The Michael Moore of the Right?

Discuss Am I Racist?

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posted by northcoast
STAFFMOD
on September 14, 2024 at 7:19 PM

I have seen most of Michael Moore's documentaries and have enjoyed his lampooning of some of the idiocy on the American political Right.

So, in the interest of balance, I saw Am I Racist?, starring Daily Wire Youtuber Matt Walsh. In disguise (and sometimes not), he attends a couple of diversity education programs, and at one point hosts his own, using some of the same tactics to demonstrate just how far some white people will go to prove that they are not racist.

In one scene, during an interview while in disguise, he maneuvers the diversity educator Robin DiAngelo-- who, along with Michael Eric Dyson, wrote the bestselling book White Fragility--into giving money out of her own pocket to Walsh's black film producer to show her support for reparations. She was clearly surprised by this turn of events and was very uncomfortable with the situation.

In another scene, Walsh convinces a group of mostly white attendees at his own diversity class to almost engage in literal self-flagellation for the past racial sins of their ancestors (I say "almost" because he calls it off before it's about to happen).

There are many more sequences exposing the lunacy of some forms of extreme diversity education, and also interviews with people of color who are astounded by how far some white people will go to prove their solidarity with non-whites.

Am I Racist? was entertaining in parts, and from a technical standpoint every bit on the level of production quality as a Michael Moore film, but there are definitely segments where-- in this reviewer's opinion at least --Walsh was being needlessly provocative, and, quite frankly, rude.

The very release of this movie in major theater chains throughout the United States --I read somewhere that it was showing on around 1,500 screens during this, its opening weekend --also serves to undermine some of Walsh's criticisms of "cancel" culture; the First Amendment is still robust and the "Left" does not prohibit viewpoints in opposition to its own (if it had such power or intentions, this movie would not see such wide theatrical release).

Am I Racist? (2024)--

Well I certainly hope not; an entertaining movie, but a bit of a "put-on" and plays to the fringes of diversity education.

5 out of 10.

5 replies (on page 1 of 1)

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Reply by bratface

STAFFMOD

on September 14, 2024 at 7:45 PM

Walsh is a right-wing fascist!

Reply by northcoast

STAFFMOD

on September 14, 2024 at 8:30 PM

@bratface said:

Walsh is a right-wing fascist!

Personally, I try to be very careful with the uses of the word "fascist", "racist", "misogynist", and other such words, because overuse of such terms can lead to a loss of impact of such words when truly appropriate (just like calling opponents of one's views "Hitler"-- which both Left and Right have done).

I'm not saying you're wrong, bratface, just that I try not to make that my personal style.

But I hear you.

Reply by wonder2wonder

STAFFMOD

on September 14, 2024 at 9:24 PM

... Demographics from Deadline:

Filing in 4th place, and a commendable start for a wide release documentary is SDG Releasing/Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh documentary, Am I Racist? with $4.7M for the weekend at 1,517 sites after a $1.96M Friday and A Cinemascore and 5 stars on PostTrak. Diversity turnout was 64% Caucasian, 19% Latino and Hispanic, 6% Black and 4% Asian American. Mostly men at 56% with 59% of the audience being over 35 and the largest demo being 25-34 at 28%.

In terms of the political background of those buying tickets, PostTrak showed that 52% indentified as conservative and 43% as Republican, 8% politically moderate and 3% registered Democrats. The pic earned an A+ with men under 18 and women under 25. Top markets for the right-wing docu were Los Angeles, NYC, Nashville (Regal Green Hills multiplex there the best in the nation for the pic at $30K so far), Dallas-Ft. Worth and Salt Lake City. However, the top grossing areas were the South, Midwest and Mountain regions. Fifty-nine percent of those in PostTrak exits said they went to the docu because of its subject, which follows Walsh investigating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, while 39% went because they’re fans of the right-wing commentator. “Like Tucker Carlson, he’s a draw for the right,” commended one rival marketing exec not associated with the film, on how Daily Wire hit the pic’s target audience head-on. Walsh has used the presidential election to market the movie at debates and political party confabs. What can we say? There’s not only box office to be made with right wing audiences, but docus in the post-Covid era can still pull people off the couch. Note, the trailer for Dinesh D’Souza’s Vindicating Trump is playing ahead of the Walsh docu.

