Cynics Unlimited

Title: Manufacturing Dissent
Release: 2007
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 97 Minutes
Publisher: Liberation Entertainment
Rating: 70%

Few filmmakers can claim to have a greater impact on American political culture than Michael Moore. His initial release, Roger & Me, revolutionized the modern documentary by casting the filmmaker as truth-seeking protagonist. Moore’s relentless pursuit of then GM CEO Roger Smith about his company’s decision to move manufacturing jobs to Mexico (and thus decimating the economy of Flint, Michigan) provided the perfect mix of comedy and social commentary. Moore’s quirky yet infectious approach would be further refined in several subsequent documentaries, including Bowling for Columbine and the anti-war Fahrenheit 9/11.

Michael Moore took his role as left-wing agitator to the extreme, creating a cottage industry for counter documentaries that question his political intentions, dishonest editing of footage and truthfulness of his factual claims. Most of these films, among them Fahrenhype 9/11, Celsius 41.11 and Michael Moore Hates America, are also American and decidedly right wing in nature. However one documentary stands alone in the group. It is Canadian both in origin and presentation, created by Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine (previously known for their work on Citizen Black). While not counter-partisan, their film raised as many or more disturbing questions about the intentions of Michael Moore as its more fervent brethren.

Manufacturing Dissent is a Michael Moore style documentary, only casting Melnyk as the truth-seeking protagonist and Moore as the evasive object of interest. Along her ill-fated journey, Melnyk interviews a plethora of Moore’s current and former friends. Most are in the former category and portray Moore as an egomaniac not so concerned with finding justice for the little guy as he is with making money and a name for himself. The interviewees pull few punches in their assessment of the award-winning filmmaker:

• A former writer for the publication Rock n Roll confidential alleges a young publisher Michael Moore used some articles for his own local paper without paying the proper royalties. Moore is also accused of not paying his staff
• The infamous Mother Jones controversy is covered in moderate detail, with former employees of the magazine describing Moore as a tyrant who demoralized his employees and sanitized the image of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas – a revolutionary group often seen as too extreme even for the American anti-Reagan left.
• Producers and others involved with Roger & Me allege timeline manipulations, staged events and most startlingly that Michael Moore actually received two interviews with Roger Smith (both ended up on the cutting room floor, so to boost the dramatic effect of GM’s depravity)
• In stark contradiction to the anti-war sentiment contained the documentary Fahrenheit 911, Moore’s private foundation was discovered to have owned and sold stocks in defense contractors that profited from the Iraq invasion – most notably Honeywell and Halliburton (the latter being publicly associated with none other than George W. Bush’s VP, Dick Cheney)

The intended and well-demonstrated irony in Manufacturing Dissent is that Michael Moore reacts very badly when confronted with Michael Moore style gotcha journalism – much worse than, say, Roger Smith. The unintended irony of the film is that it can be discounted for the same reason as most of Moore’s documentaries. On several occasions, Melnyk swoops in on Moore during public appearances, demanding his undivided attention to tough questions even though other cameras are rolling, before getting silenced by Moore’s omnipresent security. Very seldom do targets put on the spot in this manner answer gracefully and thoughtfully, suggesting that the viewer is not getting both sides of the story.

More importantly, Melnyk misses the opportunity to explain in detail how Michael Moore actually manufactures dissent. For instance, it’s not enough to chase around the CEO of GM and indirectly present his supposed evasion as a reason to rebel against GM’s decision to move manufacturing jobs to Mexico – the economic incentives for moving jobs to Mexico (despite immediate relocation/retraining costs and reputation risk) must also be explored. What role did American unions and labour costs play? Is Mexico exploiting its own people to secure manufacturing jobs? Is GM merely a symptom of a much larger problem concerning US trade with third world countries? In terms of shaping opinion, it could be argued that ignoring the economic mechanics behind unpopular decisions like relocating GM jobs is just as critical as superimposing distraught civilians over clips of aloof political figures. Unfortunately, Manufacturing Dissent ignores these possibilities in favour of merely trying to make Moore sweat the same way he enjoys making other sweat.

Manufacturing Dissent is vindictive, somewhat disjointed and plays more like a lengthy episode of W5 than a documentary film. Conversely, it excels at probing the intentions of the man behind the Michael Moore myth without coming off as a right wing hit job, occupying that rare space in the documentary spectrum where politicized figures can be dissected without necessarily making a political statement. Given the cultural prominence of Moore’s films and the dogmatic zeal of his supporters, Manufacturing Dissent becomes nearly essential in understanding what drives this polarizing cultural icon.

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