Now this is an "Axis of Evil"
May. 6th, 2004 12:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingEric on Disney and Michael Moore:
Posted By Eric Szulczewski on 05.06.04
[quote]
Everyone knew a couple of years ago that Michael Moore was working on a documentary describing the connections between the Bush and bin Laden families. That documentary is now finished. It's called Fahrenheit 9/11 and is set to premiere at Cannes (in the main competition, no less, something no documentary has ever done). But there's one slight problem. It doesn't have a distributor.
Moore's documentaries are normally distributed by Miramax. Miramax is owned by Disney. Moore was told earlier this week by Miramax that Disney will not allow Miramax to distribute the film, and he broke the news immediately on his web site and to the normal media outlets, namely the Noo Yawk Times and Daily Variety. This is the first time that Moore has had any trouble getting one of his documentaries distributed. Miramax loves him, because his documentaries are cheap, but make big bucks thanks to his notoriety (take Bowling For Columbine; it cost US$3M to make and hauled in about US$120M at the box office and from video sales).
Now, I am NOT a Michael Moore defender. I think he's strident, overbearing, and tends to draw attention away from issues. In other words, he's a bit of an embarassment to us liberals. But this is one time I'm going to have to take his side. It's just too easy for me to do so given the people involved.
We're talking Disney, folks. We're talking Andre the Giant. And we all know how I feel about him and them. It's bad enough that they decided to use their pet politicos to destroy copyright laws to such an extent that nothing will ever become public domain again (and helped to usher in the current era of **AA repression). Now they're fucking with political speech. And they're doing it at the worst time.
First of all, the Weinsteins' contracts with Disney are currently being renegotiated. Miramax has been a rare bright spot for the Mouse. Just look at all of the Kill Bill money and positive glow that Miramax has been able to contribute. Harvey Weinstein is going to bat for Moore, if only on the basis that Moore's a profit machine. If Eisner insists on not distributing Fahrenheit 9/11, this might cause him to lose the Weinsteins. Without them, Miramax is a shell. Without Miramax, Disney loses another crown jewel. Coming on top of the loss of Pixar, the near ouster of Eisner at the stockholders' meeting a month and a half ago, the smearing of Disney's rep by Comcast when the purchase fell through, and the box office failures of The Alamo and Home on the Range, the loss of Miramax as a viable entity could be the final straw for Disney.
And then there's the issue of political censorship. That was brought up immediately by Moore's agent, who pointed out very nicely that the Walt Disney Company gets a great many tax breaks from the State of Florida, whose governor happens to be a subject of Moore's documentary, and is not painted very well in it. Of course, that didn't need to be brought up. The ass-licking from Eisner is obvious, so obvious that there are senators who realize it. Frank Lautenberg wrote a letter to John McCain in McCain's capacity as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, essentially saying, "Look, this is a company that distributed Kill Bill for Miramax, one of the most violent films ever made, and they're clamping down on this? It's GOT to be because of the Bush family's portrayal." Disney's spin on this? "We don't want to take sides in a political argument." Uh, excuse me? You have no choice. You have a political documentary on your hands, and there is no way that you can justify clamping it down for financial reasons. It's going to make money, and you need money right now. So you have two choices, Disney: you release it and spin the release as a fiscally sound decision, all the while looking good in the eyes of people who still believe that there's a thing called the First Amendment, or you say no and look like the tools of Jeb Bush that you are, with no way to spin it in your favor.
Doesn't sound like much of a choice to me. Fuck Disney, yet again.
[/quote]
Posted By Eric Szulczewski on 05.06.04
[quote]
Everyone knew a couple of years ago that Michael Moore was working on a documentary describing the connections between the Bush and bin Laden families. That documentary is now finished. It's called Fahrenheit 9/11 and is set to premiere at Cannes (in the main competition, no less, something no documentary has ever done). But there's one slight problem. It doesn't have a distributor.
Moore's documentaries are normally distributed by Miramax. Miramax is owned by Disney. Moore was told earlier this week by Miramax that Disney will not allow Miramax to distribute the film, and he broke the news immediately on his web site and to the normal media outlets, namely the Noo Yawk Times and Daily Variety. This is the first time that Moore has had any trouble getting one of his documentaries distributed. Miramax loves him, because his documentaries are cheap, but make big bucks thanks to his notoriety (take Bowling For Columbine; it cost US$3M to make and hauled in about US$120M at the box office and from video sales).
Now, I am NOT a Michael Moore defender. I think he's strident, overbearing, and tends to draw attention away from issues. In other words, he's a bit of an embarassment to us liberals. But this is one time I'm going to have to take his side. It's just too easy for me to do so given the people involved.
We're talking Disney, folks. We're talking Andre the Giant. And we all know how I feel about him and them. It's bad enough that they decided to use their pet politicos to destroy copyright laws to such an extent that nothing will ever become public domain again (and helped to usher in the current era of **AA repression). Now they're fucking with political speech. And they're doing it at the worst time.
First of all, the Weinsteins' contracts with Disney are currently being renegotiated. Miramax has been a rare bright spot for the Mouse. Just look at all of the Kill Bill money and positive glow that Miramax has been able to contribute. Harvey Weinstein is going to bat for Moore, if only on the basis that Moore's a profit machine. If Eisner insists on not distributing Fahrenheit 9/11, this might cause him to lose the Weinsteins. Without them, Miramax is a shell. Without Miramax, Disney loses another crown jewel. Coming on top of the loss of Pixar, the near ouster of Eisner at the stockholders' meeting a month and a half ago, the smearing of Disney's rep by Comcast when the purchase fell through, and the box office failures of The Alamo and Home on the Range, the loss of Miramax as a viable entity could be the final straw for Disney.
And then there's the issue of political censorship. That was brought up immediately by Moore's agent, who pointed out very nicely that the Walt Disney Company gets a great many tax breaks from the State of Florida, whose governor happens to be a subject of Moore's documentary, and is not painted very well in it. Of course, that didn't need to be brought up. The ass-licking from Eisner is obvious, so obvious that there are senators who realize it. Frank Lautenberg wrote a letter to John McCain in McCain's capacity as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, essentially saying, "Look, this is a company that distributed Kill Bill for Miramax, one of the most violent films ever made, and they're clamping down on this? It's GOT to be because of the Bush family's portrayal." Disney's spin on this? "We don't want to take sides in a political argument." Uh, excuse me? You have no choice. You have a political documentary on your hands, and there is no way that you can justify clamping it down for financial reasons. It's going to make money, and you need money right now. So you have two choices, Disney: you release it and spin the release as a fiscally sound decision, all the while looking good in the eyes of people who still believe that there's a thing called the First Amendment, or you say no and look like the tools of Jeb Bush that you are, with no way to spin it in your favor.
Doesn't sound like much of a choice to me. Fuck Disney, yet again.
[/quote]