The Yes Men

Rating R Formats DVD Genre documentary Starring Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonnano, The Yes Men, Mike Bonanno, Andy Bichlbaum Directed by Chris Smith, Dan Ollman, Sarah Price Publisher United Artists External Links Official Site

As the last few politically charged documentaries and features of 2004 make their way onto DVD it's interesting to note the sad feeling I get from seeing them all in one big pile. Silver City, Fahrenheit 911, Control Room, Bush's Brain, and de facto political documentaries that reflect badly on big business like Supersize Me and The Corporation are all sitting here reflecting a sort of post election malaise- like unwanted historical relics. Anybody out there want to buy a Kerry bumper sticker, or campaign button?

The fear that history really is written by the winners shouldn't distract viewers from the excellent stuff to be found in this pile. Whatever ones feelings about Michael Moore and George Bush the food for thought present in The Corporation, Control Room and the rest is considerable, and of course in many ways, more urgent than ever. It seems totally appropriate that I would get The Yes Men last of all.

Here is the answer to the ennui that threatens to set in. Get off your creative hindquarters and do something- anything; it's better than sitting around!! Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno present an uneven documentary but a marvelous recipe for opening minds and keeping a stiff upper lip in these days of fear and loathing. Known as the "Yes Men," the pair found themselves, through a surprisingly simple series of events, impersonating members of the World Trade Organization.

They had started as a part of a larger organization that specialized in corporate activism through satire. By setting up dummy websites that resembled the real thing (like a site modeled after the George Bush site), the pair would flood the internet with satiric messages but reach the target audience directly. Anybody looking for George Bush' site would just as likely reach theirs.

But when they did the same thing to the World Trade Organization, they began getting invitations to speak. And speak they did, proposing outrageous ideas with perfect deadpan seriousness to supposedly highly educated and thoughtful business leaders. Imagine a gold body suit with a huge erect pillar attached between the legs and large padded seat. At the end of the pillar is a monitor and in the seat are a series of sensors. By humanely planting a chip in the shoulder of your third world workers you can monitor them and how hard they're working via the modified suit. The perfect solution to transcontinental management labor relations! Or just a sophomoric prank?

Watching the Yes Men strut around in the suit is somehow less funny than it should be. Although the next proposal, which I won't review here) had me in stitches. What is funny is the applause and appreciation of their audiences. Instead of their wildly irreverent schemes for simultaneously "helping" drawing jeers, they drew cheers. Funny what a WTO Badge does to the common sense of otherwise intelligent people. This is the main and most devastating critique emerging from the admittedly broad satire The Yes Men engage in.

What works less well is The Yes Men's lack of substance. Granted the doc does end on a nice note with the pair announcing the dismantling of the WTO, while running down a list of it's many sins. But the generally low quality of the filming, the haphazard nature of what's included and what isn't, and the lopsided presentation of the groups agenda raises red flags for any thinking person.

I'd like to offer a well-intentioned word of caution to my critical betters. Roger Ebert, TV Guide, LA Weekly and Rolling Stone splash their praise across the cover of this release in terms that can hardly be described as objective. Gentlemen, get a grip. This doc made me laugh out loud once or twice and had a smattering of useful info, but was clearly preaching to the choir. Thus the year ends where it began and where it rarely ventured from in 2004. Director/cast commentary and deleted scenes round out a one hour twenty-two minute film that should have been longer and more substantive.