A Sociological Analysis of Michael Moore Interview by Paxman on News Night - Essay Example

?A Sociological Analysis of Michael Moore Interview by Paxman on News Night (October A Sociological Analysis of Michael Moore Interview by Paxman on News Night (October 2011) The interview between the film maker and author Michael Moore and the News night presenter Jeremy Paxman was about several issues affecting the United States. The interview showed how deeply Jeremy invested in revolutionary economic change for USA. The talk was intense had demanded a lot of concentration. Jeremy had prepared several questions for Moore who was indeed informed. He answered all questions with facts to the best of his knowledge. The two participants were confident and up held ethics all throughout the interview. Various sociological aspects are addressed during the interview as stated in Mannen (1988, p 36). They talked about global problems and solutions. According to Lomborg (2004, p 52), the world is experiencing a lot of problems because of the rapid climate change due to global warming. The major worrying global problems include; hurricanes, communicable diseases, climate change, malnutrition and hunger. The solution to the hurricanes was install wave powered vessel that cools the surface of the ocean. The earths rising temperature and melting ice caps was solved by having a garden hose and regulating the number of industries in the world. It should be solved by discouraging release of harmful substances to the world. Proper health care management system should be put into operation. Governments around the world have failed in the challenge to do anything meaningful to address climate change. He argues that many people in the country were not accessing the healthcare facilities this had put their lives at risk. People are becoming increasingly networked together, via the internet and mobile technology. There are many organizations around the world working for global social justice and ecological survival and renewal. The advancement in the use of modern social media reflects the nature of the interlinked global movement which is better than perhaps any other organization and any established political party. But the strength of this movement is in its diversity and in its solidarity. The opportunities to create a more ecologically sustainable and socially just world are almost numerous. Moore said he will continue to advocate change through his writing, speaking and teaching. There are many millions who will share his hopes and aspirations. They will work their own ways to help bring about a better future as stated in Lomborg (2004, p 57). They discussed the issue of capitalism. Paxman wanted to know if the main objective of Moore was to reform capitalism or to end it as he intends to overturn the system. Moore focused on ending capitalism as he saw it as evil. Capitalism had protected the interests of the dictators, the rich elites and the privileged for far too long. He insisted that people were fed-up and wanted change. Capitalism is defined as an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods by investments that are by private decisions. There was a lot of objections against capitalism in the United States. It benefits the selfish interests of a few privileged people of the country and damages the interest of many. Freeman and Blasi (2010, p 43) states that capitalism discourages local production and encourages unregulated growth of big cooperation that exploits local labor for profits elsewhere. It encourages corruption, economic disparity, individualism, hyper competitiveness and consumerism. The government should represent the middle income and working people rather than just the wealthy and powerful as it ha been illustrated by capitalism. Moore stated that there was need for freedom in the country; this had been hindered by capitalism. Jeremy wanted to know what Moore would replace with leadership since he had said that this would end with political change or political action. They discussed on how anti capitalism will be achieved. Freeman and Blasi (2010, p 45) states that ant capitalism describes a wide variety of movements, ideas and attitudes which oppose capitalism. It is the best way you can think of how to describe ones belief set. Anti capitalism can be reached at by calling for anti capitalist action which will involve a mass gathering of anti capitalists of all stripes and kinds to discuss the strategy and network for the on going global revolution. There was need of the having ant capitalism protest movement. Moore states that there was something most important and good going on in the world today and political leaders simply do not understand it. Jeremy’s interview of Michael Moore on Last Nights’ News night was a case in point. In the past the mainstream political parties offered meaningful choice. Most politicians have sold out to corporate interests, the greed of the richest seems boundless and their indifference to the suffering of the citizens appears inhuman. This politicians looks on the ways of how to become richer not putting the agenda of others at the fore front. The global media like the political parties are in connection to the corporations; they end up not delivering what they were supposed to. They discussed about the issue of women voting. The fight against discrimination was being demonstrated in the various organizations in the country. Women have a right to exercise there leadership skills. The era in which women were oppressed by