The People and Me: Michael Moore and the Politics of Political Documentary

632 Pages·2014·1.98 MB·English

by  Jon Scott Oberacker

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Open Access Dissertations
5-2009
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Jon Scott Oberacker
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Oberacker, Jon Scott, "The People and Me: Michael Moore and the Politics of Political Documentary"
(2009). Open Access Dissertations. 65.
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THE PEOPLE AND ME:
MICHAEL MOORE AND THE POLITICS OF POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY

A Dissertation Presented

by

JON S. OBERACKER

Submitted to the Graduate School of the
University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

May 2009

Department of Communication
© Copyright by Jon S. Oberacker 2009

All Rights Reserved
THE PEOPLE AND ME:
MICHAEL MOORE AND THE POLITICS OF POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY

A Dissertation Presented

by

JON S. OBERACKER

Approved as to style and content by:

_______________________________________
Carolyn Anderson, Chair

_______________________________________
Lisa Henderson, Member

_______________________________________
Stephen Olbrys Gencarella, Member

_______________________________________
Randall Knoper, Member

_______________________________________
Douglas Anderton, Acting Chair
Department of Communication
DEDICATION

For my parents, who made this possible.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost I extend the most heartfelt thanks to my advisor, Carolyn
Anderson, who has literally been with me every step of the way throughout my graduate
career. As all her students know, the word “advisor” hardly does justice to the care and
dedication Carolyn brings to her work as a scholar, teacher and mentor, and I am
eternally grateful to have had her steady hand to guide me throughout the years. Her
knowledge and expertise have shaped this dissertation in innumerable ways. Her
intellectual generosity and professional mentorship have permanently effected me, both
as a scholar and a teacher.
I also wish to thank the members of my committee, who have each contributed
greatly to this project and my own intellectual development. Lisa Henderson has been an
invaluable mentor and role model to me over the years. Her intellectual rigor, creativity
and commitment have left an indelible mark, not only on what I know, but on the way in
which I think. I was fortunate enough to meet Stephen Gencarella in my final year of
residency on campus, and he has been both mentor and friend ever since. His knowledge
and understanding of political theory, and his passion for demanding that it be put to
practical use, have played a crucial role in the development of this project. I owe a special
debt of gratitude to Randall Knoper, whose course on American Studies was one of the
true highlights of my graduate career. His willingness to engage my interest in American
Pragmatism came at a critical moment in my graduate career and I am truly grateful for
his expert guidance.
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I would also like to thank Tom Reed, my undergraduate advisor at Dickinson
College. He played a crucial role in cultivating my intellectual curiosity early on, and
instilled within me the self-confidence to go further.
Writing this dissertation has been an emotional, as well as intellectual, endeavor,
and I have many people to thank for providing me with support throughout. I am indebted
to the group of comrades that developed out of our mutual connection to the OB/GYN
residency program at Baystate Medical Center. Their encouragement and support made
surviving graduate school a reality. Special thanks is owed to Tracey Sutphin and Christie
Miller, not only for providing me with room and board while traveling back and forth
from Rhode Island, but also for fending off innumerable panic-attacks and performing
many late-night pep-talks.
I owe a great deal of thanks to my family, who have been there for me every step
of the way, offering encouragement, commiseration and good humor. They rooted
enthusiastically for me to finish, but never asked when I’d be done, and for that I am truly
grateful. It is especially difficult to put the gratitude I owe my parents into words. They
have seen me through every accomplishment I have ever achieved, and this project is
certainly no exception. They also instilled within me the passion for education that led
me down this path in the first place. But perhaps most importantly, they provided me
with a model of social decency and fairness that guides the ethical focus of this
dissertation.
Finally, I owe the greatest debt of thanks to my wife and partner, Kristen, for
agreeing to accompany me on this voyage. Quite simply, without her companionship,
reassurance, patience and, most importantly, unwavering belief in me, I’d be lost.
vi
ABSTRACT
THE PEOPLE AND ME:
MICHAEL MOORE AND THE POLITICS OF POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
MAY 2009
JON S. OBERACKER, B.A., DICKINSON COLLEGE
M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Directed by: Professor Carolyn Anderson

Perhaps no one has had more influence on the role of political documentary in the
contemporary public sphere than filmmaker Michael Moore. His unique melding of
committed political arguments with an ironic reflexive style have changed the very look
and feel of documentary film, contributing significantly to the form’s newfound
popularity. Furthermore, his steadfast commitment to progressive politics has given the
issue of socioeconomic “class” the kind of attention it rarely receives within the
mainstream media. However, Moore’s films have also been the recipient of viscous
attacks from his political opponents, and subject to some of the most contentious public
debates over the documentary form since the 1960s. This study integrates documentary
theory and poststructuralist discourse analysis within a critical/cultural studies
perspective to map out the ways in which generic conventions, interpretive strategies and
rhetorical maneuvers have often combined to undermine the political goals and cultural
legitimacy of Michael Moore and his films.
First, I look at the ways in which Moore’s own deployment of a patronizing mode
of address transforms his films into “fantasies of advocacy”; narratives that invite an
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imagined audience of fellow advocates to evaluate and judge the lives and behaviors of
the working-class subjects depicted on-screen. Such a depiction only works to strengthen
middle-class forms of social authority which have worked, historically, to encourage
class resentment. Second, I describe the ways in which Moore is also undermined by a
mass media system within which progressive views are not often welcome. I explain how
a number of discursive logics worked to frame Moore at various times throughout his
career as an untrustworthy documentarian pushing Leftist propaganda, as an “indie film
auteur” providing innovative cinematic experiences to middle-class audiences, and as a
savvy celebrity-huckster selling political entertainment to embattled liberals. Finally, I
describe how Moore’s opponents on the political Right exploited the problematic aspects
of both his rhetorical strategies and public reception to paint Moore as a “Liberal Elitist,”
a move that worked to derail the political effectiveness of Fahrenheit 9/11 during the
2004 election.
By describing the complex, public articulations of Michael Moore and his films,
this study contributes to the fields of documentary studies, media studies, cultural studies
and political rhetoric.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER
1. INTRODUCTION: ARTICULATING MICHAEL MOORE .................................1
Introduction ..............................................................................................................1
Literature Review: Michael Moore and the “Reflexive Turn” ................................9
Theorizing Reflexivity ...............................................................................10
The “New Documentary” and Roger & Me ...............................................16
Discourse and the Documentary Idea ........................................................23
Methodology and Chapter Overview: Michael Moore as “Cultural Study”..........28
Articulation Theory and “Media Events” ..................................................28
Analytical Methods and Chapter Outlines .................................................33
Part One: Textual Analysis ............................................................34
Part Two: Discourse Analysis ........................................................36
Part Three: Fahrenheit 9/11 as Case Study: A Rhetorical
Perspective ..........................................................................43
Conclusion .............................................................................................................50
2. BAD REFLEXES: MICHAEL MOORE AND THE “FANTASY OF
ADVOCACY” ...........................................................................................52

Introduction ............................................................................................................52
(Re)-Theorizing Reflexivity...................................................................................56
“A Style You Don’t Seem to Like”: Formal vs. Political Reflexivity .......56
Honesty and Responsibility in Reflexive Documentary ............................60
The Importance of “Positionality” in Reflexive Documentary..................63
Political Documentary and the Question of Advocacy: The “Duty
Genre” ............................................................................................69
Political Documentary and Formal Reflexivity .........................................73
Michael Moore and the “Fantasy of Advocacy”....................................................76
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