, I believe, would be ill-advised to take the devil's bargain which Mattson (none too seriously) hints at: accept Moore, warts and all, as your dumbed-down, massively popular, entertainment industry-certified mascot, in return for a shot at the hearts and minds of his legions of fans. "Sure," these earnest, non-dumbed-down leftists might say, "Moore's an inane, embarrassing, untrustworthy, cartoonish buffoon, but at least he's our inane, embarrassing, untrustworthy, cartoonish buffoon." There's not much of a future there, I'd say.
Yet, though I think the blame on the entertainment "industry" is misplaced, Mattson's larger point is well-taken and expressed with admirable eloquence and clarity:
None of what I've discussed here would matter if Moore's techniques didn't symbolize bigger weaknesses in the American left today. Moore is not just a quirky guy with enough talent and dough to reach a wide audience. His political criticism signals problems faced by the left more generally: marginalization, a tendency to seek the purity of confrontation rather than to work for long-term political solutions, a cynicism about the possibilities of politics today, and questionable political judgments. Moore exhibits all these weaknesses. Unfortunately, an effective left cannot draw energy or inspiration from a deeply cynical view of politics that blurs entertainment and argument. Moore takes short-cuts when it comes to politics. He entertains, but he doesn't always do much more. That speaks to the state of the left; we are angry and sometimes vocal, but we have too little to offer those looking for or needing social change.