Michael Moore Administers “Capitalism” Punishment

Back with a bullhorn, the documentarian talks activism, the economy and scorned lovers.

Personally, I voted for President Obama, but I’d still like to know why he gets off scot-free in your film for his part in the stimulus package. Wouldn’t it have been more even-handed to take everyone to task, not just the Goldman Sachs mafia?

Yes, but I’m willing to give him a little bit more time here. He inherited a real catastrophe. I’d love to still give him the benefit of the doubt, but not for much longer.

You’d consider turning your camera towards him?

Oh, yeah. There’s nothing worse than a lover scorned. [laughs] With Bush, at least we knew what to expect. But if this guy hosed us, if he promised us something and it ended up being something else, oh my God. You don’t want to see what that looks like.

What’s his statute of limitations?

I want to see how he handles this health care thing. And I want to see just what [U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy] Geithner, [National Economic Council Director Lawrence] Summers and [Robert] Rubin are going to be doing with our economic situation. It’s been a year, and they’ve passed no regulations on these guys. All that talk about how we just needed the regulations back, and then nothing. Let’s give him until we’re at least out of the single digits of this century.

Seeing all that “Roger and Me” footage in the film made me think about the span of time. Sure, you’re a household name today, but all security measures have since been dramatically tightened. Regardless of your stature, wouldn’t going into any corporate building with a camera be an ineffective gesture for anyone in 2009?

Huh. That’s a good question. I don’t know. I guess because they do know me and they know what’s up… I believed all through this film, and I said to the crew, “One of these companies, they’re going to call my bluff. They’re going to bring me in.” So I was ready, and I was hoping that that moment would happen.

I know being in front of the camera has always been a part of your filmmaking style, but considering you wear your politics on your sleeve and your persona is divisive in our political climate, are you ever concerned that your presence gets in the way of your message?

Absolutely, and that’s why I have a sign in the edit room that says, “When in doubt, cut me out.” In this film, I also tried to show a little bit about myself personally so that people understand that I come from where they come from, Middle America. I was raised with Christian values that I try to still live by.

A conservative friend of mine told me recently that he likes how you focus on the societal ills people don’t talk about enough, but he thinks the solutions you propose are like putting out fires with gasoline. How would you address that?

I wouldn’t know how to answer that. My solutions actually seem very peaceful and speak to our core values. I want an economy that’s controlled by the people. I believe in democracy. I want an economy that has an ethical and moral core to it. I would think most people would want that. That doesn’t seem like gasoline to me.

This might sound glib, but might this movie have been more effective if you gave it away for free?

Like I did my last one, “Slacker Uprising”? There’s no distribution system in place other than on the Internet to give it away for free. So if I want to play at movie theaters, you can’t do that. I’m all for cutting the ticket price in half if the theaters will go along with that.

“Capitalism: A Love Story” is now open in New York and Los Angeles; it opens wide on October 2nd.

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