His original claim to fame was a film called "Roger and me". He's from a small town whose main industry was a General Motors plant, it was pretty hammered when they closed down the plant and laid everybody off. Moore's documentary/entertainment piece was loosely centered around Moore trying (and failing) to get an interview with the CEO of GM at the time, while showing the effects of relocating the factory to Mexico (evictions, crime, local economic depression). He's big on corporate responsibility to the people, and tends to favor legislative solutions for same, which is surely at least part of the reason libs don't like him. He's also known to play loose with the facts to sensationalize a story. Basically he's sort of a lefty democrat/green, leaning towards socialism. Personally, I think he's got a fairly good handle on a lot of the problems and inequalities of the US, but his solutions are generally less than ideal. But then that's how I feel about most of the greens and such anyway.
Michael Moore is a documentary filmmaker and best-selling author. His most recent feature film, Bowling for Columbine, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, examines the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, as a touchstone for examining the relationship between American culture, violence, and firearms.
Many people have misinterpreted Bowling for Columbine as an anti-gun film, but Moore, a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, actually goes out of his way to state that guns, per se, are not the problem. He points out, for example, that Canada, which has approximately the same rate of firearm ownership as the U.S., has a much lower rate of gun violence.
Moore (rightly, in my opinion) lays the blame for American gun violence on the climate of fear fostered by American corporate news media. Success in American television news means drawing the biggest audience, and the proven means of doing that is to broadcast the most sensational news possible, which is often the most violent news of the day. For example, as Moore points out, while violent crime has been on the decline in the U.S. for the past 30 years, homicide coverage on network news increased 473% from 1990 to 1998.
Right now, Moore is widely hated by the smaller-brained type of patriots because he dared to condemn George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq in his Oscar acceptance speech. These flag-waving pinheads demonstrate their closet monarchist tendencies by knee-jerk condemnation of anyone who chooses to use their right of free speech to criticize those currently in power. (Pardon me, but I thought that was what free speech is for.)
These are usually the same kind of intellectually-challenged sheep who think being a libertarian requires undiluted support for the doctrine of corporate personhood – the notion that corporations are "artificial persons" with rights comparable to those of a human being, even though corporations are creatures of the State, endowed with privileges like immortality and limited liability that are unavailable to humans – and thus believe that any criticism of the unchecked concentration of wealth and political power in the hands of these statist Frankenstein monsters is tantamount to condemnation of the capitalism, the free market, and individual liberty.
Moore is indisputably an asshole – smug, self-satisfied, self-righteous, and not above exaggerating the truth in the service of his message. As is well-documented, his books and films are full of inaccuracies and misstatements of fact. But I consider him a patriot, a lover of liberty (individual liberty), and a far better example of true Americanism than the goose-stepping toadies who are bulldozing Dixie Chicks CDs.
"Fascism should more properly be called Corporatism, because it is the merger of State and Corporate power." &8211; Benito Mussolini... who should know.
Michael Moore deserves most of the bashing he gets from libertarians - he is a 1930s era socialist.
However, I like most of his work. In addition to the film Roger and Me, he also had a TV show in the mid-90s called TV Nation, which I consider to be one of the wittiest TV shows of the decade. Check it out if you get a chance - maybe there is an AVI for download someplace...
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Date: 2003-05-16 05:15 pm (UTC)An admittedly opinionated reply...
Date: 2003-05-16 05:26 pm (UTC)Many people have misinterpreted Bowling for Columbine as an anti-gun film, but Moore, a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, actually goes out of his way to state that guns, per se, are not the problem. He points out, for example, that Canada, which has approximately the same rate of firearm ownership as the U.S., has a much lower rate of gun violence.
Moore (rightly, in my opinion) lays the blame for American gun violence on the climate of fear fostered by American corporate news media. Success in American television news means drawing the biggest audience, and the proven means of doing that is to broadcast the most sensational news possible, which is often the most violent news of the day. For example, as Moore points out, while violent crime has been on the decline in the U.S. for the past 30 years, homicide coverage on network news increased 473% from 1990 to 1998.
Right now, Moore is widely hated by the smaller-brained type of patriots because he dared to condemn George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq in his Oscar acceptance speech. These flag-waving pinheads demonstrate their closet monarchist tendencies by knee-jerk condemnation of anyone who chooses to use their right of free speech to criticize those currently in power. (Pardon me, but I thought that was what free speech is for.)
These are usually the same kind of intellectually-challenged sheep who think being a libertarian requires undiluted support for the doctrine of corporate personhood – the notion that corporations are "artificial persons" with rights comparable to those of a human being, even though corporations are creatures of the State, endowed with privileges like immortality and limited liability that are unavailable to humans – and thus believe that any criticism of the unchecked concentration of wealth and political power in the hands of these statist Frankenstein monsters is tantamount to condemnation of the capitalism, the free market, and individual liberty.
Moore is indisputably an asshole – smug, self-satisfied, self-righteous, and not above exaggerating the truth in the service of his message. As is well-documented, his books and films are full of inaccuracies and misstatements of fact. But I consider him a patriot, a lover of liberty (individual liberty), and a far better example of true Americanism than the goose-stepping toadies who are bulldozing Dixie Chicks CDs.
Re: An admittedly opinionated reply...
Date: 2003-05-16 10:50 pm (UTC)Michael Moore
Date: 2003-05-16 07:59 pm (UTC)However, I like most of his work. In addition to the film Roger and Me, he also had a TV show in the mid-90s called TV Nation, which I consider to be one of the wittiest TV shows of the decade. Check it out if you get a chance - maybe there is an AVI for download someplace...