But what we wanted to know was more pointed: Which of the big names of the financial crisis does Moore pin as the baddest of the bad guys? Was it AIG with its $150 billion in bailout funds? Or Countrywide, the poster company for subprime mortgages? Or by default, Lehman Brothers, for failing to sell itself and becoming the first domino to fall?
To find out, we headed for the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on Manhattan’s Upper West Side with pen and pad in hand. Our mission, admittedly unscientific, was to clock mentions of each company during the two hours seven minute running time of the film. Armed with those tallies, we could rank the villains of Moore’s world by mention.
Though the filmmaker fashions himself the voice of populist rage, he gives a lot of slack to some of the collapse’s headliners. Chrysler, which sucked up more than $14 million in TARP funds, gets off scot-free. Washington Mutual, widely blamed for the subprime crisis, comes up only once. The firms Merrill Lynch,Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase are referenced only in the most mundane of contexts. Ditto Fannie Mae, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. Even AIG and its spa-loving executives look pretty good, with a scant five mentions.
So who does Moore finger as public enemy No. 1? Hands down, it’s Goldman Sachs, with 18 tallies. Many of those mentions are lobbed at former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a former Goldman CEO, and his Goldman-turned-government colleagues. Close behind is Citigroup, tallying 15 mentions, and blasted for encouraging oppression of middle and lower-income Americans. General Motors comes in a distant third. (Moore was unavailable for comment; the financial institutions with the most mentions either declined or were also unavailable for comment.)
How did the rest of the players do? Check our full scorecard.
Goldman Sachs
Mentions in Film: 18
TARP Funds/Fate: $10 billion, repaid
Comment: Easily the top villain in Moore’s world.
Citigroup
Mentions in Film: 15
TARP Funds/Fate: $50 billion, outstanding
Comment: Nabs No. 2 spot for an internal 2006 memo Moore says celebrates wealth.
General Motors
Mentions in Film: 11
TARP Funds/Fate: $50 billion, outstanding
Comment: Moore cut his teeth lambasting GM in “Roger and Me.” He comes down hard on the car maker here but lets Chrysler off without a single mention.
Bank of America
Mentions in Film: 7
TARP Funds/Fate: $45 billion, outstanding
Comment: Even though Moore mentions BofA often, he doesn’t dive deep.
Countrywide
Mentions in Film: 6
TARP Funds/Fate: bought by BofA
Comment: The company gets a lengthy segment on then-CEO Angelo Mozilo’s VIP loans and it allows Moore to come down on Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, who received one of the loans.
AIG
Mentions in Film: 5
TARP Funds/Fate: $69.8 billion, outstanding
Comment: There is news footage of firm headquarters around the time of the collapse, but not much else. Moore also runs reports of the infamous spa retreat paid for with bailout funds.
Merrill Lynch
Mentions in Film: 3
TARP Funds/Fate: bought by BofA
Comment: Two of the three mentions of Merrill are in historical context, having nothing to do with the economic meltdown.
Lehman Brothers
Mentions in Film: 2
TARP Funds/Fate: defunct
Comment: Moore barely mentions the firm.
Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac
Mentions in Film: 2
TARP Funds/Fate: $85 billion (direct aid, not TARP loan)
Comment: The mortgage giants come up only in passing.
Bear Stearns
Mentions in Film: 1
TARP Funds/Fate: bought by JP Morgan
Comment: The first institution to fall, Bear barely shows up in the film.
Washington Mutual
Mentions in Film: 1
TARP Funds/Fate: bought by JP Morgan
Comment: Even though WaMu is largely blamed for the subprime mortgage crisis, Moore spends little time on them.
JP Morgan Chase
Mentions in Film: 1
TARP Funds/Fate: $25 billion, repaid
Comment: Just mundane mentions.
Wells Fargo
Mentions in Film: 1
TARP Funds/Fate: $25 billion, outstanding
Comment: Very little screen time.
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