Michael Moore From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (Redirected from Micheal Moore) This article is about the author and filmmaker. For other people of the same name, see Michael Moore (disambiguation). Michael Moore with his Oscar award after Bowling for Columbine won the 2003 Academy Award for Documentary Feature.Michael Moore (born April 23, 1954 in Davison, Michigan) is a left.liberal American documentary film director and author known for his advocacy of his social democratic political views, laced with satire and humor. Contents [showhide] 1 Early life 2 Directing 2.1 Films 2.2 Television shows 2.3 Music videos 3 Writings and political views 4 Controversy 4.1 Oscar acceptance speech 4.2 Depictions of Moore 5 His published work 5.1 List of books 5.2 List of films 5.3 List of TV series 6 Quotes 7 External links 7.1 Sources critical of Michael Moore 7.2 Michael Moore's official response to critics [edit] Early life Michael Moore's home town, Davison, a suburb of Flint, Michigan, was home to one of General Motors' factories, where his mother was a secretary, and both his father and grandfather were employed. His uncle was one of the founders of the United Automobile Workers labor union and was part of the famous sitdown strike. Brought up a Roman Catholic, he attended a Diocesan seminary at age 14, then attended Davison High School, graduating in 1972. That same year, he ran for and won a seat on the Davison school board under a platform based on firing the high school's principal and vice principal. By the end of his term both had resigned. At 22 he founded the alternative weekly magazine The Flint Voice (which soon changed its name to The Michigan Voice). In 1986, when Moore became the editor of Mother Jones, a political magazine, he moved to California and the Voice was shut down. After five months at Mother Jones, he was fired when he disapproved of an article he thought unfairly critical of the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. He sued for wrongful dismissal, resulting in an out-of-court settlement for $58,000 which provided partial funding for his first film project, Roger and Me. Moore is married to Kathleen Glynn (born April 10, 1958 in Flint). They have a daughter named Natalie (born in 1981). [edit] Directing [edit] Films Roger & Me: Moore first became famous for his controversial 1989 film Roger & Me, a documentary about what happened to Flint, Michigan, near Detroit and his hometown of Davison, Michigan, after General Motors closed its factories and opened new ones in Mexico, where the workers were paid much less. Since then Moore is known as a critic of the neoliberal view of globalization. Canadian Bacon: In 1995, Moore released a satirical film, Canadian Bacon, which featured a fictional US president (played by Alan Alda) engineering a war with Canada in order to boost his popularity. The Big One: In 1997, Moore directed The Big One, which documents the tour publicizing his book Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American, where he criticized mass layoffs despite record corporate profits. Among others he targeted Nike for outsourcing shoe production to Indonesia. Bowling for Columbine: Moore's 2002 documentary Bowling for Columbine, probes the culture of guns and violence in the United States. Bowling for Columbine received special notice at the Cannes Film Festival and won France's Cesar Award as the Best Foreign Film. In the United States, it won the 2003 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. It also enjoyed unusual commercial success for a film of its type, becoming by some measures the highest-grossing documentary of its time. It was praised by some critics for illuminating a subject slighted by the mainstream media, and condemned by others as inaccurate and misleading in its presentation. Fahrenheit 9/11: Moore's latest movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, examines America in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, particularly the record of the Bush administration and alleged links between the families of George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden. It was awarded the Palme d'Or, the top honor at the Cannes Film Festival; it was the first documentary film to win the prize since 1956. Moore recently announced that he would not be entering Fahrenheit 9/11 for the 2005 Academy Award for Documentary Feature, but instead for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He stated he wanted the movie to be seen by a few million more people, preferably on television, by election day. Since Nov. 2 was less than nine months after the film's release, it would be disqualified the Documentary Oscar. Moore also said he wanted to be supportive of his 'teammates in non-fiction film'. Sicko (forthcoming): Moore is currently working on a documentary on the American healthcare system from the viewpoint of mental healthcare, focusing particularly on the managed-care and pharmaceutical industries, under the working title Sicko. At least two major pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, have ordered their employees not to grant any interviews to Moore. [1] (http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/9794410.htm?1c) [2] (http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/business/9824781.htm) Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2 (forthcoming): On November 11, 2004 Moore told the Hollywood trade publication Daily