Capitalism: The longer review

I loved Moore's first documentary Roger and Me. I saw it when I was in college and I was hooked. His subsequent movies have ranged from OK (Bowling for Columbine) to good (Sicko) to great (Fahrenheit 911).

Capitalism: A Love Story fails... and fails on several fronts.

First, it didn't know what story it wanted to tell. Is capitalism really bad? If so why does he applaud capitalism in other countries? He makes the point that Germany and Japan got it right. Perhaps the story is that all banks are bad. That's a main thesis but banks do not equal capitalism. Perhaps the story is that all politicians are in bed with bankers. That was another main point in the movie, but again, if he wanted to make the point that capitalism corrupts democracy he failed to connect the dots.

Second, the movie spends 20 - 30 minutes claiming the financial crisis was timed to occur right before the 2008 election. Bear Sterns, Washington Mutual, Lehman Brothers, and AIG all conspired to fail just in time for the run-up to the election. Give me a break. Of course there was no supporting evidence, just a couple of left wing politicians saying, "It looked very suspicious."

Oh, well then, that's enough to convince me.

Third, according to Moore when the House initially voted down TARP it was a victory for the people. It was a symbol of what can happen when the voices of the masses are heard. The flame of revolt was snuffed out the next week by a back room deal. In reality, TARP has been mismanaged but is he claiming America would have been better off without it?

And finally, he ends the movie driving around New York in a Brinks truck stopping at banks asking to take back the money the government lent them. The irony here is that many of the banks have asked the government to take the money back. The government is not willing to take it back yet. (I initially wrote the reason but it's tortured logic and I have no desire to defend the government on this one.)

*****

In Sicko Moore doesn't claim healthcare is bad. He claims America's version of delivering healthcare is bad. Capitalism: A Love Story could have been a great documentary if he tried to make the same case here. Capitalism is not evil in itself, but unregulated capitalism with rules to favor the banking system and screw the population is bad.

But Moore was not able to make that film because he's not able to say "capitalism is good" in any way.