It popped into my head to see what my fave Hollywood writer, David Poland, had to say about the
Farenheit 911 controversy. It was
quite interesting:
...Moore finally started his inevitably endless whine with a reporter on Tuesday, though it is unclear in the article whether that interview was the genesis of the story. In a classic act of Moore-ish onanism, the Oscar-winning documentarian took $6 million from Miramax, making Fahrenheit 911 one of the most expensive documentaries ever made. After feasting on this capital from the "independent" division of a multinational, he brays to the Times, "At some point the question has to be asked, `Should this be happening in a free and open society where the monied interests essentially call the shots regarding the information that the public is allowed to see?"
Well, if ya don't want those "monied interests" to make decisions, Mike... Don't Take Their Friggin' Six Million Dollars!!!!! Adding to the pathetic nature of this scam, please be aware that Moore probably has $6 million himself and could have self-financed or sold select foreign markets to get enough money to get well within range of his production budget. What was his salary on this $6 million doc? And how much of the budget was based on the speed of completion of the film so that Moore could feel he might influence this year's election. Perhaps he feels the federal government should give him matching funds. ...
...Cannes is the reason why the parade of verbosity has started up. By the time the film premieres, it will be held up, especially in the foreign press, as some sort of referendum on freedom of the American media. Think about it... one of the greatest self-promoters of his generation teamed up with one of the greatest marketing minds of his generation with Michael Eisner as the mutual enemy, stuck in a no-win situation. If Eisner lets Miramax distribute the film, he will be attacked by the right (a group that just coughed up the majority of The Passion of The Christ's $365 million-plus domestic gross and represents a significant portion of Disney's theme park patronage) and there will be an absurd amount attention paid to the political leanings of Disney-owned ABC News and other subsidiaries. If he sticks to his long-held (pre-production) position that no Disney company will distribute the film, he will be attacked by Moore and others for months and months and months as the worst kind of right wing apologist and censor. ...
There's more, so click on the link if you want some Inside Baseball on what's really happening with this film. Moore doesn't come off as a saint, needless to say, but he does seem a wily self-promoter and showman. I think he'll be OK without Disney.