Mike Bonanno, left, and Andy Bichlbaum are the Yes Men. Bonanno will be at The Senator Theatre March 19 for a screening of "The Yes Men Fix the World." (Photo courtesy HBO / July 24, 2009) |
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The Yes Men lie for a living. And if their methods seem unorthodox - impersonating corporate or government spokesmen and making policy announcements that turn out to be nothing more than wishful thinking - they believe firmly that their ends justify their means.
"There are good lies and there are bad lies," explains Mike Bonanno, 42. "The classic example is that guy Schindler, who was a terrible liar, and they made a movie about him. The guy lied about Jews and hid them. Who's going to argue whether he was right to do that?"
Bonanno's point might be extreme; neither he nor his fellow Yes Man, Andy Bichlbaum, really sees himself as a modern-day Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist who saved some 1,200 Jews from the Holocaust by "employing" them in his munitions factory. But the Yes Men do believe they lie for a good cause - bringing to light corporate and government practices that prey on the less fortunate and violate the public trust.
"We always try to, when we tell our lies, tell them in a way that reveals a truth and helps people who are disenfranchised," says Bonanno, who will be at the Senator Theatre at 7 tonight for "The Yes Men Fix the World," their second film and the first they've directed themselves. "We, in a way, act as publicists for issues that are important to us."
In "The Yes Men Fix the World," Bonanno and Bichlbaum (whose real names are Igor Vamos and Jacques Servin, respectively) pose as spokesmen for Dow Chemical, going on the BBC and announcing that the company was taking responsibility for the 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India, that killed as many as 20,000 people, and offering billions of dollars in compensation. Dow stock fell about 3.5 percent in the half-hour or so before the hoax became apparent.
The two also pose as Exxon executives at a major conference pushing a plan to convert human remains into energy (they bring candles that smell like burning flesh to help illustrate their point), as FEMA officials announcing plans to let low-income residents of New Orleans back into housing declared off-limits since Hurricane Katrina (as the city's mayor and the governor of Louisiana listen attentively) and as Halliburton executives pushing inflatable suits designed to help people survive Armageddon and repopulate the Earth.
The two have been working together for about 10 years, though their penchant for mischief goes back even further. Bonanno was involved with the " Barbie Liberation Organization," which in 1993 stuck unauthorized voice boxes in talking Barbie and G.I. Joe dolls (Joe would say "I love to shop with you," he says, while Barbie would ominously intone, "Dead men tell no lies"). Bichlbaum once coded the SimCopter video game to include scenes of men kissing one another.
The Yes Men's hoaxes rarely last long, but they achieve the ends Bonanno says he and Bichlbaum are after. "Pretty much everything we do is in concert with an activist organization that has an ongoing campaign that they really need more interest in and attention for."
In Baltimore, Bonanno will be appearing at the Senator alongside Margaret Flowers, chair of the Maryland chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program. "We certainly would be glad to work with them if they would like to help us," she says.
Of course, lying can work both ways. Witness the ruse that tripped up ACORN, when two people dressed as a pimp and a prostitute used a hidden camera to record their visit to a Baltimore office of the group. The film, in which the pair are offered advice on, among other subjects, how to evade paying taxes, led Congress to withdraw funding for the voting-rights advocacy group.
Bonanno, who says his day job is teaching media arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, understands the comparison but sees a clear difference between his goals and those of the conservatives who targeted ACORN.
"I just find it pathetic when somebody tries to use these techniques to steal from the poor and give to the rich," he says. "There's a reason that Robin Hood is considered a hero - it's because of who they were stealing from and giving to. It's not because they were going around and stealing from the poor, stealing from people who were giving to the poor, and giving to the rich."
"There are good lies and there are bad lies," explains Mike Bonanno, 42. "The classic example is that guy Schindler, who was a terrible liar, and they made a movie about him. The guy lied about Jews and hid them. Who's going to argue whether he was right to do that?"
Bonanno's point might be extreme; neither he nor his fellow Yes Man, Andy Bichlbaum, really sees himself as a modern-day Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist who saved some 1,200 Jews from the Holocaust by "employing" them in his munitions factory. But the Yes Men do believe they lie for a good cause - bringing to light corporate and government practices that prey on the less fortunate and violate the public trust.
"We always try to, when we tell our lies, tell them in a way that reveals a truth and helps people who are disenfranchised," says Bonanno, who will be at the Senator Theatre at 7 tonight for "The Yes Men Fix the World," their second film and the first they've directed themselves. "We, in a way, act as publicists for issues that are important to us."
In "The Yes Men Fix the World," Bonanno and Bichlbaum (whose real names are Igor Vamos and Jacques Servin, respectively) pose as spokesmen for Dow Chemical, going on the BBC and announcing that the company was taking responsibility for the 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India, that killed as many as 20,000 people, and offering billions of dollars in compensation. Dow stock fell about 3.5 percent in the half-hour or so before the hoax became apparent.
The two also pose as Exxon executives at a major conference pushing a plan to convert human remains into energy (they bring candles that smell like burning flesh to help illustrate their point), as FEMA officials announcing plans to let low-income residents of New Orleans back into housing declared off-limits since Hurricane Katrina (as the city's mayor and the governor of Louisiana listen attentively) and as Halliburton executives pushing inflatable suits designed to help people survive Armageddon and repopulate the Earth.
The two have been working together for about 10 years, though their penchant for mischief goes back even further. Bonanno was involved with the " Barbie Liberation Organization," which in 1993 stuck unauthorized voice boxes in talking Barbie and G.I. Joe dolls (Joe would say "I love to shop with you," he says, while Barbie would ominously intone, "Dead men tell no lies"). Bichlbaum once coded the SimCopter video game to include scenes of men kissing one another.
The Yes Men's hoaxes rarely last long, but they achieve the ends Bonanno says he and Bichlbaum are after. "Pretty much everything we do is in concert with an activist organization that has an ongoing campaign that they really need more interest in and attention for."
In Baltimore, Bonanno will be appearing at the Senator alongside Margaret Flowers, chair of the Maryland chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program. "We certainly would be glad to work with them if they would like to help us," she says.
Of course, lying can work both ways. Witness the ruse that tripped up ACORN, when two people dressed as a pimp and a prostitute used a hidden camera to record their visit to a Baltimore office of the group. The film, in which the pair are offered advice on, among other subjects, how to evade paying taxes, led Congress to withdraw funding for the voting-rights advocacy group.
Bonanno, who says his day job is teaching media arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, understands the comparison but sees a clear difference between his goals and those of the conservatives who targeted ACORN.
"I just find it pathetic when somebody tries to use these techniques to steal from the poor and give to the rich," he says. "There's a reason that Robin Hood is considered a hero - it's because of who they were stealing from and giving to. It's not because they were going around and stealing from the poor, stealing from people who were giving to the poor, and giving to the rich."
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