You can catch the Yes Men tonight for a screening and Q&A at the First Person Festival. Check back tomorrow for more on the fest, which runs through Sunday.
‘The Yes Men Fix the World’
Tonight, 8:30-10:30
The Painted Bride
230 Vine St., $15-$20
www.firstpersonarts.org
Considering his line of work, it’s amazing that Mike Bonanno has any sense of humor left. As one half of the duo known as the Yes Men, he infiltrates business conferences and free market think tanks, posing as one of the money hungry gang along with partner-in-possible-crime Andy Bichlbaum.
It’s bleaker than Michael Moore prepped you for: Attendees want to buy his “Acceptable Risk Calculator” so they, too, can figure out how many people it’s OK to kill while making a buck; they reason global warming will prevent cold-related deaths; they want his outrageously expensive, exploitative “Survivaball” suit for when the world falls apart and/or melts.
But surprisingly, Bonanno hasn’t given up on humanity, and the new documentary of their adventures, “The Yes Men Fix the World,” manages to be hilarious.
“Most people aren’t evil. History has proven that people are willing to accept strange directives from people in positions of authority,” says Bonanno of what is dubbed “free market Kool-Aid” in the film.
“Human nature is beautiful, but we need to be aware that we’re capable of enforcing very bad ideas.
At the same time, we’re capable of getting excited about good ideas.”