Most people would use picket signs to protest the World Trade Organization.
A couple of guys who call themselves the Yes Men, had a different plan.
They set up a faux WTO Web site, and when people started believing it was the real thing, the Yes Men went along with it.
Filmmakers Dan Ollman, Sarah Price and Chris Smith, the team behind "American Movie," have come out with yet another documentary, "The Yes Men," about the lives of not-so-famous but noteworthy Americans.
Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are anti-corporate activists from the East Village who go around the world impersonating members of the WTO at international conferences and on television. Picture a couple of low-key Tom Green characters with a political edge, and you've got the Yes Men.
Bichlbaum and Bonanno prove you can feed the public anything as long as it's from a "respected" source such as the WTO, when they make an appearance at a trade conference called "Textiles of the Future" in Tampere, Finland. They begin with a blatantly racist speech about how the Civil War was a waste of resources, because it was Americans fighting Americans and how slavery would have eventually been abolished without the war.
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They end the presentation by giving a demonstration of an absurd gold suit with a monitor on a phallic extension so corporate executives can watch Third World employees work while enjoying leisure activities. In an interview after the presentation, Bichlbaum, still in his gold suit, asks, "What can't corporations get away with?"
In another presentation, the Yes Men take it a little too far by explaining how the WTO will help end world hunger by recycling hamburgers from McDonalds. They explain 90 percent of the nutrients are preserved in human waste, therefore suitable to pass on to other countries. They show a comical, yet disturbing animation to compliment the speech.
The audience, an economics class from Plattsburgh University, is not as convinced as the Finns and throws plastic globes at the duo. It's clear the Yes Men are presenting a clever metaphor for the way they think the WTO treats members of the Third World - like poop.
Academy-award documentary filmmaker Michael Moore makes a brief appearance in the film. He talks about a village in Mexico that received no benefits from globalization though they were promised.
While "The Yes Men" is without a doubt an entertaining and hilarious spoof on oversized corporations, it lacks information that would have made it a well-rounded documentary. The film spends a lot of time on the men preparing for their presentations, which could have been used to give more background information on how the WTO works.
While "The Yes Men" is meant to be a gritty, guerilla look at political pranksters, it seems a bit disorganized. The audience is left with no explanation on how these guys get away with what they do or how they make a living off it.
If you've ever questioned the actions of big corporations, "The Yes Men," will squeeze out some laughs and keep you highly amused for an hour and a half. Just don't expect anything life altering.
"The Yes Men"
The Guild Cinema
3405 Central Ave.
Thursday through Saturday at 3:30, 5:30, and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday through Wednesday at 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, and 9:15 p.m.
255-1848
