October 26, 2004
arts. michigandaily.com
artspage@michigandaily. com
Ru aTSO
9
BIG
BUSINESS
I have boobs!
DOCUMENTARY
LOOKS AT
CORPORATE GREED
By Sheila Merchant
Daily Arts Writer
MOVIE REVIEW
In the unsettling documentary "The Corpo-
ration," filmmakers Mark Achbar and Jennifer
Abbott attempt to dissect big business. They
assert that though individuals in the system may
work for the greater good,
the system itself is so harm-
ful that it cannot continue to The
persist unchecked. Corporation
The film, which begins At the
with a montage of corporate Michigan Theater
analysts attempting to excuse zeitgeist
recent corporate scandals as
the result of a few bad apples,
tries to move past the tired analogies to a more
telling examination of the rise of the modern
corporate system. The film is segmented, start-
ing with a history of the corporation's manipula-
tion of the 14th Amendment to acquire the same
legal status as an individual to a step-by-step psy-
choanalytic dissection of its behavior. The even-
tual conclusion is that if the corporation were
Courtesy of Zeitgeist
They always insist on taking our picture while we are looking directly into the sun.
Men learn the pain of
heels in 'He's a Lady'
By Amanda McAllister
Daily Arts Writer
T Ew am
Just when it appeared the net-
works had run out of ideas for reality
shows, TBS has found an open niche
in the played-out
fad with "He's a He's a Lady
Lady." Told they
were picked as Tuesdays at
contestants for 10 P.M.
a fictional real- TBS
ity show called
"All-American Man," 11 self-pro-
claimed tough guys must undergo a
complete makeover in order to win
the $250,000 prize. The culmination
of their transformations comes in the
form of a beauty pageant. Behind
closed doors, they're free to be guys;
the second they step outside, though,
they must be in character.
"He's a Lady" is a refreshing twist
on the over-exposed genre. Although
it lacks most of the mandatory drama,
the show makes up for it with plenty
of humor. It's hilarious to watch men
parade around in dresses, obviously
enjoying themselves. While they
were all uncomfortable and whiny at
the beginning, they were soon shar-
ing helpful tips (going to the bath-
room before they put their nails on)
and, by the end of they day, they had
given themselves female names. The
Doll House, where the men reside, is
a man's pastel nightmare, complete
with brightly colored beds arranged
in a giant circle and a gym-style wall
of showers.
Combining elements from predeces-
sors such as "The Swan" and "Ameri-
can Idol," the show comes off more
as a spoof than an actual attempt at a
TV program. A panel of B-list celeb-
rities (Debbie Matenopoulos, Morgan
Fairchild and former NBA star John
Salley) gives each man feedback and
serves as the elimination committee.
Thankfully, they don't take it too seri-
ously, and neither do the contestants.
Everyone is aware of the sheer
absurdity of the situation, and so they
approach it with good attitudes. The
men are very aware that they are com-
peting against each other, but there
is still a sense of camaraderie. They
share complaints of sore feet as they
help each other take off constricting
clothing that, judging by their diffi-
culties, was welded on.
These tough guys morph into
women - albeit unattractive women
- with frightening ease, and
although their competitive nature
shows through, they still have fun.
a human being, then it would be classified as a
psychopath.
A sequence of case studies highlights how cor-
porations manipulate the media and attempt to
commodify every aspect of life, even rainwater.
Yet here is where the film begins to lose focus.
The case studies are worthy of their own docu-
mentaries, but they are so engaging that they take
away from the main thesis. The filmmakers seem
to want to include every bit of evidence they can
find without realizing it makes their case too far-
reaching and ultimately incoherent.
The actual look of the film, however, is quite
appropriate. With it's talking-head interviews,
interlaced with biting clips, the film makes dif-
ficult concepts visual, such as when several pro-
fessors try to explain externalities and it cuts
to a clip of a pie fight where a bystander gets
hit. The montages and slick shots almost have a
commercial feel to them, and as for shock value,
the film squanders no opportunity, including
a choice testimony of a stockbroker's honest
account of his thoughts on 9/11, when the first
thing that entered his mind was, "how much is
gold going for?"
In the end, the film is certainly thought-provok-
ing, yet, some of the case studies weigh down the
main argument with innumerable details. Thus,
"The Corporation" just misses the mark- it's a
good film, but too meandering to be great.
'Book on Bush' attacks president's record
Eric Alterman and Mark Green start
"The Book on Bush: How George W.
(Mis)leads Amer-
ica" with a tall
goal: to outline the
entire political and
policy landscape of
the Bush adminis-
tration. Along the
way, they admit
that they might
discover Bush to
The Book on
Bush: How
George W.
(Mis) leads
America
By Eric Alterman
and Mark Green
Viking
and Green attempt to lay out Bush's
policies in a more detailed manner
than the traditional news media, with
the intention of letting the American
people know the possible consequenc-
es of voting the president into office for
another four years.
In the introduction, Alterman and
Green name the three groups that they
see as most influential, and consequent-
ly which stand the most to gain from
Bush's policies: big business, the neo-
conservatives and the Religious Right.
Though the book is divided into chap-
ters that deal with a specific aspect of
foreign or domestic policy, these three
groups surface again and again.
One of the most interesting chapters
explains Bush's environmental record.
Alterman and Green expose Bush's
actions in the first three years of his
presidency: He dropped his campaign
pledge to cap carbon dioxide emissions,
withdrew the United States from the
Kyoto Protocol and implemented the
Clear Skies Initiative. Alterman and
Greene analyze these policy decisions,
noting that carbon dioxide and other
pollutant emissions have increased since
Bush took office. At the same time, the
authors link the president to energy
interests, citing that Bush and his staff
met with representatives of the energy
industry rather than environmentalists
when setting environmental policy.
Alterman and Green make convinc-
ing arguments concerning other issues,
as well. The authors discuss Bush's fis-
cal policies and the war in Iraq in the
same manner, presenting the facts and
the conclusions they've drawn clearly.
Though a large amount of material is
discussed, "The Book on Bush" remains
readable to the end.
Despite the fact that the authors see
Bush's policies as a "radical transfor-
mation of our (American) political life,"
they set a relatively fair tone in the first
chapter, which is maintained through-
out. They use many different sources to
back up their assertions, many of which,
despite the title of the book, are nonpar-
tisan. More interestingly, the authors
deconstruct much of Bush's rhetoric,
frequently using quotes from the Presi-
dent himself, his staff and White House
press conferences. Each chapter begins
with a quote from Bush that pertains to
the subject to be discussed.
Even though Alterman and Green
keep a balanced tone, their message is
clearly anti-Bush. The authors might
say that the facts speak for themselves,
but "The Book on Bush" is not likely
to be attractive to conservative voters
- that's clear from the title. For that
reason alone, Green and Alterman
aren't going to win over anyone who
hasn't already been convinced.
Even though they're competing for a be a liar and a dis- [ I
prize, they're doing it in heels and a sembler. However,
Wonderbra. Creepy, but oddly mes- the authors' evaluations of Bush's poli-
merizing, the lighthearted approach cies come before they question whether
to the standard beauty contest makes his actions are ethical. Based on evi-
"He's a Lady" work. dence and political analysis, Alterman
t