posted by Damozel |
Having just written at length about Michael Moore, I found PETA's attack on him and his work particularly out of order (because irrelevant to his work) and offensive. But I'm bringing it up because it's an illustration of the decline of civility in public discourse, where attacks on the person (and particularly the person's appearance) have become a common substitute for reasoned argument on a position....ah hell.
It's so clearly an instance of an attack on someone famous for the sake of drawing attention to an issue ----perfectly valid if you happen to agree with PETA---that it wouldn't be worth a comment if it weren't such a perfect example of a systemic problem. And because it is gratuitious and irrelevant to the actual argument, the fact that Moore is guilty at times of the same behavior doesn't excuse it.
PETA, wishing to promote vegetarianism, claims---did they even see the film?---that Sicko is hypocritical coming from a man they ASSUME is in poor health due to his weight problem. "“There’s an elephant in the room, and it is you,” PETA president Ingrid Newkirk wrote in a letter to Moore." (MSNBC) Not that this is really even their issue: their issue is that he eats meat.
So it's true what they say: You can't be fat and famous in this country, can you? Or be fat and do significant work without people pointing out, "Yes, but you're fat." Jesus. You can see the point of Joy Nash's "Fat Rant" (and fat, or thin, she rocks).
Coming back to Michael Moore, what of it? And why do they assume that he's fat because he eats meat? I know quite a few overweight vegetarians; they don't eat meat, but they do load up on the carbs. Furthermore, the fastest way for Moore to lose weight would be to go on a low carb diet that's heavy on meat and animal proteins. Reasonable experts appear to differ on what sort of diet is healthy. And anyway, what of it? What does it have to do with his film?
I think PETA does important work, but this piece of sanctimony wrapped up in gratuitous rudeness---a publicity stunt?---sets my teeth on edge and puts me out of sympathy with the People of Peta (though not with the Ethical Treatment of Animals). I just cannot fathom the thinking of PETA advocates who consider themselves excused from treating their fellow human beings with dignity and respect, particularly when their goal is to persuade others to treat other sort of beings with dignity and respect. It doesn't set a good example.
LINKED, QUOTED, OR CITED.
PETA blasts Michael Moore for eating meat (MSNBC)
Damozel, Michael Moore: Can You Forgive Him? (Buck Naked Politics)
Comments