Michael And Me
Andrew Anthony has a few "awkward questions" for Michael Moore:
Is he the radical who has claimed to give a third of his income to worthy causes or a ruthless self-aggrandising hypocrite, or both?
Michael And Me
Andrew Anthony has a few "awkward questions" for Michael Moore:
Is he the radical who has claimed to give a third of his income to worthy causes or a ruthless self-aggrandising hypocrite, or both?
I was in a bookstore the other day and overhead a young woman say, "oh, I need to get Michael Moore's book." I turned around to look at her. She and her friend were 18 or 19 years old, and they had all sorts of face piercings and multi-colored hair. (That look is fine, of course, but sometimes it goes with silly notions of being "radical.") An article on the downtown NYC art scene back in the 80s said that "the Mudd Club set pursues politics with the zeal of a panty raid." Maybe Michael Moore's best function is to introduce snotty kids with bad hair to the idea that politics are important. And maybe Ann Coulter does the same for uppity sorority girls who still think that giving head is icky. (They, too, can be presidential interns one day.)
Lena at May 25, 2004 8:05 AM
That article is one of the most balanced pieces I've read on Moore, who tends to be either adulated or dismissed as a Rush Limbaugh equivalent. I've always said that the day Rush Limbaugh does anything on an artistic par with "Roger & Me," I'll consider the comparison.
But that doesn't excuse his apparent bad behavior behind the scenes, which I've heard about frequently, or the sloppiness of some his fact-checking (though his last book was a lot more diligent on that score than usual).
The writer isn't quite correct, though, that that factory in Bowling for Columbine just launched TV sattelites. The rocket in the background of those shots clearly has a U.S. air force logo on it -- don't remember them being in the TV biz.
Not to say there aren't other problems with the film, but its analysis of the culture of fear in America is truthful and valuable, and not, as some have suggested, a mere crib of Barry Glassner's book (which is actually much more strongly anti-gun).
LYT at May 25, 2004 4:15 PM
I recall SpinSanity id'ing the rocket as launching sattelites. You do realize the Air Force launches sattelites?
Oligonicella at May 28, 2004 6:47 AM