Posted on 07/10/2004 10:28:13 AM PDT by My Favorite Headache
Townshend fuming over Fahrenheit row
Rock legend Pete Townshend has launched a scathing attack at film-maker Michael Moore, saying he has been "bullied and slurred" by the director.
Last year, the Stupid White Men author Moore approached the The Who guitarist to ask the star permission to use his song Won't Get Fooed Again in his controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which criticises George Bush's administration.
Townshend refused to let the Oscar-winning director use the song, because the rocker didn't enjoy Moore's previous films Bowling for Columbine and Roger and Me.
Townshend fumes: "Michael Moore has been making some claims, using my name, which distort the truth.
"I greatly resent being bullied and slurred by him just because he didn't get what we wanted from me. It seems to me that this aspect of his nature is not unlike that of the powerful and willful man at the centre of his documentary.
"He says that I refused to allow him to use my song Won't Get Fooled Again in his latest film because I support the war. I have never hidden the fact that at the beginning of the war in Iraq, I was a supporter. But now I am less sure we did the right thing.
"I had not really been convinced by Bowling For Columbine and had been worried about its accuracy. To me, it felt like a bullying film. Once I had an idea what Fahrenheit 9/11 was about, I was 90 per cent certain my song was not right for them and pointed out that Won't Get Fooled Again is not an unconditionally anti-war song."
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© Thomas Crosbie Media, 2004.
Possibly trying to save face in front of his lib colleagues
hmm i always liked boris the spider.
wasnt he arrested for child porn or something??
He belongs to an organization that investigates child porn, and some overzealous soul thought it was for personal consumption.
Looks like "the parting on the Left is now parting on the Right"...I always enjoyed Townshend's lyrics (thought Quadrophenia was the quintessential anthem to teenage angst). Seems his backing off on Iraq is not in the railing manner of the Leftists, but more in line with a lot of [conservative] folks I talk with today: not anti-war, not anti-Iraq invasion, just wondering about it all given our political approach to battlefield realities.
Charges were dropped
Who?
Sure, sure...
How uncharacteristic of Michael. /s
good to hear, i always liked the who
That way they could more easily justify their budget w/o doing the work, very common across the board.
Wonder why he thinks all of a sudden Iraq was not a good idea?
He is like other's who live in this microwave, instant gratification society who believe that if things are not completely perfect they are a failure. I believe things are starting to come around and given a few more years people will look back and see that going into Iraq was very difficult but the right thing to do. The Iraqi children will grow up having memories of American soldiers who sat and shared meals with them, gave them candy, helped to repair their schools, gave many of them medical care who had been denied under Sadam, etc. Those are the Iraqi's who will measure our efforts there.
I originally thought "Roger and Me" was funny. But Moore picked the wrong way to attack the sheer incompetence of Roger Smith.
What changed my opinion of Moore was the follow up to R&M. He was plain nasty to the people of Flint.
Especially that poor dingbat that was in to "colors" as a way to live. And Moore did a number on her, not once, but twice.
(Okay, yes, she did ask for it, literally.)
As for Townsend changing his mind? Probably the media barrage of all the negative stories.
What Townsend and other would-be wafflers have got to remember are the number of people killed, maimed, and
mutilated by Saddam, the mass graves, and the rewards for [the families of] homicide bombers targeting civilians.
I wonder if Saddam was bribing the UK media too?
FROM PETE TOWNSEND'S WEBSITE----->>>
http://www.petetownshend.co.uk/diary/display.cfm?id=89&zone=diary
7 July 2004
Fahrenheit Moore or Less
Back to Diary Dates
Michael Moore has been making some claims – mentioning me by name - which I believe distort the truth.
He says – among other things – that I refused to allow him to use my song WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN in his latest film, because I support the war, and that at the last minute I recanted, but he turned me down. I have never hidden the fact that at the beginning of the war in Iraq I was a supporter. But now, like millions of others, I am less sure we did the right thing.
When first approached I knew nothing about the content of his film FAHRENHEIT 911. My publisher informed me they had already refused the use of my song in principle because MIRAMAX the producers offered well below what the song normally commands for use in a movie. They asked me if I wanted to ask for more money, I told them no.
Nevertheless, as a result of my refusal to consider the use, Harvey Weinstein – a good friend of mine, and my manager Bill Curbishley – interceded personally, explained in more detail to Bill what the movie was about, and offered to raise the bid very substantially indeed. This brought the issue directly to me for the first time. Bill emailed me and told me how keen Harvey and Michael Moore were to use my song.
At this point I emailed Bill (and he may have passed the essence of what I said to Harvey Weinstein) that I had not really been convinced by BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, and had been worried about its accuracy; it felt to me like a bullying film. Out of courtesy to Harvey I suggested that if he and Moore were determined to have me reconsider, I should at least get a chance to see a copy of the new film. I knew that with Cannes on the horizon, time was running short for them, and this might not be possible. I never received a copy of the film to view. At no time did I ask Moore or Miramax to reconsider anything. Once I had an idea what the film was about I was 90% certain my song was not right for them.
I believe that in the same email to my publisher and manager that contained this request to see the film I pointed out that WGFA is not an unconditionally anti-war song, or a song for or against revolution. It actually questions the heart of democracy: we vote heartily for leaders who we subsequently always seem to find wanting. (WGFA is a song sung by a fictional character from my 1971 script called LIFEHOUSE. The character is someone who is frightened by the slick way in which truth can be twisted by clever politicians and revolutionaries alike). I suggested in the email that they might use something by Neil Young, who I knew had written several songs of a more precise political nature, and is as accessible as I am. Moore himself takes credit for this idea, and I have no idea whether my suggestion reached him, but it was the right thing to do.
I have nothing against Michael Moore personally, and I know Roger Daltrey is a friend and fan of his, but I greatly resent being bullied and slurred by him in interviews just because he didn’t get what he wanted from me. It seems to me that this aspect of his nature is not unlike that of the powerful and wilful man at the centre of his new documentary. I wish him all the best with the movie, which I know is popular, and which I still haven’t seen. But he’ll have to work very, very hard to convince me that a man with a camera is going to change the world more effectively than a man with a guitar.
Pete
I agree.
exactly.
Bump!
The bass player wrote that song. Bentwhistle or something like that....
I agree with you whole heartedly. However, there will be an equal # of Iraqis that will remember us killing their brothers, fathers or sons for quite a while. Don't expect the muslim culture to be like that of the orient or western europe. This will be used as fodder to stir up hate against the infidel for decades to come.
So often we go off w/o gettin' to know the person involved &/or hearing from the horses mouth.
You helped put it in the forefront.
Of all the knuckleheads in the limelight, Pete's a pretty stand-up guy.
He's no Nugent, but the "Kid's all right" by me>
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