men is no longer in the existence hence each citizen has an equal chance to take part in the governance of the country. Women have special skill which when given chance they can perform than the men according to Ford (2011, p 47). Moore expressed that he would advocate for the political change by allowing women to vote. Moore viewed women as important to the country and by them voting they will contribute to a greater deal the development of the country. Women were to be given the equal chance to male to enable them have an opportunity to express their views. Jeremy inquired from Moore about his views concerning the women voting in the United States. Moore supported the idea that women were to be allowed to vote so that to help handle the various problems that faced the country. He states that United States had many problems which could be resolved by women participating in the voting. Moore also raises a concern to be addressed be the government. It is important that politicians should protect people in their communities. I would truly respect any community that stands up for the people in their town. If the is attracting numbers of people it is worth understanding why before completely dismissing their point. Politicians never get anything resolved because everything is right or wrong debatable based on statistics. According to Mannen (1988, P.36) one thing that annoys someone about people is that they try to ridicule and embarrass people for their opinions and beliefs rather than?listen and bring about a solution. He was deeply concerned about people in his city and their welfare. He said that although crimes happen in any countries they should not be tolerated. Ethnographic observations: Settings, context and the relationship between participants Context The interview took place in a television studio and the interviewee was online from New York. It happened at night since that was the time that it was programmed to take place or because of various circumstances. The sound conditions were very good thus the interview was very clear without any distortions. Michael Moore was online but his words were very clear proving that the equipment used was of high quality thus giving a clear interview. There were just two participants of the interview that is Paxman and Michael Moore. The other people who were presents did not participate in the interview. The method of the data used during the discourse was video recording (Speiers’ 1973, p 68). The interview between Michael Moore and Paxman was embedded because mental representation of the participants mind was on the topic of the interview, and they would convey the message that was required to the public. Similarly, the interviewer chose his questions very well and was keen on the answers of Michael more thus making sure that he understood what Michael was saying, and how he answered questions during the interview we had contextualization where by the participants had to had to construct a presentation before giving his opinion of the question. Michael more was attentive during the interview, and answered the questions by thinking on how the answer will be presented and how people would take it. The internal contextualization seemed to fail when Michael started giving his opinion on the campaign against women suffering in the United States (Brown Gillian and George 1983, p 24). Paxman seemed not to carefully listen but cut Michael short by giving his thoughts on how the campaign would affect the elections. Setting The setting is in a studio where by Michael Moore is speaking his thoughts to the whole world and especially the people of the United States of America. Michael Moore was online from New York. The questions of the interview were basically related to the topic of discussion meaning that the interview was well set. Michael Moore and Paxman did not at any point deviate from the main issue but made sure that points were on the theme of the interview. Paxman asked very probing questions that were well stated to enable Michael to answer the question correctly and on the subject matter. He asked questions that were direct that needed clarifications thus engaging the interviewee well and helping him answer the questions correctly. The first minutes of the whole interview were very decisive in a manner thus the interviewer was allowed to talk freely exposing his feelings and thoughts to the interviewee. Paxman talked about his feelings towards the campaign of Michael Moore and thus he wanted more clarifications on why the campaign was very important at a time when elections were underway. In addition to that, the environment was very conducive because of the availability of equipment that would transmit the interview to the people. The interview was set at a neo colonial era due to the presence of new age technology and the subject of discussion. Relationship between participants Goffman (1971, 93) notes that greetings are common among higher primates and civil societies. The interview began with an exchange of greetings as is commonly the case. Paxman seemed very critical when asking Michael Moore questions on how the campaign will be put into practice. Michael Moore spoke second thus giving listeners a thematic role by stating the topic of the interview and why he was supposed to give a clear update of his goal for the campaign. Paxman was first to speak thus giving a monologue of his expected outcome of the interview and making people know who will join the discussion and clarify what he said earlier. Thematic