The Moore Mob
Tonight Jennbutt26 and I decided to hear Michael Moore speak at the O dome. I like Moore's films most of the time, particularly Rodger and Me, though I don't necessarily agree with all of his view points so I hoped the talk would be interesting. So Jenn and I go and wait in an incredibly long line. There are Bush proponents protesting and yelling, people passing out fliers. I'm cool with all of this, if you disagree and want to let me know, thats fine. There was one guy that Jenn and I just couldn't take seriously, if we were even supposed to. He might have been crazy, we aren't sure. He kept running around with a huge sign yelling "GO DOWN ON BUSH, KERRY IS A GIRLS NAME!!" At one point he was even singing that, with operatic flair. I still don't know exactly what he was hoping to communicate. I decided he wanted an uproar and started yelling VIVA LA RESISTANCE! to Jenn, which she found pretty amusing.
We finally got inside and paused to refresh, she with a cherry snow cone, me with my icy coke. We found some seats and the festivities got under way soon after. (side note- I saw 2 paper airplanes thrown out into the crowd not by children. People, how old are you???) Moore came out and the entire place erupted in clapping and screaming. He started speaking, and I would say people started clapping after every other sentence of his. This is where I started to get uncomfortable. I have never understood this kind of idolatry. I just don't have that gene in me. If you want to clap at certain times to let the speaker know that they are appreciated and are doing a fine job, ok, do that. But he could have said anything, he could have yelled "I like pizza!!" and people would have screamed with joy. He could piss in a cup and say he's pissing on the current administration and people would go wild. It got so bad that I missed quite of bit of what he was saying because I couldnt hear his speech over all the hooting and hollering. I felt like I was at some cult gathering or some zealous religious sermon expecting to hear Moore say "Can I get an AMEN!" and see people start speaking in tongues.
This isn't what I want or expected from a liberal gathering and I realized that was exceedingly naive of me. Number one, I don't understand why actual adults can't simply shut the fuck up and listen for an hour or two. Apparently they just don't have the attention span. You would think that people who are so excited to have this man here would manage to not make so much noise that you can no longer hear him. Then I realized for a lot of these people it really isn't about hearing anything other than their opinions spewed back at them so that they can feel justified in their convictions. He mentions Republicans and the crowd starts booing. I disagree with most Republican view points, but I applaud them for showing up and listening to the other side. And maybe they come just to feel their opinions are justified as well because they think Moore is so wrong. Thats fine. Why would I boo them? Why is anyone showing such an incredible amount of intolerance and booing. In fact, if you are over the age of 16, why are you booing ANYONE at ALL??? Unless its the referee's call at some sporting event, let's be big girls and boys and respect everyones opinion, even if its different from our own.
So Moore talked about Republicans and pretty much reiterated the letter Rob had a link to in one of his posts. He also made some faux Bush campaign ads that were pretty amusing. He read a letter that he had been sent from a soldier in Iraq which was certainly the most touching part of his speech. But overall I left feeling disappointed by the event. Not necessarily by Moore, though I wouldn't say he made a great speech. He was amusing and made his points, but I didn't in any way feel enlightened. No, mostly I was disappointed with the crowd. Their fervor seemed very blind. It seemed like idol worship. He could have said contradictory things (i think at times he did) and they would have continued cheering because it didnt seem like active thinking was going on. It was just such a heavy example of groupthink* and it made me annoyed with my surroundings.
I just can't relate to the "mine is better than yours just because" mentality. I don't think my opinion is more valid that someone else's. I don't think my school is better than your school just because I go there. I don't think my country is better than yours just because I live here. If something is actually better due to factual quality then it is better due to merit and not just because it is familiar to me. And I don't think American lives are more valuable than the lives of people who live in other countries. If that makes me unpatriotic thats fine with me. I don't see the logic in that way of thinking and I dont get any sense of community out of it. I will certainly admit that I have some friends and family in my monkey sphere that matter more to me than other humans walking the planet. Other than those few, every one else is pretty equal in my eyes and demands a certain base amount of respect. And if you get more than that from me it will be because of your quality as a person, not because you fit into my group alignments.
*groupthink - the mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative course of action.
Irving James (1971)
We finally got inside and paused to refresh, she with a cherry snow cone, me with my icy coke. We found some seats and the festivities got under way soon after. (side note- I saw 2 paper airplanes thrown out into the crowd not by children. People, how old are you???) Moore came out and the entire place erupted in clapping and screaming. He started speaking, and I would say people started clapping after every other sentence of his. This is where I started to get uncomfortable. I have never understood this kind of idolatry. I just don't have that gene in me. If you want to clap at certain times to let the speaker know that they are appreciated and are doing a fine job, ok, do that. But he could have said anything, he could have yelled "I like pizza!!" and people would have screamed with joy. He could piss in a cup and say he's pissing on the current administration and people would go wild. It got so bad that I missed quite of bit of what he was saying because I couldnt hear his speech over all the hooting and hollering. I felt like I was at some cult gathering or some zealous religious sermon expecting to hear Moore say "Can I get an AMEN!" and see people start speaking in tongues.
This isn't what I want or expected from a liberal gathering and I realized that was exceedingly naive of me. Number one, I don't understand why actual adults can't simply shut the fuck up and listen for an hour or two. Apparently they just don't have the attention span. You would think that people who are so excited to have this man here would manage to not make so much noise that you can no longer hear him. Then I realized for a lot of these people it really isn't about hearing anything other than their opinions spewed back at them so that they can feel justified in their convictions. He mentions Republicans and the crowd starts booing. I disagree with most Republican view points, but I applaud them for showing up and listening to the other side. And maybe they come just to feel their opinions are justified as well because they think Moore is so wrong. Thats fine. Why would I boo them? Why is anyone showing such an incredible amount of intolerance and booing. In fact, if you are over the age of 16, why are you booing ANYONE at ALL??? Unless its the referee's call at some sporting event, let's be big girls and boys and respect everyones opinion, even if its different from our own.
So Moore talked about Republicans and pretty much reiterated the letter Rob had a link to in one of his posts. He also made some faux Bush campaign ads that were pretty amusing. He read a letter that he had been sent from a soldier in Iraq which was certainly the most touching part of his speech. But overall I left feeling disappointed by the event. Not necessarily by Moore, though I wouldn't say he made a great speech. He was amusing and made his points, but I didn't in any way feel enlightened. No, mostly I was disappointed with the crowd. Their fervor seemed very blind. It seemed like idol worship. He could have said contradictory things (i think at times he did) and they would have continued cheering because it didnt seem like active thinking was going on. It was just such a heavy example of groupthink* and it made me annoyed with my surroundings.
I just can't relate to the "mine is better than yours just because" mentality. I don't think my opinion is more valid that someone else's. I don't think my school is better than your school just because I go there. I don't think my country is better than yours just because I live here. If something is actually better due to factual quality then it is better due to merit and not just because it is familiar to me. And I don't think American lives are more valuable than the lives of people who live in other countries. If that makes me unpatriotic thats fine with me. I don't see the logic in that way of thinking and I dont get any sense of community out of it. I will certainly admit that I have some friends and family in my monkey sphere that matter more to me than other humans walking the planet. Other than those few, every one else is pretty equal in my eyes and demands a certain base amount of respect. And if you get more than that from me it will be because of your quality as a person, not because you fit into my group alignments.
*groupthink - the mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative course of action.
Irving James (1971)