My plea to Michael Moore - Open your eyes to the BIG picture
Once upon a time, I was a big Michael Moore fan. Truth be told, I'm still a supporter of his, and admire his work greatly. I believe wholeheartedly that the messages of his films are important, and that they need to be told. Now, that having been said, I can also admit that the man clearly has an agenda, and that his films are unfortunately the vehicles by which he has chosen to promote those liberal ideals. Michael Moore is politically motivated. Plain and simple. This isn't an indictment, just an observation. The underlying message of his films is that conservative ideologies, and hence the Republican agenda are primarily to blame for the tragedies he has seen fit to highlight on screen. Please don't get me wrong though. After wading through a total of 12 years in the Bush leagues, I'm ready for "change" as much as the next guy. I agree that Bushes Sr. & Jr. have probably done more irreparable harm to our once-great nation than any other Presidential dynasty in history. Not that the Democrats didn't fumble their fair share of possessions too, and appear to be gearing up for more of the same shenanigans in '08.
Once upon a time, I was a Socialist. I believed wholeheartedly that our Government should exist solely to support its citizens, and that in order to do so, it had the right to use whatever power(s) it saw fit to accomplish those ideological goals. I also once wore parachute pants, acid-washed jackets, and believed that Milli Vanilli deserved multiple Grammy awards. Ah to be young and...well...naive?
It was this same socialistic naïveté with which I used to approach Michael Moore's films (and books too). I ignorantly believed that the auto industry in Flint, MI deserved a second chance (Gov't subsidies?), that the NRA was responsible for Columbine (2nd Amendment?), that the Republicans were to blame for 9-11 (Patriot Act?), and most recently that Canada should be running our Healthcare (NAFTA/Socialized Healthcare).
Well, that was then...
Now however, I have to view these messages not through the rose-tinted spectacles of my anti-Republicanism, but through the newly awakened eyes of one no longer blinded by the machinations of Mass Media, bipartisanship, and pharmaceutically induced apathy.
Could it be that Michael Moore's films only touch on the symptoms, and neglect if not outright overlook the underlying roots of those problems? Could it be that he is only shining his investigative light on the very tip of the proverbial iceberg?
To illustrate, let's take a closer look at his three most recent, and notably most commercially successful ventures.
Bowling for Columbine. This film moved me. No doubt about it. It's up their with Schindler's List for me. Allow me to digress with some personal background for a moment. I've lived in Colorado all my life. Native. Born and raised. I lived in Littleton for a few years, dated a girl from Columbine, and when I was teaching privately, at least half of my students attended Columbine in 1999. I remember that day very well. I remember calling the homes of each of my students and anxiously waiting to hear of their fates. Leaving multiple voicemails. I remember the grief and relief of the weeks and months that followed. I truly do "remember" Columbine. When this film was released, I avoided it in theatres. I felt it was too soon. Too commercial. I eventually ended up renting it. I was blown away. It touched an emotional chord. Perhaps because it was so close to home, it resonated with me far more than Roger and Me ever did. How could this happen? In America? I was hooked. I was a Michael Moore fan. And more importantly, I was anti-gun; anti-NRA; heck, anti-Moses! The world was now a different place.
Fahrenheit 9/11. As a child I was, and am still to this day a great fan of science fiction. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 was no exception. September 11, 2001 is one of those days for me, as I'm sure it is for millions of others, where I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when hearing the news. It was a Tuesday. I was actually home sick that day. It was around 7:30 in the morning I guess when I got a call from a friend of mine on my cell phone. She assumed I was at the office. I had just visited New York a few months previously, including her daughter, and she knew I had other friends living and working there as well. She told me that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center Towers. I was stunned. I turned on the TV and didn't have to ask which channel to tune to. It was on EVERY channel. Smoke billowing out over Manhattan like some high-rise terror movie from the 70's. Then, it unbelievably got worse. The second plane hit the second tower. When I was 16 years old, I once witnessed a small single engine plane crash land in a field next to the road I was driving on. No one was injured. I just remember thinking, "wow, there were probably only 5 to 10 other drivers on the road who also witnessed the crash. What are the odds?" Now there were probably 5 to 10 million viewers watching the second jet plow into the second tower. What were the odds? Again, my day was filled with frantic phone calls to my friends (including my future fiancé). Instead of voicemails though, I was more often greeted with either silence or recorded messages from the service providers. Cell phone traffic in & out of NYC had increased exponentially that day and the system was overloaded. I continued dialing. I continued waiting. Gradually, I would get through to someone, or they would call me back (including my future fiancé). Being in the Financial Services industry at the time, I had friends working in the WTC. I had visited there specifically only two months earlier. Four of them from Merrill Lynch didn't make it. The world was now a different place.
