Top Prize for Michael - but is he being unpatriotic?

I can't help but smile at the fact that Cannes has deigned to give Michael Moore the Top Gong for Fahrenheit 9/11. I would think American opinion to be along the lines of 'oh, that's a french film festival, what do you expect?', or similar zenophobic comments, but as the english actually mock the french more than anyone else, i can't really point the finger. I have realised that opinions of Moore's work vary widely across the pond, and have been quite shocked at the levels of vitriol expressed on the web from the american right, like really personal 'isn't he just a fat blob' sort of stuf. I think the thing that stirs everyone up over there is the lack of patriotism that Moore is apparently showing, when his country is under pressure from many sources. Of course, you could argue that he is being highly patriotic, being so concerned about truth, justice etc, when it would be so easy for the leaders of that country to get away literally with murder in the present climate. In Britain, we used to have the infamous 'D' notice, issued from Whitehall, that would effectively shut anyone up that was causing too much trouble when the security of the nation was at stake, but I'm not sure we still have that. [The Faulklands conflict was mostly 'D' noticed to press and TV News, so allowing the government to control the flow of information much more effectively]. Would that work in today's world anyway? Not on your life. Moore reminds me of John Pilger, who for many years during the Vietnam/Cambodia war, voiced similar shocking stuf, but never really made any difference. I think Moore is a comfortable voice for the Capitalist left, making us feel better about our guilt and what we are all prepared to do to preserve our priveliged lifestyles. Our greed is stronger than any political activism.

Cannes Prize This is the first time for over fifty years that a documentary has received the top gong from Cannes.......Moore got a twenty minute standing ovation.

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