Yes Men

Yes Men is a film that gives the audience a glimpse at the satirical exploits of the Yes Men, and the preparatory measures taken to ensure their message is conveyed, by conventional means or not (and most often the latter). In performing their charades, the Yes Men successfully manipulate the media into sending their anti-World Trade Organization protests across to the masses in a witty fashion. There are scenes in the beginning used to foreshadow later events in the movie, butYes Men is, for the most part, in chronological order. I didn't think that having the events in chronological order was necessary to convey the film's essence, but I did find the Australian conference concerning the WTO's "dissolution" to be a very effective conclusion. It conveyed a sense of hope in regards to the fate of the world's economic condition.

Yes Men was an expository documentary. Although physically it was told through the exploits of a small group of men opposed to the immoral actions of the WTO, ultimately the film gives a voice to the millions of people in the world who live in extreme poverty and are taken advantage of by the WTO and other big western corporations. Aside from the Yes Men giving commentary on their next upcoming scheme, or discussing (and frowning upon) the WTO, dialogue also come in the form of their satirical conferences as they represent the WTO. Although it was an expository documentary, Yes Men has the trappings of a reflexive documentary. Although it was live and not on film, the Yes Men adapted traits of reflexive documentary to their pranks, being in control of basically everything going on there and then. The Yes Men changed their names to pose as members of the WTO, Mr. Unruh being one of these aliases, as well as created a false website to draw potential conference audiences in. Archival footage was used to show the news channel event where the WTO were represented by an oblivious, self-righteous moron.

The film had many strengths, however one of them that stood out most to me was the way that the Yes Men managed use everything they could for their film. In any instance of filming, there will be setbacks and complications in filming. However, the Yes Men managed to turn many of these mishaps into great scenes and sequences. Showing the audience their disappointments helped to achieve an interactive feel for the documentary. A scene that I found to be intriguing was the lecture at the university. Unlike the older audiences the Yes Men had in their earlier conferences, the university students were not timid in voicing what they thought was twisted or immoral of the WTO. It shows that there are people who strongly oppose the unethical actions of huge corporations, shedding a bit of hope on the otherwise grim topic. Another scene that appealed to me was at the end of the film, when the Yes Men declared the WTO's "disbanding". Although it was false, it managed to provoke thought into the people in attendance (and the audience), as well as serve as an effective conclusion to the film.

The Yes Men, aside from undermining the exploits of huge corporations like the WTO, tell us that it isn't truly necessary to hold economical or political power in order to make a change or provoke thought in regards to any issue, local or global. The Yes Men had managed to seep their way into the media, from articles praising their endeavours to newscasts exposing WTO representatives as selfish and without empathy. The Yes Men are now a faction spread worldwide, with an agenda to address economic and political wrongdoings and bring them to light. Any way they do it, orthodox or otherwise, the Yes Men bring awareness to the injustices that come with capitalism and government corruption. Although they may not have shocked people with their leisure suit, or brought the World Trade Organization to its knees on their own, they managed to make many issues known. In this aspect, the Yes Men have already won.