Should Moore give up his Oscar "Best Doc" eligibility to show F911 on TV?

[ecstatic]

Filmmaker Michael Moore will not pursue a "Best Documentary" Oscar for Fahrenheit 9/11. Instead, he wants to broadcast the controversial documentary on television before the upcoming presidential election.

Do you agree or disagree with his decision?

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041009/film_nm/campaign_fahrenheit_dc_6


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[J6ash]

1. Moore V. Sinclair

Moore is not my favorite but if Sinclair is going to broadcast
a hatchet piece on Kerry the night before the election, then counter-programming
is called for.

[ecstatic]

2. I didn't know about that!

Thanks for the info! But will Sinclair's piece be on Pay-Per-View?

[burythehatchet]

4. nope. they're forcing their affiliates

to broadcast the piece right before election day.

[FloridaPat]

5. No - regular stations. It will cover 1/4 of the population and they are

being forced to show the movie.

[jdj]

6. uh oh.

I did not know about this.

It's actually a good thing Sinclair and other co.'s are making mistakes like this, because the public really needs not to trust the media, so thanks Sinclair, for helping.

I still plan to buy the DVD anyway, whether I watch it on tv or not. Moore already has his Oscar, so maybe he wants to do otherwise.

[neuvocat]

12. Excellent point.

Thanks for mentioning that. Moore is brilliant.

[MS68]

13. boycott?

Hmm...maybe a boycott is in order? It wouldn't hurt me to watch a little less network television.

[newyawker99]

20. Hi MS68!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[kerryin2004]

3. Why Pay Per View?

I am a huge supporter of Michael Moore, but would it not be better to try and get it on regular TV or cable?? If he really wants to make a difference I think he should try another route.. Plus to charge 10 dollars how many undecideds are really going to watch this? If he really wants the movie to affect this election he needs to apply himself in different ways.

[ecstatic]

8. I agree

I've never ordered Pay Per View, and most likely, I never will. He needs to make it as easy as possible for "undecideds" e.g., "no clues" to stumble on to the movie and watch.

[Kolesar]

9. Yeah, PPV is a bad idea

Broadcast TV would be best. If he cannot get that, I think he should get on extended-basic cable like MTV or A&E.

I never peruse the PPV listings, because the movies all look dull.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

10. He's planning a three-hour show, not just showing a movie

With PPV he doesn't have to deal with sponsors who can be coerced by the Right to pull out, or with networks who can be muscled by the White House to cancel. The viewers become the sponsors. Plus, the live aspects of the broadcast promise surprises so it's more than a movie. It's an event.

So huge supporters of Michael Moore should pay to watch, and invite a lot of undecided voters themselves to watch with them. You know, a party. A grassroots kind of thing.

Michael Moore has done more, in more inventive ways, to get Bush out of office than any nonpolitician I can think of. He's done all the work and he's taken all the risk. Surely we can meet him barely halfway and do what WE can to help more people get the message.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

7. It's not my decision to make, but I admire his choice

Anyway, it's already earned its place in political and filmmaking history, and it won him the Palme d'Or. And he already has an Oscar. So what's another statue?

[porphyrian]

11. Fuck the Oscars.

They're as meaningless and fixed as the Miss America pagent nowadays. Moore got his retirement pay, so he shouldn't be making any decisions based on profits over the good of the country. However, is giving the TV media an opportunity to profit from the airing of F9/11, and to pretend that they "had no choice" for the last four years as to their pandering to the neocons, the right thing to do considering that, even by skewed measures, bush is fucked in this election? Who hasn't seen this movie yet who would still be swayed by it? Anyone?

[Kanary]

14. It's not up to me to second-guess Michael Moore.

The man has consistently shown a genius for getting out truth, and raising the awareness level of this country.

He didn't ask our advice, and needs support and not criticism.

Kanary

[MS68]

15. phooey....

I was going to start a new thread and post this and suggest that if it's true, people seriously think about not watching these stations. I'll give up my favorite shows if watching them is helping *ssholes like this to get rich. However, it won't let me...not enough posts yet.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1009-01.htm

[TexasBushwhacker]

16. It would not affect the Oscars

The only requirement of the Oscars is that the film must be a theatrical release first. It certainly was that. Current worldwide box office is $213 Million. YAY MIKE!

I think if a television network made a decent offer to show F 9/11 without commercials that the distributors might have gone for it. I think commercial interruptions would lessen its impact a lot. We have to remember it's not just Michael Moore's decision by a long shot, and there may be contractual obligations to the DVD distributor as well.

[Longhorn]

18. It affects the Oscar for Best Documentary.

The film cannot be shown on television within nine months of its release. However, the film CAN be considered for Best Picture.

It's a moot point anyway, as the deadline for submission as a documentary was September 1.

See http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2004-09-06

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. He already said he's not submitting it for Best Doc

He said that a long time ago. He said that he didn't want to be in there taking any votes away from Control Room, and some of the other very worthy documentaries.

[realFedUp]

17. Yes.

It matters more that people see this before
the elections. The Oscars won't make him
any more money than he's made off this one.