Sunday, March 18, 2012
In Defence of Mike Daisey Over Apple and Foxconn
Forbes: Which is where my defence comes in: I think it’s just fine to manipulate an audience, to tell them half truths, even to make up events entirely in order to get at those emotions. No one really thinks that Romeo and Juliet went down just like Shakespeare said (nor even the Leonard Bernstein or Mark Knopfler versions) but we’ve been queueing up for centuries to be so lied to. Even when The Bard was obviously correct as to the righteous course of action (“First, we kill all the lawyers” has always appeared pretty sound to me) we know that it’s something said by a character to contribute to the overall truthiness of the entire experience.
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So I opened this article because I commented in favor of the opposition (Apple) so I thought I would read the defense. Reading this, I am not convinced.
Daisey says he wants to connect us to "our gorgeous devices and the brutal circumstances from which they emerge." Isn't this whole debate about how Daisey lied about the brutality? Also, claiming that because you are a theatrical venture you do not adhere to the same guidelines of journalism is a load of crap. If you are doing a biographical or fact-based piece, you should give the truth. Yes, Apple products are made in China (everything says "Designed by Apple in California. Made in China."). Being proud of creating something that mis-informs does not speak highly for Daisey's character.
And no, Romeo and Juliet may not have been exactly like the play, but that is probably because Romeo and Juliet never existed. They are fictional characters. And yes, a character, who is entirely fictional, said, "Kill the lawyers." A Person, who is entirely non-fictional, created Apple and a corporation, which is also entirely non-fictional, produced a product, which also exists. If there is not a way to evoke the emotions without lying, you are presenting Apple wrong, because there are a lot of people who are emotionally connected to the company and it's products based on the truth.
If Daisey's goal was to connect a consumer product to it's brutal production conditions, he should have picked a product that is actually produced in brutal conditions.
#rant
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