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The Yes Men Fix the World

The Yes Men Fix the World (2009)

January. 18,2009
|
7.5
| Documentary

THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world's most outrageous pranks.

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Reviews

Hellen
2009/01/18

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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TrueHello
2009/01/19

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

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Cooktopi
2009/01/20

The acting in this movie is really good.

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Lucia Ayala
2009/01/21

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

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gavin6942
2009/01/22

Trouble-making duo Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, posing as their industrious alter-egos, expose the people profiting from Hurricane Katrina, the faces behind the environmental disaster in Bhopal, and other shocking events.These guys take on the disaster at Bhopal, the idea of human candles and discuss the wetlands' effect on Hurricane Katrina. Although they are not always successful (in fact, they seem to persuade almost no one) they are excellent at educating through the argument to absurdity.These guys are clearly biased. While it is never explicitly stated that they are left or right, it seems pretty clear they tend to favor the liberal view. This may not sit well with some viewers and sit very well with others. I do not know -- clearly if you are pro-business or anti-business, you will look at this differently than others who have no opinion.

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stuartmillett
2009/01/23

Loved it! Great film where two clever guys go to great lengths to show up nasty big corporations, the reaction of some representatives is truly saddening. They do mention how the government fits into this and how they should help, but overwhelmingly you will see that this so called free trade has a massive human/environmental cost- you will see CEO's, reps and the like laughing over such things on camera. Some may find these parts disgusting. I found this film made me laugh, made me angry and made me sad all at the same time- something i've never experienced before. What i hated was reading the other user reviews and finding that nearly everyone is talking about left and right, as if nothing else exists. That makes me sad and i'm dam sure it also makes them sad too. Some of you wise old folk need to try for one second to entertain that maybe they aren't right or left, and maybe, just maybe, they believe in something else entirely. The film, though funny, made me a little sad, reading the user reviews afterwards- more so. Shame:(.

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tieman64
2009/01/24

"The Yes Men" and "The Yes Men Fix The World" are a pair of documentary comedies which follow the exploits of the Yes Men, a group of "culture jammers" who impersonate the identities of those they dislike and engage in "identity correction", a process in which they either behave as the entity really would behave were it not socially bound to maintain some modicum of civility, or behave as the entity would behave were it ethically responsible. In other words, the Yes Men are a group of socially conscious activists who engage in pranks. They con their way into various situations and satirically pretend to be various corporate heads, politicians, bureaucrats and world shakers. Most of their satire flies over the heads of their audiences.And so the two films find the Yes Men pointing out the unethical practises of Dow Chemical, BP, ExxonMobile, Milton Friedman cultists, the world trade organisation, the New York Times, the US Chamber of Commerce, various environmental bodies, various bastions of commerce, various media corporations, and various bodies responsible for the post hurricane Katrina clean up.Most of their pranks start with a fake website, such as their mock website of the World Trade Organisation, which despite being ridiculously blunt about the WTO's unethical practises garnered the Yes Men an invitation to speak at an official occasion. Once in, the Yes Men's representatives then caused havoc before unsuspecting audiences. Thanks to global media, their actions were carried out in full public glare. Other Yes Men stunts involve delineating the principles of free trade by taking such principles to their logical conclusions. Elsewhere they put forward arguments for selling votes to the highest corporate bidder, making the poor eat feces to cure endemic hunger and allowing countries to commit human rights abuses with a system of "justice vouchers" modelled after pollution vouchers. Yet, shockingly, the Yes Men's audiences often show little difficulty in accepting the legitimacy of such ideas. At a CPA meeting (a group of accountants), for instance, the Yes Men exploited the credulity of their audiences by recruiting them into the elaborate fiction of a trade organisation governed by grotesque principles. The two films highlight not only how willingly the public accepts unethical behaviour, but how such behaviour, as it is intimately bound with concepts of success, has long been seen as an ideal to be pursued.Because the Yes Men's cons are difficult to set up and execute, the two documentaries spend most of their time focusing on preparatory work. The actual pranks are few and far between, which will irk those looking for incessant humour. Compared to, say, "Punked", "Borat" or the "Jacka** Movies", these are slow films. Both films also fail to properly/intelligently explore that which the Yes Men rally against. Interestingly, the Yes Men are shown without familial or romantic relationships. Their private personalities are not delved into and they seem androgynous and almost ascetic. Their first two pranks, we learn, involved inserting homosexual activity into a computer game and inserting masculine, warrior voices into female dolls. Their gender-bending, a kind of monastic selflessness coupled to chameleon like amorphousness, echoes the impersonal flux of global capitalism. In theory, they're a parasite which can permeate any situation and counter-bend as readily as capitalism can. In practise, this is perhaps impossible. Even detrimental to their health.While some view the Yes Men as a needed, new breed of activism - of spirituality even - most view them as a mild annoyance engaging in futile efforts. For some theorists, culture and counter-culture are barely distinguishable in an all-pervasive, global culture too ready to incorporate the anti-gesture. Culture jamming, some believe, is rapidly losing political force and the capacity to generate new cultural images and values. On the flip side, the force of the Yes Men's prank comedy lies in the fact that it rises above the abstemious moment of critique and the seemingly noble aim of "enlightening people" and in so doing takes us onto another register. In a time in which global capitalism has such a monopoly on what can be thought, their task seems to be that of enabling something genuinely new to be thought. Their whole image is based on a recognition that affirmation, rather than refusal, is a novel political strategy.8/10 – Worth one viewing.

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guyfroml
2009/01/25

It has been many years since I have laughed so hard and for so long to the point where I risked sending myself into cardiac arrest. Let me say up front I'm a strong conservative and I realize these guys are about as liberal as they come - but at least I give them credit for realizing that humor is the best tool to attack the opposition.Having been involved in many political campaigns as an analyst, I've often criticized liberals for having an angry and bitter disposition to anyone who thinks differently. I didn't see that in Andy and Mike. They come across as good natured, which as a conservative I can then always respect their opinion - even if I disagree.Their pranks demonstrate just how gullible many in government and the media are - not to mention plain stupid. Being from Louisiana I can tell you it wasn't a difficult challenge to dupe the likes of a Ray Nagin (mayor of New Orleans) and Kathleen Blanco (at the time governor of Louisiana). But then, the scene where they get a respected businessman into a terrorist protective suit that looks like an obese cockroach with Halliburton stamped on the side takes "pranking" to a new level. Absolutely priceless! Andy and Mike, I might not agree with your politics, but I love your methodology of promoting your position. I can't wait to see the next pranks you pull.

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