Unlike Bowling, I couldn't wait to see Fahrenheit 9-11. While those around me abstained saying, "it's too soon", "it's too commercial", I dragged my future fiancé to one of the first showings we could get to. It played in the smallest theatre in the 24-plex. 24 auditoriums running 16-hours + per day, and we got shuttled into the tiniest one they could find. Seating capacity must've been around 50. I think there were 10 of us in the theatre. In retrospect, I'm thankful. It proved to be a very intimate setting. Once again, I was blown away. How could this happen? In America? The tears flowed then as they did that very day, and as they do still to this day when I stop to remember. I was a Michael Moore disciple. And more importantly, I was anti-Bush, anti-Republican, anti-Muslim. I jumped on board the Nader bandwagon and didn't look back.
Sicko. As I struggled more and more each year to overcome or at least cope with my own declining health and expanding waistline, my research continually led me to more and more "alternative", "natural", and "holistic" methodologies. Ultimately, through the process of attempting to break my own pharmaceutical dependence and unhealthy addictions, I would free myself of not only those oppressive shackles, but of 58 extra pounds as well. I also learned a great deal about the government's role (or lack of) in safeguarding our "health" as American citizens. Not only would I fully realize that it wasn't JUST the Republicans that were the problem, I would also learn that many of the other beliefs I held so dear and true were nothing more than smoke and mirrors. I felt robbed, cheated, conned, betrayed, and yet oddly liberated. I finally felt as if I were seeing the world as it truly was for the very first time. It was a cathartic experience. Truly liberating. This newfound freedom also led me to question many of the other dogmatic suppositions that had been force fed to me over the years. Although guns were the instruments of Columbine, what if they were not truly to blame? Although Terrorists were the instruments of 9-11, what if they were not truly to blame?
Although I looked forward to the release of Sicko, I didn't anticipate it nearly as much as Fahrenheit, nor did I feel as connected to it as I did Bowling. I did eventually go see the film, and was once again moved to emotion at all the right times and was sufficiently outraged for all the right reasons. However this time would be different. For, this time some of that outrage was actually directed at the director himself - Michael Moore. Yes, our healthcare system is a sham. But, socialized medicine such as that offered by Moore's examples of Canada, Great Britain, and even dare I say Cuba are just as replete with their own problems. Same Sh!t, different Dictator. As in his previous films, Michael Moore clearly had a political agenda to advance with the liberal Democratic platform of socialized medicine. This outing was just as anti-Republican as were Fahrenheit and Bowling. Once this realization struck me, I felt saddened and angered. I was sad because on the surface Michael Moore pretends to give us insight into such horrible tragedies, yet angry because he only teases us and taunts us, failing to dig deeper beneath the surface veneer and expose the TRUE injustices behind such travesties.
So, in my deeply humble opinion, Michael Moore has missed the point of his own artistry. He has failed to realize the potential that he himself has laid the groundwork for. He has unknowingly sold out. He is an unwitting pawn.
I will close with these examples to illustrate my point.
Columbine: Instead of focusing so heavily on the gun-control aspect, although granted it makes for great anti-Republican drama, how about looking to the root CAUSE of Columbine? What CAUSED Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to take such drastic measures? What CAUSED them to lose their very humanity? Instead of leaving this an open-ended question, I'll throw you a bone to chew on. Both boys were under Psychiatric care and were taking medications as a result. Where was this info in the film? You be the judge.
Fahrenheit: Instead of focusing so heavily on Bush's (and hence the Republican Party's) ineptitude, although granted it makes for great drama, how about looking to the root CAUSE of 9-11? What CAUSED the alleged Terrorists to take such drastic measures? What CAUSED the blatant string of incompetencies that allowed the attacks to take place? Again, let me toss you something to mull over. WE attacked them FIRST. WE ALLOWED our Government to involve us in illegal and unconstitutional wars FIRST. WE have been guilty of FALSE FLAG acts of domestic terrorism in the past. Where was this info in the film? You be the judge.
Sicko: Instead of focusing so heavily on (again) Bush's (and again - guilty by association - the Republican Party's) ineptitude, although granted it makes for great drama, how about looking to the root CAUSE of our healthcare problems? What CAUSES so many people to get sick? What CAUSES people to need so much "healthcare"? As before, I won't leave you hanging. Our processed, packaged “food” supply has been largely devoid of nutrition for over 60 years. Our answer to illness is toxic, synthetic, unnatural chemicals. Follow the money. Where was this info in the film? You be the judge.
