Capitalism: a Love Story

            Capitalism: a Love Story is a 2009 documentary directed by Michael Moore. It shows the effects corporate greed on American families. It shows the terror of what Capitalism does and how it helps only a few rich people but it doesn’t help anyone else. Right at the beginning they started comparing ancient Rome and the United States today. They talked about the similarities like Rome had chariot races and America has NASCAR, they compare their emperor to president, and both civilizations have a wide gap between the rich and the poor. These things eventually led to the demise of ancient Rome. I thought it started off the documentary very well because it shows history can repeat itself. It really set the tone for the rest of the movie.

            Another point that really stuck with me was pilots have to take up to $100,000 in student loans to become one but their starting year they only make $17,000 in a year. A running joke among pilots is don’t pick up your food stamps when you’re in your uniform. Also Pilots get paid less than a Taco Bell manager. But their excuse is “that’s capitalism.”

They touch aspects of the control that corporations have over their workers. For example, they talk about companies that take out insurance loans on their workers so if their workers die they get money for their death. These people are called “dead peasants” in the corporations. Moore did a very good job at shocking you with the facts about capitalism. I also really like the comical side that Moore put into the movie. For example, there is a scene where Moore tries to do a citizen’s arrest of the board of directors from AIG. It gives sort of a comic relief from the serious topic at hand. It also links to my topic because this talks about corporate greed and ALEC is basically just feeding corporate greed with what they are doing.

There is however a lot of controversy surrounding the movie. There are a lot of conservatives who claim he oversimplifies capitalism and he doesn’t really bash President Obama. I think it was a great movie and it makes you laugh and leaves you thinking about it later. It definitely reassured my view on capitalism and it is a definite must see.

Capitalism: A Love Story. Dir. Micheal Moore. Perf. Michael Moore. Overture Films, 2009. DVD.