Hansel: Capitalism: A Love Story

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I believe films with a heavy bias can change people's minds. Conversely, Capitalism: A Love Story did not change my mind in any way. It did have an effect on me in the sense that I looked into the theories of capitalism and socialism more in depth in an attempt to discuss the two better. One scene in particular that I found interesting, is the scene in which Moore attacks Reagan's "letting the bull loose" policy that resulted in significant job loss. As an advocate of free market capitalism, this was particularly jarring. In another scene that I thought fell almost completely flat, Moore uses Hurricane Katrina as a representation of capitalism at its worst. Practically everyone in the theater scoffed at its pure lunacy. 

Moore does not try to find common ground because he has several of his own ideas that he would like to portray instead of showing pro-capitalist arguments. Within the confines of time due to the mainstream movie market, he cannot make the film too long. One must remember that Capitalism is not entirely a persuasive documentary, but also a produced film with the intent on selling well. This confinement might not necessarily forward the most intelligent and respectful arguments. This is why I think Frontline does a better job in portraying the wall street bailouts. The problem with Frontline, however, is that is not nearly as entertaining as Moore's film. Frontline focuses more on giving straight information in the form of narration, photography, and direct words from individuals involved. Capitalism, however, uses emotional response, music, and even sarcasm to convey points. The latter is much more entertaining to watch and still gets the point across. It sacrifices detail, however. If a student in free enterprise were to approach me asking about the financial meltdown for a particular assignment or project, I would tell him or her to consult the Frontline special regarding the topic. If this student just wanted to know a little bit about it and did not seem extremely interested already, I would recommend Capitlism: A Love Story. In Moore's defense, I think he makes his films entertaining and you get a pretty good idea of his opinions and justifications. Although, at times, he dances on the edge of yellow journalism in the sense that everything can be sensationalized. For example, comparing capitalism and hurricane Katrina? How many people does he honestly think he can convince with that one? I also did not appreciate how much of the documentary was spend with footage of people crying. I realize emotion is a large part of argument, but in an argument of capitalism as quantitative as this, it is not in good taste as far as a respective argument goes.