On Michael Moore

I can't, in good conscience, call Michael Moore a documentarian. He is nothing of the sort. He is not a proper journalist either. He shows no interest in objectivity or even handed reporting. He has a very clear objective- he wants to win the audience over to his point of view. If I were to look at him as a documentary film maker I would be irritated. I would be pissed as hell as his films, entertaining though they are, are not documentaries. Regardless of the fact that my own personal politics are somewhat in line with Mr. Moore's, I do criticize his films' catagorization as documentary. They simply are not.

So it is a good thing that I can see him for what he really is... a writer (an essayist to be precise) who discovered that he could make a convincing argument on film that more people would see than would ever read anything he ever wrote. If I look at him as such, then I can sit back and enjoy his films with a third less guilt and pissiness.

I recently saw Moore's most recent film, "Sicko", which has been applauded by some of his most vociferous detractors. I was curious. None of the information was necessarily new to me, but Moore has a talent for putting things in a context that can get under your skin. He also has a talent for putting just the right, vomit inducing clips of W and Cheney in just the right place to make you want to pull all your flesh off and chew it until the urge to repeatedly pummel them (Dick and W, that is) in the face subsides. His use of music is more than a little heavy handed at times and he dismisses the idea that there might be issues with socialized medicine. I know why he dismisses it and I even agree with his overall assessment, but I think the omission weakens his argument to a certain degree.

However, I thought the film was affecting and more powerful than "Farenheit 9/11". I left the theater tired and red in the face from crying- as did a good portion of the audience who saw it with me including the solid looking, middle aged white guy in a suit who sat across the aisle from me. I felt for the people who appeared in the film and their stories touched me deeply. However, I am left with little to do now that the lights are up and the film is over. I feel empty and helpless. He made some veiled suggestion that we take to the streets, that we organize and vote... but organize for what? Vote for whom? You have my attention. You have my will.

Now tell me what I can do.