Color me surprised
I was Googlechatting with my former colleague and friend, Mary, this past Sunday about a number of things: the Atlanta Braves game, her professional recommendation for that job I landed, and what the state of magazine publishing has done to a number of our friends. Mary, a fellow Midwesterner, filled me in on a few more details about my old company and its usual BS.
Apparently, that friend of mine who was laid off a couple weeks back -- the HR manager -- was the keystone of the entire HR dept, but no one in the CEO's circle figured out that her boss, the VP of HR, doesn't know how to do diddly squat and can't figure out the HR software system. My strange sense of schadenfreude was quickly displaced by the fact that my friend no longer has a job because the company would rather cut every low- and mid-level schlub in order to "save the company from going under," but somehow manages to find the cash to pay upper-level management and CEOs their usual salary AND a f*#!ing bonus on top of it.
Hell, they even laid off the mailroom guy. How much cash are you saving by firing the mailroom assistant? He's the only one doing that job! There's 8, 9, 10 of you sitting around a conference table redundantly talking about the same tripe and offering not one sacrifice of your own in order to "save the company." But hey, let's throw the mailroom guy on the pyre and see if that buys us more time?!
This frustrating and depressing topic eventually led to talking about the economy, in general, and Michael Moore's new flick, specifically:
me: A buddy from my last company told me that she was laid off last week. She was a proofreader. Another guy told me that my old boss still has his job, but his old boss and the former head of Editorial were laid off in March.
4:29 PM I can't figure out how such a lazy, unimaginative, incompetent SOB like my old boss STILL has a job. The universe makes no sense. Man, I loathe that guy. LOL!
Mary: I want to see the Michael Moore movie...I think it touches on all the crazy stuff that has been happening. I am very worried for everyone like us
4:30 PM me: My mom wants to see that too. I told her I'd go with her. She usually waits until documentaries go to DVD, but this one, she wants to see in the theater. The Lehigh Valley (Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton) is very conservative, so she doesn't think it'll be in the movie theaters long here.
Mary: The people that know what they are doing (do all the work) are getting hit the hardest...it makes no sense...
4:31 PM me: You and the hubby hanging in there? Who's all left on the team at [XXX]? Are you still working on [magazine xx] and [magazine yy]?
Mary: I would think that Lehigh Valley would be sympathetic to the message
4:33 PM me: You'd think. But folks are lied to a lot about how we ended up in this recession, and people want to believe what they want to believe.
And sure enough, the next day, my mother forwards me this story from The Morning Call. Color me surprised._______________________
'Capitalism: A Love Story' opens Friday only at Civic Theatre
By Jodi Duckett Of The Morning Call
7:57 a.m. EDT, September 28, 2009
Civic Theatre of Allentown will also be the only place in the Lehigh Valley to see
Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story" when it opens on Friday.
This film about the impact of corporate dominance on everyday Americans comes on the 20-year anniversary of Moore's groundbreaking documentary "Roger & Me," about the negative economic impact of the late General Motors CEO Roger Smith's decision to close auto plants in Flint, Mich. The move cost 30,000 people their jobs and devastate the city's economy.
In "Capitalism," Moore goes from the halls of power in Washington to the global financial epicenter in Manhattan to take a critical look at the global economic meltdown.
Leslie Felperin of Variety calls "Capitalism: A Love Story" one of Moore's best films," while Christy Lemire of the Associated Press calls the film "vintage Moore, reflecting both the filmmaker's fondness for manipulation and his strengths as a showman."
The film will play in Civic's 19th Street Theatre Friday and Saturday and then move across the street to Civic's Theatre514 through Oct. 8.
Show times are:
Friday -- 4:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Saturday -- 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10 p.m.
Sunday -- 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 p.m.
Monday Tuesday -- 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday -- 2, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday -- 7:30 p.m.
Running time is 1 hr. 27 mins. The film is rated R for some language.
Civic Theatre of Allentown's 19th Street Theatre is located at 527 N 19th Street in Allentown, and Civic's Theatre514 is located at 514 N. 19th Street. Free parking is available along Liberty and Allen Streets near 19th Street and in the Wachovia Bank parking lot at 19th and Liberty (after the bank is closed).
More info: www.civictheatre.com, 610-432-0888.
_______________________
So, basically, you get one week to see the film at this tiny ass budget theater and that's it. Now, I'm not a Michael Moore lover or hater. I take him as he is, and I treat the information he presents the same way I treat anyone else's, with common sense and perspective. For instance, in Bowling For Columbine, I wholeheartedly agree with the commentary regarding our society's casual acceptance of gun ownership while diminishing the consequences of the travesty they cause. However, I didn't necessarily agree with his assessment on how we can change that reality so the events such as the Columbine shooting never happen again. (Seriously? Your solution is to be more like Canada? Really?)
Every film has an agenda, documentary or otherwise, and you can always criticize the execution, but that doesn't change the subject matter presented. Like Mary said, you would think the people most devastated by the machinations of big business, especially in collusion with the local, state and federal government. would be more receptive about how and why their livelihoods always seem to be in peril and never seem to improve.
