The day in censorship: An illiterate right-wing anti-Michael Moore group and a smut-hating Texan

Filmbrain found the following news stories a bit disconcerting.

First off, a group calling themselves Move America Forward has launched a campaign to pressure movie theater owners into not showing Michael Moore's latest film, Fahrenheit 9/11. Though the group claims to be non-partisan, it is run by Howard Kaloogian, the man behind the Recall Gray Davis committee and the Defend Reagan Committee, which was successful in intimidating CBS from airing the miniseries The Reagans. Counterpunch is reporting that the site is registered in the name of Russo Marsh & Rogers, a GOP consultation firm. Normally, these lunatic fringe groups don't worry Filmbrain much, but Kaloogian and his pals have been quite successful up to now. He considered his victory over CBS as a victory for free speech. There's something very twisted about that. On his personal blog, Kaloogian calls Fahrenheit 9/11 an "Al Qaeda training video", and goes on to feign concern about the

"handful of emails from those who support Michael Moore who are dismayed that we are speaking up. I wonder why they are so afraid of the opinion of the American public?"

Once again, twisted logic. Isn't it Kaloogian who is afraid of the opinion of the American public after they've seen the film?

Then Filmbrain had a look at their Stop Michael Moore page and saw the following:

Perhaps Kaloogian is too upset to concern himself with spelling errors. Or, he might want to consider launching a campaign against this film instead.

In other censorship news, Texas congressman Lamar Smith (R) is planning to introduce a bill today that would legislate the digital filtering of indecent content in movies. He is also going to hold a hearing on the Family Movie Act on Thursday. (One can only imagine what that's going to be all about.) What's troubling about this news is that at the moment ClearPlay, makers of a DVD player that filters questionable content, is in the midst of a lawsuit filed by Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh and other members of the DGA. Smith's proposed legislation would override any court decision, and he has been threatening to introduce the bill if the two sides don't come up with a voluntary solution. Scary stuff.

Comments

[Marleigh]

Two comments in response:

On Kaloogian I know we have the same opinion on right-wing and neo-con politics, but Gray Davis was a terrible governor. Not to say that the Governator is doing a bang-up job, but Davis sunk the economy of this state faster than you could say 'Titanic.' As for blocking the Reagan miniseries, that was just stupid. Despite heaping mounds of evidence that he was neither a saint nor an effective leader, Reagan was deified in his own lifetime. Nothing CBS aired was—or is, especially now—going to change that.

On Moore I was both saddened and angered to discover that Michael Moore had videos depicting the abuses at Abu Ghraib months before the story broke on 60 Minutes, and he sat on it for fear that airing it would hurt his film and his credibility. Worse yet, the footage he has is reportedly even more disturbing than what has been shown previously.

Shame on you, Michael Moore! You used to care about people who were being stomped on, and when the chips are down and people are being literally stomped on, you sit by and do nothing.

[Sean]

Lamar Smith is a jackass! No thanks to the recent Texas redistricting fiasco, he's now my representative rather than the honorable Lloyd Doggett. Austin's been split into 3 districts like some Byzantine pie in order to dilute our political voice. Smith's Family Movie Act just makes me hate the son of a bitch even more.

Austin's a great place to live, but, God, we're surrounded by assholes!!

[Filmbrain]

I can't comment on the Gray Davis thing, because I really don't keep up with Cali politics. That said, I'd rather see a mangy dog in office than Ahnold.

As for Moore -- let me play devil's advocate -- perhaps it really did require a reputable source like 60 minutes for it to be taken seriously, and, more importantly, to be splattered all over the media. Had it first been released by Moore, there was more than a slight chance that they would have worked some spin on it to soften the story somewhat. Moore is already viewed with suspicion, and it would have been too easy to twist it around to make it seem that it was all about him, his partisan politics, etc.

Obviously, I've not yet seen the film, and don't wish to praise nor condemn it -- it just worries me when people like Kaloogian get involved in such matters.

The groups that were upset about The Passion were very vocal with their cries of anti-Semitism, but there were no efforts made to prevent theaters from showing it (at least that I was aware of.)

[Marleigh]

The ADL was all over the place trying to get theaters not to show the film, but they are rarely completely successful in such situations; their most effective weapon is generally bad PR. They were successful blocking The Believer, and marginally so blocking Max, but they had to realize they were at a serious disadvantage when up against Mel's money and a largely Christian nation.

And while I agree with you that Michael Moore is not considered a necessarily reputable source, neither is Mike Drudge and he's broken some very serious stories with very little censure. The story would probably have been easier to spin if Moore had initiated the coverage, but there is little that could have been done to dispute such detailed and voluminous documentation from multiple sources.

[FIlmbrain]

I wasn't aware the ADL was involved in blocking The Believer. Max did play theatrically, at least in NYC.

Nobody would be listening to Drudge if it wasn't for a certain stained dress. But your point is taken.

From what I understand, Moore includes the footage from 9.11 where Bush shows no reaction and continues reading to the children even after Andy Card tells him about the second plane. It's been available for years now, though I've never seen coverage of it in the mainstream media. My point being that there have been loads of newsworthy items concerning 9.11, the war, terrorism, etc that have been broken by individuals that have been ignored by the media. I doubt that there will be much in F911 that I haven't seen or read elsewhere, but there are plenty of folks who haven't.

[Bill Humphries]

The Daily Kos reports theatre owners are getting more positive than negative response to the film. I don't know that breaks down between us damn liberals and the god fearing folk of the Red states.

[Marleigh]

Yes, there is a lot of footage that has been available to the public about 9/11 that hasn't been shown, but this is a precendent that dates back to (at least) Vietnam. There is footage from the Gulf War that most Americans have never seen, and I can still remember the incessant media coverage from that one. I think that—much like Vietnam, though I am careful where and how I toss that analogy out—the news that is released is heavily dependant upon the viewing public and how prepared the public is to take such developments seriously.

The photos that appeared in Life made it there once the public opinion about Vietnam began to shift; same goes here. Public opinion was already moving away from support, to moderation and outright dissent, when the news of Abu Ghraib came out. I think that the news broke when it did and as big as it did because people were ready to hear it, which is the same reason I think Fahrenheit 9/11 is going to do so well at the box office.

[Shareta]

Yay! I can't wait for the right-wing to put me back in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant, to censor everything they think (which is a lot better than what I think) is inappropriate in movies, and turn America into a dictator-run facsist country.

But what I really want to know is when are they going to send around the guy who paints over exposed nipples in public museums and burn all offensive material from the library? Because I need to go and don't want to be offended by anything some artist has to say. What do they think this is a free country?

[Marleigh]

Didn't Guiliani do that already?

[FIlmbrain]

And let's not forget that Ashcroft covered up the breasts on the Spirit of Justice statue!

[More info about the fools behind Move America Forward]

Disinfopedia has a very detailed article about Russo Marsh and Rogers (the jokers behind Move America Forward) and exactly how much money they got off Republican politicians during the last electoral cycle.

A grand total of $2,475,223. Who could possibly accuse them of being a GOP PR firm?

(also see Move America Forward article)

[FIlmbrain]

Thanks for the link and the information. Glad this has been brought to light.