[lbo-talk] Moore on celebrity culture

[mgilmore at highstream.net]

Jenny's got the history down; I've been a Mike Moore fan since I first saw
"Roger & Me".  Mike in general is very entertaining, IMO.   I still smile
when I think of the scene in "Roger & Me" when, asked for ID, he gives the
security guard at the GM HQ in Detroit his Chuck-E-Cheese card.
And "TV Nation" & "The Awful Truth" are both available at your video store,
and well worth the rental.   While everything didn't work, it's true, he put
some things on US commercial TV I never dreamed I'd see, and when something
jelled, it was as a rule wickedly funny while it made its' point.  His
entire *attitude* was hilarious to me.   What can you say about a guy who
put on network TV the superhero "Crackers, the Corporate-Crimefighting
Chicken", aka someone in a chicken suit wearing a cape, who week after week
strode into executive offices of big-business  "evildoers" to fight for the
little guy, followed by a full camera crew?  Moore has dared to be A
Funny...Even, On Occasion, a Goofy Left-Liberal in a world where that's
considered a mutually-exclusive state of being.    And I felt bucked-up,
too, because I was seeing someone on National Television every week who
shared my POV for the most part.
And I heard his speech on WMNF today, too...it was an episode of
"Alternative Radio", and apparently they take a live feed on AR because the
newsroom was expecting a recent address by the Chomsker, and instead we got
Mike.   Kind of weird, being primed for NC and getting a two-year-old speech
by Moore talking about how "Stupid White Men" nearly got "PULPED" but was
ultimately saved by...the Librarians of America!...
Moore *is* an entertaining and interesting speaker; I saw him appear with
Patti Smith and Jello Biafra and...oh, yeah, Ralph Nader...in Tampa a couple
years ago.  He's just an extremely talented guy.  But...I've heard...I mean,
word has it...he's something of an asshole (gasp!) in certain respects.
Years spent working with/surrounded by very creative and excellent
performers leads me to the observation that wildly talented people often
seem to have very negative sides.  (Of course, flat-out-no talent types can
be mean varmints, too.  >:)

Maria