The Big Chill

One of my pet theories about the consolidation of American culture is that it will obviate the need for government censorship as corporate leaders and government officials find themselves sharing values and interests to the point that "inflammatory content" will be squelched before ever even seeing the light of distribution. If you can get everybody--or at least everybody important enough to make a difference--thinking on the same page, there's no reason to impose restrictive standards: companies will be happy to censor themselves.

So on the heels of the FCC/Clear Channel jihad against Howard Stern, and the rabidly pro-Bush Sinclair Broadcast Group's refusal to allow its eight ABC affiliates to air last Friday's "Nightline," in which Ted Koppel read the names of the Iraq war dead, we have the Disney Corporation's announcement that it will not allow its Miramax subsidiary to distribute Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 911," a reportedly blistering attack on the Bush administration's conduct before, during and after September 11. Not surprisingly, the repulsive Michael Eisner--whom I've detested ever since he accepted the Anaheim Angels' World Series trophy in 2002 in Mickey Mouse corporate garb--is at the center of this move:

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."

In other words: sorry, artists, but there's money to be made. Deregulation to be lobbied for. Favor to curry. Nobs to hob.

Oh, and if you're curious, Mr. Eisner donated $5,000 to the National Republican Campaign Committee last September, presumably earning a big wet sloppy kiss from Tom DeLay and pals. (God bless you, Opensecrets.org!)

I've found that Michael Moore is more than occasionally full of it; his primary-season support of Wes Clark probably did more harm than good, and like many on the far left he has a bad habit of undermining his important points through over-the-top rhetoric or just needlessly offending potential supporters. But if there's any justice in this world--funny how often I find myself using that phrase these days--this flap will drive many more Americans to see his movie than if the corporate zombies at Disney had just let the work stand for itself.

More interesting in the longer term (and a point made in the Nation article about Stern and the FCC) is whether and how "the market," that all-purpose deus ex machina of the right, will respond to the real but increasingly suppressed demand for programming that falls outside the boundaries of what people like Eisner, Donald Wildmon and Michael Powell find acceptable. Will we all be on satellite TV in five years? Are we likely to see a fleet of little boats sailing around Manhattan, firing pirate radio into the ether? I don't know, but there has to be some answer when the overwhelming corporate power of the Disneys infringes upon your and my brainspace.