So Michael Moore, my challenge to you is to stop ducking the REAL issues plaguing America. Stop making it about Left vs. Right. Liberal vs. Conservative. Democrats vs. Republicans. You have the talent. You have the ability. You have the potential. I DARE you to make a REAL film that tackles the CAUSALITY of an issue, as opposed to stopping politically short by only addressing the superficial symptoms. You could be a true advocate for the people, if you allow yourself to be.
Once upon a time, I was a Socialist. I believed wholeheartedly that our Government should exist solely to support its citizens, and that in order to do so, it had the right to use whatever power(s) it saw fit to accomplish those ideological goals. I also once wore parachute pants, acid-washed jackets, and believed that Milli Vanilli deserved multiple Grammy awards. Ah to be young and...well...naive?
It was this same socialistic naïveté with which I used to approach Michael Moore's films (and books too). I ignorantly believed that the auto industry in Flint, MI deserved a second chance (Gov't subsidies?), that the NRA was responsible for Columbine (2nd Amendment?), that the Republicans were to blame for 9-11 (Patriot Act?), and most recently that Canada should be running our Healthcare (NAFTA/Socialized Healthcare).
Well, that was then...
Now however, I have to view these messages not through the rose-tinted spectacles of my anti-Republicanism, but through the newly awakened eyes of one no longer blinded by the machinations of Mass Media, bipartisanship, and pharmaceutically induced apathy.
Could it be that Michael Moore's films only touch on the symptoms, and neglect if not outright overlook the underlying roots of those problems? Could it be that he is only shining his investigative light on the very tip of the proverbial iceberg?
To illustrate, let's take a closer look at his three most recent, and notably most commercially successful ventures.
Bowling for Columbine. This film moved me. No doubt about it. It's up their with Schindler's List for me. Allow me to digress with some personal background for a moment. I've lived in Colorado all my life. Native. Born and raised. I lived in Littleton for a few years, dated a girl from Columbine, and when I was teaching privately, at least half of my students attended Columbine in 1999. I remember that day very well. I remember calling the homes of each of my students and anxiously waiting to hear of their fates. Leaving multiple voicemails. I remember the grief and relief of the weeks and months that followed. I truly do "remember" Columbine. When this film was released, I avoided it in theatres. I felt it was too soon. Too commercial. I eventually ended up renting it. I was blown away. It touched an emotional chord. Perhaps because it was so close to home, it resonated with me far more than Roger and Me ever did. How could this happen? In America? I was hooked. I was a Michael Moore fan. And more importantly, I was anti-gun; anti-NRA; heck, anti-Moses! The world was now a different place.
Fahrenheit 9/11. As a child I was, and am still to this day a great fan of science fiction. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 was no exception. September 11, 2001 is one of those days for me, as I'm sure it is for millions of others, where I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when hearing the news. It was a Tuesday. I was actually home sick that day. It was around 7:30 in the morning I guess when I got a call from a friend of mine on my cell phone. She assumed I was at the office. I had just visited New York a few months previously, including her daughter, and she knew I had other friends living and working there as well. She told me that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center Towers. I was stunned. I turned on the TV and didn't have to ask which channel to tune to. It was on EVERY channel. Smoke billowing out over Manhattan like some high-rise terror movie from the 70's. Then, it unbelievably got worse. The second plane hit the second tower. When I was 16 years old, I once witnessed a small single engine plane crash land in a field next to the road I was driving on. No one was injured. I just remember thinking, "wow, there were probably only 5 to 10 other drivers on the road who also witnessed the crash. What are the odds?" Now there were probably 5 to 10 million viewers watching the second jet plow into the second tower. What were the odds? Again, my day was filled with frantic phone calls to my friends (including my future fiancé). Instead of voicemails though, I was more often greeted with either silence or recorded messages from the service providers. Cell phone traffic in & out of NYC had increased exponentially that day and the system was overloaded. I continued dialing. I continued waiting. Gradually, I would get through to someone, or they would call me back (including my future fiancé). Being in the Financial Services industry at the time, I had friends working in the WTC. I had visited there specifically only two months earlier. Four of them from Merrill Lynch didn't make it. The world was now a different place.