Variety that he is also planning a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11. He said, "Fifty-one percent of the American people lacked information (in this election) and we want to educate and enlighten them. They weren't told the truth. We're communicators and it's up to us to start doing it now." The sequel, like the original, will concern the war in Iraq and terrorism. Moore expects to complete it in 2006 or 2007. On June 12, 2004, certain news sources reported that Moore was planning a film centering around British Prime Minister Tony Blair. A message on Moore's website refuted the claim the following day, stating that, "It is not true. Michael made a joke in an interview and, apparently, it was taken seriously." [edit] Television shows Between 1994 and 1995 he directed and hosted the television series TV Nation, which followed the format of news magazine shows but covered topics they avoid. The series was aired on NBC in 1994 for 9 episodes and again for 8 episodes on FOX in 1995. His other series was The Awful Truth, which satirized actions by big corporations and politicians. It aired in 1999 and 2000. Another 1999 series, Michael Moore Live was aired in the UK only, though it was broadcast from New York. This show had a similar format to The Awful Truth but also incorporated phone-ins and a live stunt each week. The show was performed around midday local time, which due to the time difference made it a late-night show in the UK. In 1999 Moore won the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award in Arts and Entertainment, for being the executive producer and host of The Awful Truth, where he was also described as "muckraker, author and documentary filmmaker." [edit] Music videos Moore has directed several music videos, including two for Rage Against the Machine for songs from "The Battle of Los Angeles", "Sleep Now in the Fire" and "Testify". He was threatened with arrest during the shooting of "Sleep Now in the Fire", which was filmed on Wall Street; the city of New York had denied the band permission to play there, even though the band and Moore had secured a federal permit to perform. [3] (http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2000/397/397p24c.htm) He also directed the music videos for System of a Down's "Boom!" and "All the Way to Reno" from R.E.M.. [edit] Writings and political views Moore has authored three best-selling books: Downsize This!, about politics and corporate crime in the United States, Stupid White Men, a critique of American domestic and foreign policy, and Dude, Where's My Country?, an examination of the Bush family's relationships with Saudi royalty, the Bin Laden family, and the energy industry, and a call-to-action for liberals in the 2004 election. After Moore's departure from Mother Jones, he became an employee of Ralph Nader. He left Nader's employment on bad terms, but they remained friends, with Moore vociferously supporting Nader's campaign for the United States presidency in 2000. In exchange for jumping in the show's "traveling mosh pit," Republican Alan Keyes won the endorsement of Moore's television series The Awful Truth in 2000, although Moore does not endorse Keyes' views. Moore became a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association after the Columbine Massacre. He has said in an interview that his intention was to run for president of the organization and dismantle it after winning. [4] (http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,6737,841083,00.html) Michael Moore speaks in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse UniversityIn the 2004 election, Moore urged Nader not to run, so as not to split the vote for ousting Bush. (Moore joined Bill Maher on the latter's television show in kneeling before Nader to plead with him to stay out of the race.) On January 14, Moore endorsed General Wesley Clark for the Democratic nomination. Moore drew attention when charged publicly that Bush was AWOL during his service in the National Guard (see George W. Bush military service controversy). Moore attended the 2004 Republican National Convention and wrote a daily column for USA Today. During September and October 2004, Moore spoke at universities and colleges in swing states during his "Slacker Uprising Tour". The tour gave away ramen and underwear to people who promised to vote. This caused attacks from the Michigan Republican Party and attempts to convince the government that Moore should be arrested for buying votes, but district attorneys refused to get involved with what would easily have become a circus trial. The tour was a popular success. Large numbers of young adults registered to vote, and by a strong percentage voted for John Kerry (Kerry 54%, Bush 44%). Nonetheless, the generally increased turnout in the election ensured that the percentage of youth voting was little different than in 2000, albeit at a higher numerical level. John Kerry eventually won the state of Michigan. For election day in 2004 Moore organized a volunteer core of camera operators in an attempt to film irregularities at voting centers, especially in swing states. With the election over, Moore's website is collecting news on election analysis, voting problems, and news about the war in Iraq. [edit] Controversy Moore's body of work has engendered a great deal of criticism, usually because of its explicit political orientation (variously described as "left-wing", "progressive", "social democratic", or, in