Comparing "documentaries"

"Am I a Racist (2024)"

CinemaScore: A
PostTrak: 5 stars (out of 5)

IMDb: 8.2/10 (User Rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 99% (Audience Score)
TMDb: 30% (User Score: 2 users)

"Oppenheimer (2023)"

CinemaScore: A
PostTrak: 5 stars (out of 5)

IMDb: 8.3/10 (User Rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% (Audience Score)
TMDb: 81% (User Score: 8926 users)

Reply by bratface

STAFFMOD

on September 14, 2024 at 9:28 PM

@wonder2wonder said:

... Demographics from Deadline:

Filing in 4th place, and a commendable start for a wide release documentary is SDG Releasing/Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh documentary, Am I Racist? with $4.7M for the weekend at 1,517 sites after a $1.96M Friday and A Cinemascore and 5 stars on PostTrak. Diversity turnout was 64% Caucasian, 19% Latino and Hispanic, 6% Black and 4% Asian American. Mostly men at 56% with 59% of the audience being over 35 and the largest demo being 25-34 at 28%.

In terms of the political background of those buying tickets, PostTrak showed that 52% indentified as conservative and 43% as Republican, 8% politically moderate and 3% registered Democrats. The pic earned an A+ with men under 18 and women under 25. Top markets for the right-wing docu were Los Angeles, NYC, Nashville (Regal Green Hills multiplex there the best in the nation for the pic at $30K so far), Dallas-Ft. Worth and Salt Lake City. However, the top grossing areas were the South, Midwest and Mountain regions. Fifty-nine percent of those in PostTrak exits said they went to the docu because of its subject, which follows Walsh investigating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, while 39% went because they’re fans of the right-wing commentator. “Like Tucker Carlson, he’s a draw for the right,” commended one rival marketing exec not associated with the film, on how Daily Wire hit the pic’s target audience head-on. Walsh has used the presidential election to market the movie at debates and political party confabs. What can we say? There’s not only box office to be made with right wing audiences, but docus in the post-Covid era can still pull people off the couch. Note, the trailer for Dinesh D’Souza’s Vindicating Trump is playing ahead of the Walsh docu.

Comparing documentaries:

"Am I a Racist (2024)"

CinemaScore: A
PostTrak: 5 stars (out of 5)

IMDb: 8.2/10 (User Rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 99% (Audience Score)
TMDb: 30% (User Score: 2 users)

"Oppenheimer (2023)"

CinemaScore: A
PostTrak: 5 stars (out of 5)

IMDb: 8.3/10 (User Rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% (Audience Score)
TMDb: 81% (User Score: 8926 users)

Oppenheimer isn't a documentary.

Reply by wonder2wonder

STAFFMOD

on September 14, 2024 at 9:43 PM

@bratface said:

@wonder2wonder said:

... Demographics from Deadline:

Filing in 4th place, and a commendable start for a wide release documentary is SDG Releasing/Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh documentary, Am I Racist? with $4.7M for the weekend at 1,517 sites after a $1.96M Friday and A Cinemascore and 5 stars on PostTrak. Diversity turnout was 64% Caucasian, 19% Latino and Hispanic, 6% Black and 4% Asian American. Mostly men at 56% with 59% of the audience being over 35 and the largest demo being 25-34 at 28%.

In terms of the political background of those buying tickets, PostTrak showed that 52% indentified as conservative and 43% as Republican, 8% politically moderate and 3% registered Democrats. The pic earned an A+ with men under 18 and women under 25. Top markets for the right-wing docu were Los Angeles, NYC, Nashville (Regal Green Hills multiplex there the best in the nation for the pic at $30K so far), Dallas-Ft. Worth and Salt Lake City. However, the top grossing areas were the South, Midwest and Mountain regions. Fifty-nine percent of those in PostTrak exits said they went to the docu because of its subject, which follows Walsh investigating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, while 39% went because they’re fans of the right-wing commentator. “Like Tucker Carlson, he’s a draw for the right,” commended one rival marketing exec not associated with the film, on how Daily Wire hit the pic’s target audience head-on. Walsh has used the presidential election to market the movie at debates and political party confabs. What can we say? There’s not only box office to be made with right wing audiences, but docus in the post-Covid era can still pull people off the couch. Note, the trailer for Dinesh D’Souza’s Vindicating Trump is playing ahead of the Walsh docu.

Comparing documentaries:

"Am I a Racist (2024)"

CinemaScore: A
PostTrak: 5 stars (out of 5)

IMDb: 8.2/10 (User Rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 99% (Audience Score)
TMDb: 30% (User Score: 2 users)

"Oppenheimer (2023)"

CinemaScore: A
PostTrak: 5 stars (out of 5)

IMDb: 8.3/10 (User Rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% (Audience Score)
TMDb: 81% (User Score: 8926 users)

Oppenheimer isn't a documentary.

I know. I should have titled it differently. But I noticed last year that many thought that Oppenheimer was a documentary. I'll edit it by putting documentaries in quotes.

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