
It’s coming to a theater near you, and the question on my mind is how much controversy will this one cause?
When it comes to Michael Moore, a self-described slacker documentary filmmaker who dropped out of college when he couldn’t find a place to park, I think it’s either you love him or you hate him. In fact, the two sides are so extreme that he’s got people citing him as one of the most influential people of our time—as well as making counter-documentaries on him and his work.
Me, I fall into the group of people who adore Mike. I like it when people stand up for the little guy—or, in this case, the majority of the country without millions of dollars at their disposal. Sure, Mike has millions himself, but he started making these films penniless, with only a sense of conviction—and a desire to make something better than the crap that was playing in his local movie theater.
With that very thought in mind, you have to admit that his films—whether you agree with him or not, whether you think the conclusions he arrives to from his evidence are loose or strong—are entertaining, which is a lot to say for a documentary. In fact, it seems that since Mike, documentary films have taken a turn; we no longer expect hyena mating rituals explained in a clipped, British voice, we expect comedy and stuff that sticks with us.
I’m quite excited about seeing Capitalism: A Love Story, Mike’s newest adventure against big business. You may recall that he’s attacked big business and its effects on the American people in both his television series as well as his books (especially Stupid White Men, which I thought was the funniest of them), and while I don’t know if we can expect a corporate crime-fighting chicken or not, I think in light of the mess from Wall Street, the bank bailouts, and the cyclone of economic woes we’ve been spinning around in, clicking our collective little red sparkly shoes in hopes of finding a ground to land on sometime soon—or at least that Auntie Em doesn’t lose the farm—it’s going to be a film we can all find some common ground in (unless you’re a bigwig of AIG or something similar, of course).
Will you be seeing the film? I haven’t seen one of Mike’s films in theaters since Fahrenheit 911, and I remember the chaos involved. There were cop cars at the theater, lines out the door, and when I went in to buy tickets I was informed the show was sold out for the next few shows and the earliest I could get in was midnight. Boy was that a fun night, though—people standing in the aisles, people talking before and after the film, and of course, people walking out.
I’m sure it’s going to raise controversy; if it did not, it would fail. I’m certain we’ll all disagree with things in it, and we’ll definitely have discussions over it—which is, I think, the most important thing about Mike’s movies. No matter what they’re about or how they’re received, at least they get us talking about the issues. Hopefully it will be real talking, however, and not anything like the town hall “meetings” we’ve witnessed lately.