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No More Moore, continued

10072008_michaelandme.jpg
"Michael & Me" (2004)
Directed by Larry Elder
Made in Response to: "Bowling for Columbine" (2002)


The Beef... is not necessarily with any of the filmmaker's techniques, just his point of view, namely that guns are dangerous and should be carefully controlled and regulated. This stance, according to Elder, is "anti-gun, anti-self defense...anti-personal responsibility and ultimately anti-American." While only occasionally addressing Moore or "Bowling for Columbine" directly, Elder makes a two-pronged case for guns. Firstly, criminals will always be able to get guns, so honest citizens need to have their own guns to protect themselves (the notion of trying to crack down on the illegal flow of weapons is literally laughed at and never seriously discussed). Secondly, even without guns people will murder each other anyway, so why bother trying to control them?

Does the filmmaker appear on camera? Yes. Elder, who once had a syndicated TV talk show and continues to work in radio, shows up next to almost every interview subject and even addresses the camera directly with his own personal comments, folding his arms sternly while saying things like, "To use the Columbine tragedy to drive that agenda -- that's just wrong. And it looks like I'm not the only one who thinks so!"

Does Michael Moore? Briefly, in a Mooreian ambush outside of a movie theater. In a 30-second clip that "Michael & Me" recycles several times, Elder asks Moore to defend his film then repeatedly screams "ANSWER THE QUESTION!" at him so he has no chance to actually do so.

Targets Besides Michael Moore: Rosie O'Donnell, Oprah Winfrey, Adolf Hitler and assorted "dirtbags" and "bad guys."

Strangest Moment: In the montage that takes down Hitler (who was for gun control), Elder also includes other quotes on the subject from prominent historical figures. The comment from George Washington ("A free people ought to be armed") works, but giving props to Mao Zedong ("Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun") is an odd tact to take for a guy who uses treats the word "socialist" like an insult of the highest order.

A Filmmaking Lesson: If you're going to interview a gun advocate, don't do it on a busy shooting range. It's difficult to hear a conversation over the deafening blasts of shotguns.


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"Me & Michael" (2006)
Directed by Willard Morgan
Made in Response to: "Roger & Me" (1989)


The Beef... starts when Moore won't watch Morgan's short film "Festival Fever," even though he allegedly requested a copy at a festival he attended. Morgan isn't a political activist of any kind; he's a struggling actor and comedian who's looking for a mentor in the film business and settles on Moore because "he stands for the things I always thought important. Caring for people, the little guy, the underdog, the worker, the unemployed masses." So in an effort to convince him to take him under his wing, Morgan spends his movie stalking him all over the Los Angeles area. Shockingly, it does not work.

Does the filmmaker appear on camera? Incessantly. Morgan is, by his own admission, a compulsive videographer (one scene imagines him getting laughed out of a meeting of "Filmmakers Anonymous"). He can't stop shooting even when he's being forcefully removed from the premises of health clubs, office buildings, restaurants and various other places he wanders into looking for Moore.

Does Michael Moore? Surprisingly, yes. Morgan does manage to corner Moore at a few of his book signings and lectures and captures a series of increasingly awkward interactions with the filmmaker, who indulges him for a while before he starts to call security on him.

Comments

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One movie you missed was "Manufacturing Dissent" - A really good one that tries not to force it's view on you but lays out the facts of Moore's way of bending the rules to get his points across.

I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, but a lot of those films were just crap. Politics aside, Moore is a talented filmmaker. "Bowling for Columbine" is one of the most moving films I have ever seen.

Open letter to Michael Moore

Mr. Moore,

My name is Chris Lowel and I'm pretty much a nobody in every sense of the word, but the few folks who bother reading anything at Moorewatch might know me by the endless rants I've posted there under the handle "biafra".

Moorewatch is where I'd been forever - what's the word - spewing the vilest, bitter, woefully hate-filled monologues against all and any (primarily non-American) visitor who's ever offered any (world)views deviating even mildly from the white, hetero, Xtian, right-wing, hardline American Way, that is, until even the most die-hard Bush drones in charge there had had enough and decided to ban me from their site, Rightfully and even cosmically so, I've come to realize.

