I found Michael Moore's latest film, Fahrenheit 9/11, to be surprising, moving and funny; overall very well done. There was a little too much 'name-calling' type humor for my taste, and I found my thinking less provoked than his prior film, 'Bowling for Columbine.' I also thought it exploitative to use a distraught Lila Lipscomb crying for her son killed in Iraq, but such dramas are what makes for engaging and eye-opening cinema. Criticisms of his film aside, I'd like to put things into perspective. Michael Moore has made himself into a genuine American working class hero, without help from rich relatives, or a willing corporate elite. Tough, very tough to do these days. He is caught in a no-win media gambit: he wants to reach a wide audience with shocking revelations of widespread corruption, deceit and lies, yet he knows to reach more folks, he needs to be more entertaining to bring folks into the theater. Judging from the incredible success of his last two films and every book he writes, I'd have to say he has a winning formula. His films, I believe, are all about teaching us-by example-that average folks can make a difference in the world. Just get your nerve up and do something. You don't have to be an expert. And this last piece of 'advice' I've gotten by his example we would be wise to take to heart: It's our country, our democracy to give away or take back! The choice is up to each one of us.
It appears too many of us are too quick to judge his pandering, impolite, confrontational style. If you think about it, a polite and subdued populace is very much in the interests of the status quo. That's not to say we should all go out into the streets and start burning cars and trash cans like the anarchists at the Seattle WTO protests of '99. But there is a definite role for a personality like Michael Moore. He represents, in my mind, a courageous tiger speaking out for those without voice and defending their interests. Dangerous by any measure from the perspective of the right wing and their apologists!
What I also appreciate so much about Mr. Moore is that he knows what it takes to BOTH entertain and challenge. And by challenge I mean both the public's minds and the status quo. And here is where the courage comes in. He's not afraid to be wrong. That's anathema to the middle-class instinct (I include myself) towards waiting until we have all the facts and waiting until the appropriate number of experts have given us permission to act. Democracy lives and breathes by our enthusiastic involvement and cannot wait for marginal voter turnout every four years. I will also say that outrage has so few outlets in our society and especially our tightly-controlled media. As the bumper sticker says, 'If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.' Michael Moore is paying attention and he deserves our thanks for the role he plays in kicking some ass.
It appears too many of us are too quick to judge his pandering, impolite, confrontational style. If you think about it, a polite and subdued populace is very much in the interests of the status quo. That's not to say we should all go out into the streets and start burning cars and trash cans like the anarchists at the Seattle WTO protests of '99. But there is a definite role for a personality like Michael Moore. He represents, in my mind, a courageous tiger speaking out for those without voice and defending their interests. Dangerous by any measure from the perspective of the right wing and their apologists!
What I also appreciate so much about Mr. Moore is that he knows what it takes to BOTH entertain and challenge. And by challenge I mean both the public's minds and the status quo. And here is where the courage comes in. He's not afraid to be wrong. That's anathema to the middle-class instinct (I include myself) towards waiting until we have all the facts and waiting until the appropriate number of experts have given us permission to act. Democracy lives and breathes by our enthusiastic involvement and cannot wait for marginal voter turnout every four years. I will also say that outrage has so few outlets in our society and especially our tightly-controlled media. As the bumper sticker says, 'If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.' Michael Moore is paying attention and he deserves our thanks for the role he plays in kicking some ass.
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