words are usually orientation points which give a clear picture of what the interview was about (Chafe and Wallace 1976, p 30). The eye contact between the participants was observed showing that both understood and was courageous enough to speak his mind. Michael Moore was calm, and seemed not to be inferior because he is a man of people and a celebrity since he is a renowned film producer in the United States of America. People paid much attention of what he was saying because he is seen as a role model of many people and commanded a huge following. The two talked and participated well thought the interviewer seemed to have more knowledge and at a point, Michael Moore seemed to give points that did not make sense to the people he was addressing. Dramatically, the questions were well delivered by Paxman which in turn created a positive relationship and interaction between the participants. Moreover, the questions were very short, and on the point thus giving Michael Moore a chance to understand the questions and answer accordingly using an official language. The interview was between Michael Moore and Paxman talking about why women should not vote because of lack of proper health care and bad governance of the United States government. Michael Moore was online from New York and talked about the campaign on how to stop women suffering basically stating that the poverty level is increasing and the gap between the rich and the poor has widened because the government is not working on how to support the women and the children. Michael Moore was on the spot to explain and give his opinion on a matter that is very sensitive to a country that is stable economically and the population that is very critical and sensitive to matters that affect their livelihood and their politics. Michael Moore stated categorically of his intentions and the statements seemed to make the interviewer engage him more for the people to get a glimpse of what the interview was about. The feelings of Paxman were vividly seen when he talked he asked Moore the question of how he felt that the campaign could affect the elections. Moore selected his words well when answering the questions because he was not just speaking to himself but to the people of America via television. An observation was also made when Michael feelings were expressed and considered by Paxman at some point during the interview (Callow and Kathleen 1974, p 45) In addition, the campaign that Michael Moore was not well stated because during the interview and what he was talking about, one I realized that most people could not take him with a lot of seriousness since what he was talking about was not possible .Many people value an election in their country and nothing can stop an election which people rely on for the stability of their country. Paxman was critical about Michael Moore’s statements thus making him have a hard time explaining his reasons for the campaign in the 21st century. The interview was successful because the interviewer did not at any point allow the interviewee to take his place. He was in control until the end and the required information was conveyed to the people around the world and especially the United States of America. Interactional Activities Featuring in the Interview Whenever, people engage in social activities, they often make assessments to the extent that the two entreprises are closely related (Pomerantz 1984, p57). A sustained description and analysis of the interactional activities that feature in the interview between Michael Moore and Paxman has been drawn on a framework on conversation analysis. This framework has seen that the interactional activities act as implicit commentary on the questions that are asked during the interview. The activities also play the role of providing a relevant context that will facilitate a responsive next action. The roles of the activities are relevant depending on varying degrees as well as specific features found in the interactional context. The activities are identified as methods applied by interviewees during interviews to offer responses to questions which they do not have appropriate answers to (Silverman, 2006, p 226). The interviewee may be too controlled and calculated to offer an appropriate answer at that specific moment. He may just laugh to avoid being misunderstood and misinterpreted by the viewers. An analysis of interactional activities applied in the interview between Michael Moore and Paxman will be provided with the main aim of showing how the activities can be interpreted to provide an understanding of the actions they try to portray. Interviews have a turn- taking system which tends to allocate turns to speakers so that the main roles of an interviewer and interviewee are restricted to asking and answering questions, respectively. (Greatbatch, 1988 p 401). In interviews, most interviewers tend to ask questions that are incriminating, unflattering or may even be hostile in nature. If the interviewee answers the questions straightforwardly, he may inflict great damage on his policy objectives, personal reputation as well as career prospects. An interaction activity that has been employed by Michael Moore when answering some questions asked by Paxman is coming up with some form of qualified response through a smile voice. This action was seen to diminish the seriousness of a question and it also displayed disagreement with a certain issue that has been raised during the interview. Disagreements in most cases were doubts or negative