In Defense of Michael Moore

Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore recently released Capitalism: A Love Story. Naturally, much of the criticism surrounding the film has been focused on Moore himself and the seeming cult of personality he has created.

On imdb, I read an entertainment article in which the author claimed he couldn't take
Capitalism: A Love Story seriously because of Moore's presence in the movie. Now, I understand some people's ambivalence toward Moore. He inserts himself shamelessly into his work and his films blur the lines between documentary and propaganda. And yet still, my answer to his critics is simple: GET OVER IT.

To attack a man's work for such a superficial point is intellectually crass to the highest degree. And yet this makes perfect sense. After all, it's much easier to dismiss Moore as a muckraking egomaniac than to confront the hard questions his films ask.

Simply put, Michael Moore is one of the most important filmmakers in the country. No one challenges the corrupt power structures in this nation more forwardly and relentlessly than he. And I do believe that he is an equal-opportunity radical. He will attack anyone, no matter what their political affiliations or reputation. Remember Sicko (certainly, the most powerful indictment of the United States' immoral health care system that anyone has produced). In that film, Michael Moore criticized Senate and Congressional Republicans for accepting massive contributions from insurance companies, but he also exposes Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing.

I believe he is genuinely concerned for the well-being and improvement of this country and his films have been instrumental in revealing profound inequities in our society. And to those who criticize him for perceived factual inaccuracies in his work, I would say a few things. First, Michael Moore has defended his work tirelessly and almost every fact in them. Secondly, few people question the larger points his films make. For instance, there are disputes about some of the facts presented in Bowling for Columbine, but can anyone deny that the United States has more gun deaths than any advanced democracy in the world? And Moore's critics have certainly attacked Sicko, but can anyone deny that United States has one of the WORST health care systems of any western industrialized democracy? If you don't think so, look at the WTO, United Nations, and the Human Development Index, to see where the United States ranks.

One final point. NO ONE should feel sorry for Charlton Heston for being interviewed by Moore. First of all, Charlton Heston did not have Alzheimer's at the time, he simply had Alzheimer's-like symptoms. And if he did have Alzheimer's he shouldn't have allowed himself to be president of the NRA.