‘Planet of the Humans’ finds Michael Moore pitted against Left-Wing activists he once inspired
Academy award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore, known for inciting the right, is now facing criticism from people who would ordinarily align with his views.
As America’s most famous activist filmmaker, Michael Moore has made his name with documentaries that prompt strong reactions from the right, from conservative pressure that led some theater chains to ban “Fahrenheit 9/11” to an entire film dedicated to explaining that “Michael Moore Hates America”. But now it’s prominent progressive activists and filmmakers – people who have been inspired by and have championed his work — who are calling on the filmmakers to retract and apologise for the latest project to bear his name, “Planet of the Humans.”
Moore’s latest film ‘Planet of the Humans’ offers a blistering critique of the modern environmental movement and its promotion of wind, solar, and biomass energy. But some filmmakers, activists, and scientists are pushing back against what they say is a film that relies on cherry-picked facts, gotcha interviews, and outdated information to paint a bleak, misleading portrait of the state of renewable energy.
Many are dismayed that Moore – who built his reputation as a left-wing filmmaker and supporter of civil rights – should produce a work endorsed by climate skeptics and right-wing thinktanks.
‘Planet of the Humans’ finds Michael Moore pitted against Left-Wing activists he once inspired
In it’s first 10 days on Michael Moore’s YouTube channel, the film raked up over 5 million views. However, it wasn’t long until those that opposed the film and its narrative, pushed for it to be removed from the platform. Not even two weeks in to the release, YouTube eventually took down the controversial documentary, in response to a ‘copyright infringement’ claim by a British environmental photographer, Toby Smith. Smith filed the complaint to YouTube on 23 May after discovering Planet of the Humans used several seconds of footage from one of his previous projects.
In response, the filmmakers denied violating fair usage rules and accused their critics of politically motivated censorship. Planet of the Humans director Jeff Gibbs said in a statement, “This attempt to take down our film and prevent the public from seeing it is a blatant act of censorship by political critics of Planet of the Humans. It is a misuse of copyright law to shut down a film that has opened a serious conversation about how parts of the environmental movement have gotten into bed with Wall Street and so-called “green capitalists.” There is absolutely no copyright violation in my film. This is just another attempt by the film’s opponents to subvert the right to free speech.”
Jeff continued by saying, “Opponents of my film, who do not like it’s critique of the failures of the environmental movement, have worked for weeks to have my film taken down and to block me from appearing on TV and on livestream. Their efforts to subvert free speech have failed, with nearly eight and a half million people already viewing the film on YouTube.”
Planet of the Humans wins fight to get the film back on YouTube
After weeks of discussions by the films producers and YouTube, the platform has since allowed the controversial documentary back on its channel.
Planet of the Humans has now been viewed by over 9 million people on YouTube (since it’s release in April), describing itself as a “full-frontal assault” on the sacred cows of the environmental movement.
The film’s official website also offers a Fact Check Bible which they tell viewers “when we state a fact, we like to provide the footnotes”. The page includes minute-by-minute references for journalists and others who wish to explore the topics of Planet of the Humans more closely.
Environmentalists say the film has caused untold damage when climate action has never been more urgent. Since its release, which has gained plenty of attention from climate skeptics and environmentalists, there are many websites that have tried to debunk many of the facts and statements made on Planet of the Humans.
In an interview with the rising on Hill TV, Planet of the Humans producer Ozzie Zehner was asked, “With all of the controversy surrounding the film, what was the message you wanted to send with this documentary?”.
Ozzie responded, “I think the existing environmental movement is going to be the last to come around to the story in this film. They’ll continue to argue that solar cells and wind turbines are going to become more efficient and cheaper. What they miss is that it doesn’t really matter,” Zehner said. “These are based on technological processes that require fossil fuels for their construction … we’re no better off, in fact we’re much worse off, than we were when we started this 30 years ago.”
This ongoing debate and attempts to shut down the controversial documentary will no doubt continue to go on for months, and even years. So watch this space.
As stated on Michael Moore’s YouTube channel regarding the film
Michael Moore presents Planet of the Humans, a documentary that dares to say what no one else will — that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road — selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America. This film is the wake-up call to the reality we are afraid to face: that in the midst of a human-caused extinction event, the environmental movement’s answer is to push for techno-fixes and band-aids. It’s too little, too late.
Watch trailer
Watch the full documentary (duration: 1hr 40min)
Source:
– Planet of the Humans website. Visit website
– IndieWire. ‘Planet of the Humans’ Finds Michael Moore Pitted Against Left-Wing Activists He Once Inspired. 4 May 2020, by Chris Lindahl. Read article
– The Guardian. Michael Moore film Planet of the Humans removed from YouTube. 26 May 2020, by Jonathan Watts. Read article
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