Relegated to silently sulking around online, I actually read your open letters to the people posted there, along with the usual snide responses and derision they invariably drew. Lastly, I took a look into the recently released "Slacker Uprising", which documents your past efforts to swing the vote.

During this time of "inaction", as it were, I've come around to thinking that you do perhaps indeed have God's ear - good karma, whatever the magic is called. Its on record that you saved the life(style) of a major detractor of yours, and then I, too, was recently stricken with a serious illness whilst eagerly adhering to his anti-welfare stance. I'm alive, but $50,000+ in debt.

Thing is, after their taking the helm, constantly encouraging me to take it easy and rest, praise the Lord, read the Bible and "just get some credit cards already" several people I'd long considered my closest friends and allies eventually abandoned me for greener pastures - literally. Four months of second-hand hardship in the form of my fretting over mounting debt exacerbated by unnecessary "conveniences" that amounted to nothing more than late fees and daily runs to Starbucks, was too much for some to bear. They "fixed" my books for me, and then booked.

Case in point: The neurosurgeon who saved my life gets all of $50/month for his efforts while that monthly Amex finance charge swallows $56/month. Oh, and that unused LA Fitness membership? A measly $42/month. I fixed that and other boondoggles, but its not enough to stave off bankruptcy. I've heard that once I'm in the "system", it won't get any better. The operation was successful, but this patient is dead.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/18/223744/567

Either way, Moore has done it again. And there's a larger point. A society that's not constantly fretting about how to pay for medical bills is a BETTER SOCIETY, and the "magic benefactor" can easily be a single-payer system that would cost less than we pay for health care now, and provide better quality service. Moore is a genius at finding real-world ways to illustrate his point of view. This is an excellent example.

Praise the Lord, indeed: I've come up with a simple idea to clearly illustrate what universal health care - truly caring for your neighbor - is all about.

"Slacker Uprising" has successfully created pre-election buzz, and to keep the ball rolling I suggest you add another dimension of punch to, repeat: demonstrate how free health care, and by extension, caring for your neighbor, works.

Race, creed, color, political leanings, religious beliefs - whoever the person in need, true humanists will always put all and any differences aside, step up and deliver. The haves must always come to the aid of the have-nots; until their vote makes it law, the good people will do so voluntarily and without reserve.

In these, the last few weeks leading to the most important election in modern times, I say post an online donation drive for me at www.michaelmoore.com, set up a counter to show the amount of donations made, the number of donators, and perhaps even a (voluntary) tally of which side of the fence they stand on.

Let's show those voters still on the fence how a new and improved nation will deliver on its promises, and how many are willing to lead by example, not just spout empty platitudes.

I have little use for opulence, living large, and, least of all, waste of any kind, so what I don't need to cover my bills I could, in turn, eventually pass on to the next person in need - hey, starting with the folks at Moorewatch.

What say you? Yeah, or HELL, YEAH!!

biafra


Proposal Two: Sign into law congressman John Conyer’s universal health-care legislation (HR676). "The Obama health plan is no good. The McCain health plan is really, really no good," Moore said, explaining that on this issue, his support for Obama comes down to the "lesser of two evils."

Proposal Five: Remove the $102,000 income cap on the social security tax. "If you make over 102,000 a year, do you realize the people in that category do not pay one dime on wages they earn over $102,000 ... Why shouldn’t they have to pay the same six-and-half to seven percent rate that you have to pay on 100 percent or your income?" Moore cited former presidential candidate Chris Dodd, who said that if the cap was lifted, the resulting income would be able to fund social security for 75 years. He also told the audience to remind their neighbors that President Bush wanted to "put social security in the hands of Wall Street five years ago ... We’d all be Lehman Brothers."

Michael Moore has more than $102,000; he can (again) demonstrate how universal health care works - he, the government - chips in to pay my bills, and you, the taxpayers, chip in, too, without reserve, or simply reimburse Michael's costs to him.

Universal health care will discriminate against noone: rich, poor, white, black, young, old male, female, straight, gay -


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