Movie review: Capitalism: A Love Story

Movie poster for Capitalism: A Love Story

Last weekend I saw Michael Moore’s latest documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story, with a few people from our local GetUp group. It was a really interesting picture, with some indirect implications for environmentalists.

Moore investigates the global financial crisis that came to a head last year. He looks at how corporate dominance of American politics has an impact on the little people, like you and me, while the CEOs seem to be getting richer and richer even when they’ve completely stuffed things up.

It’s been 20 years since Moore’s first movie, Roger and Me, and in some ways this film is a return to his roots. He goes out to interview ordinary people who’ve been screwed over by corporations, who seem to have no recourse. These interviews will nearly break your heart – people who had no idea just how bad things could get, through no fault of their own. He then pops around to Wall Street to annoy bankers with silly jokes. Then he talks to a few people in Washington about the biggest and most daring robbery of the American people: the Wall Street bailout.

Finally, he shows us a few cases where the little guy wins: home-owners taking back a house after an unfair eviction; factory workers refusing to leave without their pay after the banks shut them down, especially since the banks had the money to pay CEO bonuses 10 times the value of what these people had earned with actual productive work. I really felt for these people, their determination and strength were inspiring.

Obviously, some of this isn’t really relevant for us in Australia. I sincerely hope that the appalling ‘dead peasant insurance’ scam is illegal here. But we’ve had people burned by the mortgage crisis, for the same reasons it happened in the USA. We’ve got corporations lobbying our government too, and we’ve got coal lobbyists in key beaureaucratic positions. Australia isn’t so “yay, free market! boo, regulation!” as the US, but we do need to keep an eye on our politicians in case they decide that the American method would suit them better. And as environmentalists, it’s an eye-opening account of what exactly we can expect from the US on the issue of climate change negotiations.

Moore is worried that the reason we put up with this abuse of power by corporations over our democratic systems is because we think that one day, we too will be part of the rich and powerful group. Or that we think we couldn’t possibly put a stop to it, because what can an individual do? His movie explains why both ideas are wrong, and that we need to take action soon.

Recommended?
If you don’t like Michael Moore films, this isn’t going to be the one that changes your mind. He’s still the rumpled shit-stirrer he’s always been. But if you haven’t seen one of his docos before, or haven’t seen one in a while, I reckon this is worth your time. It’s a great movie about the importance of the little guy taking a stand, no matter the cost or how daunting it may seem.

You can see a trailer and snippets from the movie at the Capitalism: A Love Story website. Strangely, these don’t show the most moving parts of the documentary, so you’ll have to take my word for it on those parts.