::shrug:: I guess it's just easier to blame immigrants.
Color me surprised.
Apparently, that friend of mine who was laid off a couple weeks back -- the HR manager -- was the keystone of the entire HR dept, but no one in the CEO's circle figured out that her boss, the VP of HR, doesn't know how to do diddly squat and can't figure out the HR software system. My strange sense of schadenfreude was quickly displaced by the fact that my friend no longer has a job because the company would rather cut every low- and mid-level schlub in order to "save the company from going under," but somehow manages to find the cash to pay upper-level management and CEOs their usual salary AND a f*#!ing bonus on top of it.
Hell, they even laid off the mailroom guy. How much cash are you saving by firing the mailroom assistant? He's the only one doing that job! There's 8, 9, 10 of you sitting around a conference table redundantly talking about the same tripe and offering not one sacrifice of your own in order to "save the company." But hey, let's throw the mailroom guy on the pyre and see if that buys us more time?!
This frustrating and depressing topic eventually led to talking about the economy, in general, and Michael Moore's new flick, specifically:
me: A buddy from my last company told me that she was laid off last week. She was a proofreader. Another guy told me that my old boss still has his job, but his old boss and the former head of Editorial were laid off in March.
4:29 PM I can't figure out how such a lazy, unimaginative, incompetent SOB like my old boss STILL has a job. The universe makes no sense. Man, I loathe that guy. LOL!
Mary: I want to see the Michael Moore movie...I think it touches on all the crazy stuff that has been happening. I am very worried for everyone like us
4:30 PM me: My mom wants to see that too. I told her I'd go with her. She usually waits until documentaries go to DVD, but this one, she wants to see in the theater. The Lehigh Valley (Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton) is very conservative, so she doesn't think it'll be in the movie theaters long here.
Mary: The people that know what they are doing (do all the work) are getting hit the hardest...it makes no sense...
4:31 PM me: You and the hubby hanging in there? Who's all left on the team at [XXX]? Are you still working on [magazine xx] and [magazine yy]?
Mary: I would think that Lehigh Valley would be sympathetic to the message
4:33 PM me: You'd think. But folks are lied to a lot about how we ended up in this recession, and people want to believe what they want to believe.
And sure enough, the next day, my mother forwards me this story from The Morning Call. Color me surprised._______________________
'Capitalism: A Love Story' opens Friday only at Civic Theatre
By Jodi Duckett Of The Morning Call
7:57 a.m. EDT, September 28, 2009
Civic Theatre of Allentown will also be the only place in the Lehigh Valley to see
Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story" when it opens on Friday.
This film about the impact of corporate dominance on everyday Americans comes on the 20-year anniversary of Moore's groundbreaking documentary "Roger & Me," about the negative economic impact of the late General Motors CEO Roger Smith's decision to close auto plants in Flint, Mich. The move cost 30,000 people their jobs and devastate the city's economy.
In "Capitalism," Moore goes from the halls of power in Washington to the global financial epicenter in Manhattan to take a critical look at the global economic meltdown.
Leslie Felperin of Variety calls "Capitalism: A Love Story" one of Moore's best films," while Christy Lemire of the Associated Press calls the film "vintage Moore, reflecting both the filmmaker's fondness for manipulation and his strengths as a showman."
The film will play in Civic's 19th Street Theatre Friday and Saturday and then move across the street to Civic's Theatre514 through Oct. 8.
Show times are:
Friday -- 4:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Saturday -- 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10 p.m.
Sunday -- 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 p.m.
Monday Tuesday -- 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday -- 2, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday -- 7:30 p.m.
Running time is 1 hr. 27 mins. The film is rated R for some language.
Civic Theatre of Allentown's 19th Street Theatre is located at 527 N 19th Street in Allentown, and Civic's Theatre514 is located at 514 N. 19th Street. Free parking is available along Liberty and Allen Streets near 19th Street and in the Wachovia Bank parking lot at 19th and Liberty (after the bank is closed).
More info: www.civictheatre.com, 610-432-0888.
_______________________
So, basically, you get one week to see the film at this tiny ass budget theater and that's it. Now, I'm not a Michael Moore lover or hater. I take him as he is, and I treat the information he presents the same way I treat anyone else's, with common sense and perspective. For instance, in Bowling For Columbine, I wholeheartedly agree with the commentary regarding our society's casual acceptance of gun ownership while diminishing the consequences of the travesty they cause. However, I didn't necessarily agree with his assessment on how we can change that reality so the events such as the Columbine shooting never happen again. (Seriously? Your solution is to be more like Canada? Really?)
Every film has an agenda, documentary or otherwise, and you can always criticize the execution, but that doesn't change the subject matter presented. Like Mary said, you would think the people most devastated by the machinations of big business, especially in collusion with the local, state and federal government. would be more receptive about how and why their livelihoods always seem to be in peril and never seem to improve.
::shrug:: I guess it's just easier to blame immigrants.
Color me surprised.