Let me first say that I don't work for these guys, although I am a fan. The Yes Men are anti-corporate activists who have been raking the ruling class over the coals for at least 10 years. I remember that their fake New York Times prank got written about on Daily Kos when it happened, and I seem to recall that people liked it. Now they have a movie out.
First, here's the trailer for The Yes Men Fix the World, which opened to rave reviews at Film Forum (?) in NYC a couple of weeks ago:
UPDATE: Some commenters have objected to the reference in the diary's title to "trashing global capitalism." I mean "trash" in the sense of "embarrass, humiliate, scatchingly criticize." As in, "Critics trashed the film Waterworld," or "The latest National Enquirer trashed Jennifer Aniston." Apparently some folks thought the word "trash" was somehow a call to violence, or nuclear war, or dogs living with cats or something. It's not, obviously.
However, I changed the title to read "trash global corporatocracy," which is closer to what I meant in the first place, if a bit of a mouthful.
I was kind of surprised that the dKos audience that loved Michael Moore's "Capitalism" (and rightly so) doesn't seem to know about this film. I wrote to the filmmakers and told them they should join this community, which seems like a good fit. Maybe we'll see them in here soon.
Here's a description from their web site:
Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are two guys who just can't take "no" for an answer.
They have an unusual hobby: posing as top executives of corporations they hate. Armed with nothing but thrift-store suits, the Yes Men lie their way into business conferences and parody their corporate targets in ever more extreme ways - basically doing everything that they can to wake up their audiences to the danger of letting greed run our world.
One day Andy, purporting to be a Dow Chemical spokesperson, gets on the biggest TV news program in the world and announces that Dow will finally clean up the site of the largest industrial accident in history, the Bhopal catastrophe. The result: as people worldwide celebrate, Dow's stock value loses two billion dollars. People want Dow to do the right thing, but the market decides that it can't....
What I love about these guys is that they're genuinely funny but also genuinely biting. You almost feel sorry for the fat cats they take on. (Not quite, though.) You see their pranks kicking the corporatist world in the balls, and, much like watching an enemy get kicked in the balls in real life, it's hilarious and deeply gratifying.
Here's a description of a typical Yes Men prank. The person conference attendees believe to be WTO representative Hanniford Schmidt is in fact Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum:
Philadelphia - At a Wharton Business School conference on business in Africa, World Trade Organization representative Hanniford Schmidt announced the creation of a WTO initiative for "full private stewardry of labor" for the parts of Africa that have been hardest hit by the 500 years of Africa's free trade with the West....
"Full, untrammelled stewardry is the best available solution to African poverty, and the inevitable result of free-market theory," Schmidt told more than 150 attendees. Schmidt acknowledged that the stewardry program was similar in many ways to slavery, but explained that just as "compassionate conservatism" has polished the rough edges on labor relations in industrialized countries, full stewardry, or "compassionate slavery," could be a similar boon to developing ones....
One conference attendee asked what incentive employers had to remain as stewards once their employees are too old to work or reproduce. Schmidt responded that a large new biotech market would answer that worry. He then reminded the audience that this was the only possible solution under free-market theory.
There were no other questions from the audience that took issue with Schmidt's proposal.
Pretty damning that all these globalization types just sat there, listening and nodding-- the only objection was basically that slavery might still be a little too generous.
So that's my little spiel about what the Yes Men are about. I haven't seen the movie, because it hasn't come to my town, and it may not have come to yours either: As far as I can tell, they have basically no budget for promotions or advertising. This movie needs our help to find the audience it deserves. (Hmm, where have I said that before? Once a Rescue Ranger, always a Rescue Ranger!)
I know that the world is full of folks who want to treat the Daily Kos as a free ATM for any effort that can be cloaked in a progressive mantle. But the Yes Men aren't a bunch of entertainment-industry types who've decided to try being political. They’re longtime activists who've been bringing sass and attention to the fight against injustice for 10 years, and now they've made a movie. I'm pretty sure they're not in this to get their star on Hollywood Boulevard.
I know they need help, because I'm on their mailing list. I'm not trying to be a jerk or a big pimp, but I would really encourage you to take a look at what the Yes Men are doing, and if it's something you support, then do whatever you feel inspired to do to help. I'm also going to do something I've never done, which is ask you to recommend this diary, at least for long enough so that folks in this community can learn about this film and make up their own minds.
Here's their pitch, from an email I got:
A labor of love to produce, and distributed in a unique partnership with Shadow Distribution (The Lost Boys of Sudan, The Weather Underground), The Yes Men Fix the World hits corporate America where it hurts, and has huge potential as a public education piece and a powerful rallying cry for progressive activists and organizers. Unfortunately after a hugely successful opening weekend in New York, and inquiries from new theaters across the country, the film's marketing and outreach budget (never much to begin with) is almost completely tapped out! There is no budget for the 10-15 new film prints ($1200 each) that theaters want, nor for the basic advertising (another $15,000 at least) to make the film work in each major market, and in smaller cities too.
The Yes Men need your help to get the film out to cities and towns large and small across the land, where the hope is to reproduce the kind of raucous, people-powered reactions that have been typical of screenings in New York. Here's how you can do that:
One: You can loan money to their distribution and audience engagement effort, to be paid back when proceeds from the retail DVD start rolling in next year. To take this route, please email invest@theyesmen.org.
Two: They're putting Survivaballs up for adoption. For just $1,000, you will become the proud parent of the world's stupidest costume. The Survivaball you own will be deployed in direct-action protest all across America, and then in December will go to Copenhagen to push world leaders to do something smart about climate change. To adopt your own active ball, please email adoptaball@theyesmen.org.
Three: You can buy a film print ($1200) and loan it until the theatrical run is finished. To help out this way, please write invest@theyesmen.org.
AND you can also just donate money, or buy posters, t-shirts, Reggie candles, etc. here.
All too often, activism is seen as tedious at best, if not downright boring. I've written elsewhere about the ongoing challenge of getting intelligent-but-cynical young people excited about political action, and I think media-jamming projects like the Yes Men help. Even the cynical (especially the cynical?) love to see hypocrisy get its come-uppance. I think it would be a goddamned shame if this film, which according to all accounts is brilliant, never finds a substantial audience. Now is the time to show the Obama generation that activism can be cool, fun, and effective.
Plus, as progressives, we deserve a few laughs every once in a while. Real laughs, not those hollow, mirthless ones we've been practicing for the last 8 years.