Capitalism: A Love Story

I’m a huge Michael Moore fan, and I’m not ashamed of it. I know my family thinks he’s nuts (and that I am, too) and that he, himself, is now a rich guy, and that many people have a problem with him. I don’t really care about any of that. Being rich alone isn’t a crime; there are plenty of rich people I admire (though, admittedly, many, many more whom I don’t). He’s a filmmaker whose job is to entertain; he simply uses his platform to deliver messages that are often considered controversial—though they shouldn’t be. After all, stories about our fellow Americans and their lives should be something we care about, not something that’s “controversial.”

Usually his films are very entertaining, but lately they’ve been getting less and less so. Sicko didn’t make me laugh nearly as much as Fahrenheit 911 did—and Fahrenheit 911 didn’t make me roll on the floor laughing like Bowling for Columbine did, either. (All films, however, tore at me and made me cry—something that Moore never fails to do in his work ever since Roger and Me.) Capitalism: A Love Story, however, didn’t make me laugh at all.

I wondered, after watching it, if I might laugh five years from now. Maybe the situation is still too close at hand; maybe we’re all still suffering financially so much that I just couldn’t manage a smile. But I really think the movie just lacked that typical Mike sparkle—that scathing satire, that information infused with humor that makes his movies so memorable. After all, we’re still lacking national healthcare, as we were when I watched Sicko, and I still found some mirth in that film.

I wonder if Mike is also getting more bummed out while he makes his movies? Learning all of this stuff is obviously very depressing, after all. I don’t get that vibe from him, though. He’s always still trying to get Congress to change, people to act, the paradigm to shift. Maybe it was just a fluke. After all, the movie was still very moving, and contained lots of valuable information. Watching a business CEO whisper in President Reagan’s ear—obviously giving a command to his pet dog—gave me the chills in a very bad way. And Cater’s words about moving away from buying so much, away from commercialism, and towards our families and each other made me cry. A president actually said these words!

Are our officials really so tied to big business? Yes, I believe so. Can we do something about it? Absolutely. Even though the Wall Street reform that was recently passed was so watered down, it was an important step away from the hybrid government/business paradigm that makes up America today. And is Capitalism worth the watch? Yes. It’s as informative as you might expect; just don’t watch it expecting to laugh as much as you normally might from a Moore film.