the American sense of the term, "liberal"). Some consider his criticism of the Bush Administration to be unpatriotic, and some challenge the factual accuracy of his books and movies; some argue that he has a tendency to self-promotion [5] (http://www.nyfa.org/level3.asp?id=256&fid=6&sid=17) [6] (http://charleston.net/stories/110203/boo_02bkdude.shtml), and that his concern for the working class is a feint [7] (http://clark04.com/moore/) [8] (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1222496,00.html). Accusations have been made that some scenes in Moore's documentaries were staged or scripted without being clearly labeled so, and that other scenes were edited to alter the original intent of the speaker in the video. [9] (http://www.bowlingfortruth.com/bowlingforcolumbine/scenes/bank.htm) In Bowling for Columbine, on-screen text was allegedly altered in a Bush-Quayle campaign ad, and footage edited into it from a non-campaign ad, in order to make it seem racist. Moore denied that this was done in the film, but is said to have slightly corrected the text for the DVD release. [10] (http://www.spinsanity.org/post.html?2003_08_31_archive.html#10624779059990811) Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes has claimed that a conversation purportedly with him published in Moore's Weekly was in fact completely fabricated; Moore claims that Barnes didn't react to publication and news accounts of the 1988 interview until 2002 [11] (http://www.michaelmoore.com/warroom/wackoattacko/index.php?id=13). Many conservatives have objected to Moore's treatment of NRA President and actor Charlton Heston in Bowling for Columbine. Some have said that Moore's use of a clip of Heston giving his famous "from my cold dead hands speech" implied that Heston said the phrase during the NRA's Denver, Colorado appearance shortly after the Columbine killings, when that was not the case. It is also pointed out that Moore audio-edited Heston's speech to make it sound arrogant, and to delete references to the fact that NRA had cancelled most of its annual meeting programme, holding only the one meeting that it was legally required to have. [12] (http://www.bowlingfortruth.com/bowlingforcolumbine/scenes/hestonrally1.htm) Moore has stated that he used the clip to introduce Heston and did not mean to imply he said the words in Denver. Some have also said that Moore's interviewing of Heston later in the film was much too aggressive given that Heston suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Moore contends that as president of the NRA Heston should be asked tough questions. Moore has set up a "war room" (http://www.michaelmoore.com/warroom/index.php) to swiftly respond to criticism of his most recent film, Fahrenheit 9/11; his website contains counterarguments to the most common arguments against him. Moore is diligent in publishing sources to prove his claims. These range from across the world and include most of the top news sources in America. His detractors, however, point out that many of the references are unsupportive, and sometimes contradictive, of his claims. For example, a Congressman whom Moore asks in 9/11 if he would send his children to fight in Iraq protested that Moore deleted his response -- that he had a nephew on the way to fight in Afghanistan. Moore's claim that he did not say this was undermined by the transcript he posted on the webpage, in which the Congressman did indeed say that. Some have criticized Fahrenheit 9/11 as being "against the troops", a charge Moore has responded to by publishing numerous letters from those in the military who are unhappy with the way things are progressing in Iraq. Moore maintains that he has not been subject to a single lawsuit as a consequence of his films and books. Moore's critics deny this, pointing for example at a successful lawsuit against Warner Brothers, his then-producer, about the way Moore portrayed a person in Roger & Me (see link below). Moore's producers also lost a multi-million dollar verdict over "The Awful Truth," although it was reversed on appeal due to lack of proof of "actual malice," a legal requirement for suit by a public figure. A number of lawsuits are currently in progress, including one by James Nichols (brother of Terry Nichols) for libel and defamation of character in Bowling for Columbine, but no verdict has been reached. More recently, in the controversy surrounding Fahrenheit 9/11, some critics have accused Moore of "aiding the enemy" with his candid and graphical reporting about U.S. actions in Iraq. Critics also say that the unflattering portrayal of the U.S. political system and of the Bush administration weakens U.S. credibility internationally. In this context, foreign endorsement of Moore is often seen as an indictment by some of his critics: For example, Gianluca Chacra, the managing director of Front Row Entertainment in the United Arab Emirates (Fahrenheit 9/11's distributor there), has reportedly said that Moore was "considered an Arab supporter" in the region, and has indicated that he will use organizations linked with Hezbollah, an Islamist terrorist group, to distribute the film in the Middle East. Cuba telecast a pirated version of Fahrenheit 9/11 on state controlled TV. Fahrenheit 9/11 is also criticized, on grounds of lack of veracity, by the book "Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man," and is the subject of a counter-documentary, FahrenHYPE 9/11. David Kopel lists 59 purported