liberal media strikes again!

[Arpikarhu]

so disney is suppressing and actively trying to stop the release of michael moores new film, "farenheit 911". a documentary showing the relationship between bush and the saudis.
disney also owns ABC, the same network that wouldnt show koppel reading the names of the dead from this false war.

how can no one see the way that this administration is manipulating information in an attempt to remain in office and with no care for the shape and future of this country?

[The Sleeper]

It was Sinclair that refused to broadcast the koppel thing.

[Arpikarhu]

and your point? who does he receive money from? look into it.

[The Sleeper]

My point is I don't think you can blame ABC since they actually created the program. Disney is out of line though.

[Arpikarhu]

i accept your point

[Keyser Soze]

what is disney doing to try and stop the release?

[The Sleeper]

Disney owns Miramax, the studio behind the movie. So they can do whatever they want.

[Keyser Soze]

ah, whats harvey weinstein doing about it?

[Arpikarhu]

eating a crabmeat sandwich and yelling at his secretary to get him some mayo

[Keyser Soze]

cite your sources please, i have not seen a story yet of disney suppressing the release.

[The Sleeper]

I have, but I'm too lazy to dig it up

[Gooch]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/05/national/05DISN.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/05/national/05DISN.html</a><!-- m -->

[Galt]

I didn't open Gooch's link, but I had seen this story before. I saw no comment from ABC as to why they were trying to withold it. The subject wasn't even discussed in the article.

Could it be possible that regardless of the topic, Disney had seen the movie, and it was chock full of shoddy journalism and blatant lies like everything else Moore has made? Really, no other reason would be excusable.

But, you still haven't supported your argument that the Bush administration is responsible for this. If ABC makes a decision, is everyone such a conspiracy theorist that Bush is always sitting around like Vito Corleone pulling strings from behind the curtain

[Sir O]

Mr. Moore's agent, Ari Emanuel, said Michael D. Eisner, Disney's chief executive, asked him last spring to pull out of the deal with Miramax. Mr. Emanuel said Mr. Eisner expressed particular concern that it would endanger tax breaks Disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures in Florida, where Mr. Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor.

"Michael Eisner asked me not to sell this movie to Harvey Weinstein; that doesn't mean I listened to him," Mr. Emanuel said. "He definitely indicated there were tax incentives he was getting for the Disney corporation and that's why he didn't want me to sell it to Miramax. He didn't want a Disney company involved."

Disney executives deny that accusation, though they said their displeasure over the deal was made clear to Miramax and Mr. Emanuel.

A senior Disney executive elaborated that the company had the right to quash Miramax's distribution of films if it deemed their distribution to be against the interests of the company. The executive said Mr. Moore's film is deemed to be against Disney's interests not because of the company's business dealings with the government but because Disney caters to families of all political stripes and believes Mr. Moore's film, which does not have a release date, could alienate many.

"It's not in the interest of any major corporation to be dragged into a highly charged partisan political battle," this executive said.

[Gooch]

Bush couldn't pull a finger much less a string.

His administration, however, can. Disney is very beholden to many perks for their Florida base, as well as media outlets.

Moore's sometimes shoddy journalism aside...it's a movie. people can beleive or disbelieve...so Disney suddenly balking means lots of money or power is at stake, b/c all they've done is drive up interest. Of course, news leaks like this, perhaps done by Weinstein himself, would drive a lot of movie dollars his way on free publicity.

[Galt]

Based again, on the blatant lies that Moore has told in his "documentaries", I really wouldn't put too much weight on what he or his agent say are quotes from anyone.

That said, they're a company, they should be able to quash anything they want for any reason, even if it is as partisan as Moore's camp makes it out to be. While it is a stupid (meaning missing out on profits) and chickenshit thing to do, they certainly can do it, and it still doesn't mean that Bush has a thing to do with the decision.

[The Sleeper]

I'll agree with Galt on this one. Disney has done stuff like this in the past. They pulled Ellen from ABC cause they didn't want to upset all the Southern Baptists. They are terrified of alienating people with controversial programming.

[Keyser Soze]

Pulp Fiction anyone?

[Sir O]

I'll agree with Galt on this one. Disney has done stuff like this in the past. They pulled Ellen from ABC cause they didn't want to upset all the Southern Baptists. They are terrified of alienating people with controversial programming.

I think a better example might be the movie The Quiet American. Never heard of it? Exactly.

After the Cannes Film Festival, the buzz was that it was a surefire contender for Best Picture and the best performance of Michael Caine's career. But Mirimax refused to release it to theaters in the US, fearing that a film that is not too flattering of American foreign policy would get them a lot of negative publicity in the post 9/11 world. After a huge amount of pressure Miramax agreed on a minimum distribution of the film in 4 US cities for 2 weeks (this was required in order to have the film eligible for Oscars). The movie was yanked out of theatres as fast as it could be in order to avoid causing political scandal.

I agree the Disney folks are pussies, but I just can't buy their excuse of "It's not in the interest of any major corporation to be dragged into a highly charged partisan political battle" when they continue to air Sean Hannity's show among others. They're not worried about offending people per se, they're worried about offending the wrong people and the consequences that might follow. It's the same sort of bullshit that got O&A pulled, Stern off Clear Channel, it's censorship by proxy which isn't against the law, just really, really sleazy.



Edited By Sir O on 1083812657

[Galt]

I agree that it's shitty.

I think more than being worried about something being anti-Bush or anti-any other party.

Distributing things that might be deemed anti-American like much Moore's new movie, or this Caine movie, might be the litmus test.