remarks about abilities of Moore. Michael Moore also implies more non- vocal forms of embodied actions such as facial expressions and nods that showed his dissatisfaction with a certain issue. Michael Moore’s actions can be identified to be such salient features of the interview with Paxman. During the interview, Paxman talks about issues which are believed to be the main aspects that Michael Moore aims at creating in the nation in order to provide important information to the overhearing audience. In naturally occurring interactions like in interviews, there are various types of interaction and social activity that may involve linguistic anthropologists who play the role of documenting events of speech that arise in a community (Heritage, 1985 p 100). Interactional activities have been used during the interview to deliver strategies that invite the collaboration of observers. There was a strong orientation in the way Paxman asked questions as well as they way Michael Moore responded. In some cases they talked defectively while in other cases they appeared to be defensive. The discourse of the interview has been constructed jointly by both Paxman and Michael Moore. Questions and responses have been formulated, developed and shaped according to the discourse of the interview. Interactional activities employed enabled the observer to develop an adequate understanding of the interview. The activities also show how Paxman has reformulated the questions to fit into the agenda of the interview and how Michael Moore frames his responses based on his reciprocal understanding. This has enabled more meanings to develop during the analysis. More open-ended questions are used in the interview as well as very few interruptions of accounts and this gives both Paxman and Moore adequate time to express their views. Michael Moore also made use of his own linguistic formulations to encourage elaborations of the main agenda about politics as well as healthcare. Paxman has used narrative devices to encourage elaboration and this prompted story like formulation where Moore talked more about his work and efforts he would put in place to ensure his objectives were achieved. This interview therefore empowered Michael Moore to tell his own stories and he is perceived as a subject who owns his own responses since his voice has articulated his views authentically. This interview can therefore be said to be interactively co- operative rather than interactively controlled and directed since the conversation has been empowered and equalized. Verbal prefaces have been used during the interview to signal instances of shifts in subjectivity. Various speech acts have been used that show shifts in ideas. Verbal prefaces have been used in instances where Michael Moore was didactic in giving his opinion to some topic positions. A good example is seen in cases where he gives phrases such as “Let me explain what I mean......” Such phrases are identified as skilful tactics in cases where an interviewee wants to convey an important and persistent issue regarding the subject of the interview. This phrase enabled Moore to give a detailed description of what he believes are the important factors that will bring about the necessary changes in the society’s systems. Negotiated interaction has been used in this interview to bring about exchanges in the conversations that arise when Paxman and Michael Moore make efforts in trying to understand each other. They have made use of clarification and comprehension checks so as to ensure no one is misunderstood or that the wrong information is passed across to the audience. This process is also seen to play a great role is enhancing understanding of the audience as they are able to process the information in the right way. Audience also become conscious in noticing the attitudes of both the interviewer ad interviewee and this is an important aspect required to convert their input into intake (Kumaravadivelu, 2006 p 66). In the context of this interview, interaction has been used as an interpersonal as well as ideational activity. It is seen as a coherent spoken text that enables the audience to understand the messages as they are intended. The interview has had a main focus on conversational signals. The interview has also enabled participants to maintain a social relationship and personal encounters and the outcomes of this effect are measured according to the personal rapport that has been created in the interview setting. The interview has enabled the respondent to express his own identity based on what he wants to achieve. Interactional activities that have been used during the interview can therefore be said to have had positive impacts as they promoted chances of mutual understanding between Michael Moore and Paxman and also minimized chances of communication breakdown. These activities have solved communication difficulties as they assist in making messages to be comprehensive. Participants were also able to form meaningful relationships through effective interaction. References Brown, R. Gillian, B. & George, Y., 1983, Discourse analysis, Cambrigde University Press, Cambrige. Callow, L. & Kathleen, P., 1974, Discourse considerations in translating the word of God, Zondervan, GrandRapids Chafe, P. & Wallace, L., 1976, Giveness, contrastiveness, definitiveness, subjects, topics, and point of view. Academic Press, New York. Ford, L., 2011, Women and Politics: The Pursuit of Equality, Houghton Mifflin, Boston. 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