Michael Moore's movie is intriguing. Use this blog to respond to the movie and raise questions. Ideally, we would link the ideas expressed in the film to the Great Depression & New Deal concepts we have studied in Ac-Dec:)
One of the major things that occurs in both Capitalism, A Love Story and the literature of the great depression (Grapes of Wrath) is a permeating doubt about the effectiveness of capitalism. Michael Moore, whether cynical or realistic, clearly doubts that capitalism can be maintained in light of human greed. Grapes of Wrath is eirily similar to Michael Moore's commentary in that it portrays the horrors of human greed and the problems that can occur with capitalism.
i found the families working for the banks in both the great depression and the current economic downturn rather scary and disheartening. The family tractoring out another family in the grapes of wrath and the family ensuring that foreclosed homes were cleaned both told eerily similar stories, both of which should not be ignored. This connection scared me the most.
Maybe this is just Michael Moore's persistent questions, or just because people don't like him, but everyone seemed to turn Moore away. Like the Joads, Moore epitomizes the truth, but the rest of the population ignores them. There was a decent chunk of time the "Okies" received no help from the Great Depression, just like Michael Moore being told by a NY Stock Exchange worker to stop making movies when he asked for the defination of a derivative. Both parties hold the answer to the economy, but no one will listen.
Well I first would like to start off by disagreeing with Molly for the sole purpose that really the only people turning away from Moore are the corporate big wigs on Wall Street. This is because Moore is showing the public what is really going wrong in America and how corrupt it is starting to become, and this scares the big wigs and government officials because like Moore said we are the ones to stop what’s going on. It is our right to vote and our right to vote is the only thing that will put an end to the Plutonomy that were in. A plutonomy is a society where economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few, with the top 1% of the population controlling more financial wealth than the bottom 95% combined. I finally like to point out that capitalism is a good thing but if it is used the right and fair way. I hate to agree with Moore because I have hated most his bias movies but he is right our economy and government are in a almost GDP or Great Depression Pit right know and if it is not fixed soon I am afraid something bad might happen. How this movie relates to Grapes and the Great Depression is that people are being forced to leave there homes and work. Also California is like it was during the Great Depression and suffering worse than the rest of the states.
I think that "Capitalism A Love Story" does connect directly with the great depression. Both the Grapes of Wrath and Michael Moore's film seemed to be a proponent of the notion that capitalism is a system that fuels greed.
With the small portion of the movie that I saw, I think that Capitalism tends to really connect well with Grapes. For instance one of the only scenes I saw was the one where the bank forecloses on the home, and they try to stand their ground by breaking in and moving back in. This relates extremely well to the scene where the tractor comes and tears down there homes, they try to stand their ground, but in the end the bank wins. The bank always wins! I feel that this scene ties together the two movies very nicely.
I guess first off, I want to thank Rob for bringing this film to class. It served to provoke much thought about the US economy today, as well as in the past. You all have done some nice analysis of the film's ideas. I too see FEAR as a common Grapes & Capitalism connect. And few of us can argue about the concept of GREED. I just wonder if capitalism fuels the greed, or if HUMANS feed the greed; including each of us:( Perhaps recognizing ourselves through the novel and the movie will motivate us to change? Then again, I've heard "greed is good."
One of the major things that occurs in both Capitalism, A Love Story and the literature of the great depression (Grapes of Wrath) is a permeating doubt about the effectiveness of capitalism. Michael Moore, whether cynical or realistic, clearly doubts that capitalism can be maintained in light of human greed. Grapes of Wrath is eirily similar to Michael Moore's commentary in that it portrays the horrors of human greed and the problems that can occur with capitalism.
ReplyDeletei found the families working for the banks in both the great depression and the current economic downturn rather scary and disheartening. The family tractoring out another family in the grapes of wrath and the family ensuring that foreclosed homes were cleaned both told eerily similar stories, both of which should not be ignored. This connection scared me the most.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this is just Michael Moore's persistent questions, or just because people don't like him, but everyone seemed to turn Moore away. Like the Joads, Moore epitomizes the truth, but the rest of the population ignores them. There was a decent chunk of time the "Okies" received no help from the Great Depression, just like Michael Moore being told by a NY Stock Exchange worker to stop making movies when he asked for the defination of a derivative. Both parties hold the answer to the economy, but no one will listen.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWell I first would like to start off by disagreeing with Molly for the sole purpose that really the only people turning away from Moore are the corporate big wigs on Wall Street. This is because Moore is showing the public what is really going wrong in America and how corrupt it is starting to become, and this scares the big wigs and government officials because like Moore said we are the ones to stop what’s going on. It is our right to vote and our right to vote is the only thing that will put an end to the Plutonomy that were in. A plutonomy is a society where economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few, with the top 1% of the population controlling more financial wealth than the bottom 95% combined. I finally like to point out that capitalism is a good thing but if it is used the right and fair way. I hate to agree with Moore because I have hated most his bias movies but he is right our economy and government are in a almost GDP or Great Depression Pit right know and if it is not fixed soon I am afraid something bad might happen. How this movie relates to Grapes and the Great Depression is that people are being forced to leave there homes and work. Also California is like it was during the Great Depression and suffering worse than the rest of the states.
ReplyDeleteI think that "Capitalism A Love Story" does connect directly with the great depression. Both the Grapes of Wrath and Michael Moore's film seemed to be a proponent of the notion that capitalism is a system that fuels greed.
ReplyDeleteWith the small portion of the movie that I saw, I think that Capitalism tends to really connect well with Grapes. For instance one of the only scenes I saw was the one where the bank forecloses on the home, and they try to stand their ground by breaking in and moving back in. This relates extremely well to the scene where the tractor comes and tears down there homes, they try to stand their ground, but in the end the bank wins. The bank always wins! I feel that this scene ties together the two movies very nicely.
ReplyDeleteI guess first off, I want to thank Rob for bringing this film to class. It served to provoke much thought about the US economy today, as well as in the past. You all have done some nice analysis of the film's ideas. I too see FEAR as a common Grapes & Capitalism connect. And few of us can argue about the concept of GREED. I just wonder if capitalism fuels the greed, or if HUMANS feed the greed; including each of us:( Perhaps recognizing ourselves through the novel and the movie will motivate us to change? Then again, I've heard "greed is good."
ReplyDelete