Unlike Bowling, I couldn't wait to see Fahrenheit 9-11. While those around me abstained saying, "it's too soon", "it's too commercial", I dragged my future fiancé to one of the first showings we could get to. It played in the smallest theatre in the 24-plex. 24 auditoriums running 16-hours + per day, and we got shuttled into the tiniest one they could find. Seating capacity must've been around 50. I think there were 10 of us in the theatre. In retrospect, I'm thankful. It proved to be a very intimate setting. Once again, I was blown away. How could this happen? In America? The tears flowed then as they did that very day, and as they do still to this day when I stop to remember. I was a Michael Moore disciple. And more importantly, I was anti-Bush, anti-Republican, anti-Muslim. I jumped on board the Nader bandwagon and didn't look back.
Sicko. As I struggled more and more each year to overcome or at least cope with my own declining health and expanding waistline, my research continually led me to more and more "alternative", "natural", and "holistic" methodologies. Ultimately, through the process of attempting to break my own pharmaceutical dependence and unhealthy addictions, I would free myself of not only those oppressive shackles, but of 58 extra pounds as well. I also learned a great deal about the government's role (or lack of) in safeguarding our "health" as American citizens. Not only would I fully realize that it wasn't JUST the Republicans that were the problem, I would also learn that many of the other beliefs I held so dear and true were nothing more than smoke and mirrors. I felt robbed, cheated, conned, betrayed, and yet oddly liberated. I finally felt as if I were seeing the world as it truly was for the very first time. It was a cathartic experience. Truly liberating. This newfound freedom also led me to question many of the other dogmatic suppositions that had been force fed to me over the years. Although guns were the instruments of Columbine, what if they were not truly to blame? Although Terrorists were the instruments of 9-11, what if they were not truly to blame?
Although I looked forward to the release of Sicko, I didn't anticipate it nearly as much as Fahrenheit, nor did I feel as connected to it as I did Bowling. I did eventually go see the film, and was once again moved to emotion at all the right times and was sufficiently outraged for all the right reasons. However this time would be different. For, this time some of that outrage was actually directed at the director himself - Michael Moore. Yes, our healthcare system is a sham. But, socialized medicine such as that offered by Moore's examples of Canada, Great Britain, and even dare I say Cuba are just as replete with their own problems. Same Sh!t, different Dictator. As in his previous films, Michael Moore clearly had a political agenda to advance with the liberal Democratic platform of socialized medicine. This outing was just as anti-Republican as were Fahrenheit and Bowling. Once this realization struck me, I felt saddened and angered. I was sad because on the surface Michael Moore pretends to give us insight into such horrible tragedies, yet angry because he only teases us and taunts us, failing to dig deeper beneath the surface veneer and expose the TRUE injustices behind such travesties.
So, in my deeply humble opinion, Michael Moore has missed the point of his own artistry. He has failed to realize the potential that he himself has laid the groundwork for. He has unknowingly sold out. He is an unwitting pawn.
I will close with these examples to illustrate my point.
Columbine: Instead of focusing so heavily on the gun-control aspect, although granted it makes for great anti-Republican drama, how about looking to the root CAUSE of Columbine? What CAUSED Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to take such drastic measures? What CAUSED them to lose their very humanity? Instead of leaving this an open-ended question, I'll throw you a bone to chew on. Both boys were under Psychiatric care and were taking medications as a result. Where was this info in the film? You be the judge.
Fahrenheit: Instead of focusing so heavily on Bush's (and hence the Republican Party's) ineptitude, although granted it makes for great drama, how about looking to the root CAUSE of 9-11? What CAUSED the alleged Terrorists to take such drastic measures? What CAUSED the blatant string of incompetencies that allowed the attacks to take place? Again, let me toss you something to mull over. WE attacked them FIRST. WE ALLOWED our Government to involve us in illegal and unconstitutional wars FIRST. WE have been guilty of FALSE FLAG acts of domestic terrorism in the past. Where was this info in the film? You be the judge.
Sicko: Instead of focusing so heavily on (again) Bush's (and again - guilty by association - the Republican Party's) ineptitude, although granted it makes for great drama, how about looking to the root CAUSE of our healthcare problems? What CAUSES so many people to get sick? What CAUSES people to need so much "healthcare"? As before, I won't leave you hanging. Our processed, packaged “food” supply has been largely devoid of nutrition for over 60 years. Our answer to illness is toxic, synthetic, unnatural chemicals. Follow the money. Where was this info in the film? You be the judge.
So Michael Moore, my challenge to you is to stop ducking the REAL issues plaguing America. Stop making it about Left vs. Right. Liberal vs. Conservative. Democrats vs. Republicans. You have the talent. You have the ability. You have the potential. I DARE you to make a REAL film that tackles the CAUSALITY of an issue, as opposed to stopping politically short by only addressing the superficial symptoms. You could be a true advocate for the people, if you allow yourself to be.
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