I think I’ve just about had it with Morgan Spurlock. Bad enough that his new movie Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? is a lame ass joke, assured of rocketing him to irrelevance. But now with the film about to be released surrounded by bad critical buzz and disappointment he’s lining up excuses for when it fails. His plan? Blame all of you.
Spurlock went on Late Night with Conan O’Brien tonight to promote the soon to be released movie, and Conan’s first question was of course, whether he actually found Osama. Spurlock’s answer was to launch into a blame game, in which he acted as if he had no idea where anyone had gotten this crazy idea, and to pretend as if he had no idea why all these obviously stupid people were spreading it. He did at least, finally, confirm what we all now know, that he didn’t find bin Laden, but not before acting shocked that audiences are disappointed when they find out Osama isn’t in the movie. “I’m the one they get mad at!” He proclaimed incredulously.
Um, Morgan? If anyone is to blame for those rumors that you found Osama it’s you. It started late last year when his director of photography told everyone that Morgan had “definitely got the holy grail.” Morgan could have ended the whole thing right there by coming out and correcting this. He didn’t. Instead when asked whether Osama was in the movie Morgan played coy. Even after the film premiered at Sundance and we broke the news here that not only was Osama not in the movie, but Morgan wasn’t really even trying to find him; Spurlock continued to play coy. A few weeks ago I passed him on the street in Austin at SXSW, and fans clustered in line nearby shouted out, “Hey Morgan did you find Osama?” Morgan’s response? He shouted back “He’s in the final reel!”
The truth is Spurlock has gleefully cultivated this rumor for months, and the folks marketing his film have been only too happy to run with it as a marketing gimmick. Now his movie is getting bad reviews, it seems like it may be headed for a box office flop, and he’s looking for a ready-made scapegoat. I can see it now: It’s not his fault! It’s those nasty people on the internet spreading lies about his film who kept people from seeing his movie! Sorry Morgan, this one’s on you. Maybe audiences would be inclined to be more forgiving of your ill-conceived marketing gimmick if they actually believed you’d set out to find him in the first place. Instead you’ve made a lame, upside-down knockoff of Borat.