false statements which he contends can be found in Fahrenheit 9/11, statements which have themselves aroused controversy. Moore's supporters counter that television reporting of the Iraq war is much more graphic when presented by media outside the U.S. They also point out that multi-national rejection of the current U.S. foreign policy (as of 2004), has been widespread before Fahrenheit 9/11. Moore's supporters stress that opposition to U.S. policy does by no means equal terrorism against the U.S., this both as regards the U.S. and the international public; the latter also including the vast majority of the Arab public. They hold the Fahrenheit 9/11's positive reception in the Arab world might defuse anti-American sentiment, as it shows U.S. opposition to the very politics many Arabs dislike. There has been criticism about the fact that since the success of his films and books, Moore has taken to living in luxury, with a $1.9 million home in New York and a $1.2 million beachfront house in Michigan, and for using a limousine and private planes for personal transportation. Detractors contend that he cannot be an ally of the working class if he lives in that manner. Supporters dismiss this allegation by noting that Moore made considerable financial sacrifices to begin his film career, such as putting up his home and numerous bingo fundraisers to finance Roger & Me, and that being wealthy is not in itself grounds for criticism. As for charges of being unpatriotic, supporters argue that intelligent dissent in a case when one believes the state is doing wrong is very much an act of patriotism. They assert that the idea of Americans trying to stifle Moore's free speech is a direct affront to the ideals of the United States, is unpatriotic in itself. Detractors note that promoting films which portray the US as violent and exploitative, when films are (as noted above) being distributed in the Middle East by Hezbollah-linked organizations, is not merely intelligent dissent. They also point out that the Indonesian convicted of the Bali terror bombings of 2002 had his attorney read to the court from "Stupid White Men" in explanation of his acts. The need to be willing to view ugly truths, they argue, should be counterbalanced by a need to ensure they are indeed true. With the success of Moore's work, there have been works attacking Moore. These include most recently the book Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man, and the film titled Michael Moore Hates America. Some groups have gone further than attacking Moore in the media. The Christian group Focus on the Family published Moore's home address (http://efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=1162) in a July 2004 newsletter. Some supporters of Moore believe that part of the reason why Moore has been so strongly criticized is that, unlike many left wing pundits, Moore has refused to either moderate his tone or adopt 'formal' language; instead, Moore has continually made strongly worded and humorous attacks against conservative ideology and policies. Despite the controversy surrounding Moore and his work, he has had great success as a documentary filmmaker and writer. His films Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 debuted as the highest-grossing feature-length non-music documentaries of all time, the latter making over 120 million dollars. [edit] Oscar acceptance speech When Moore accepted the Oscar for Bowling for Columbine, he created a stir when he took the opportunity to denounce President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq: "Whoa. On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and Michael Donovan from Canada, I'd like to thank the Academy for this. I have invited my fellow documentary nominees on the stage with us, and we would like to . they're here in solidarity with me because we like nonfiction. We like nonfiction and we live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fictition (sic) of duct tape or fictition (sic) of orange alerts we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you. And any time you got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, your time is up. Thank you very much." The televised speech appeared to be met with mixed reactions from the audience, although in a backstage interview with Michael Moore afterwards, Michael insisted that the majority of the audience were cheering. Michael repeated the part of his speech that had been cut short due to the orchestra starting to play music, and gave the reason "I'm an American" in defense of his choice of acceptance speech. There are rumours that Moore later stated regret due to parts of his speech and that he chose on the spur of the moment to alter from his own prepared notes. [edit] Depictions of Moore In the 2004 satire film Team America: World Police, a marionette representation of Moore surfaces as a suicide bomber who blows up Team America's headquarters inside Mount Rushmore. He is later described as a 'giant socialist weasel'. The 2004 Academy Awards opened with a satirical short film in which the host, Billy Crystal, re-enacted the most memorable scenes of 2004. Moore was depicted holding a camera amidst a battle (the Battle of the Pelennor Fields from the The Return of the King movie), and shouting, "Stop this war. Shame on you hobbits, shame on you. This is a fictitious war. This war was not elected by the populace." [edit] His published work [edit] List of books Moore, Michael (1996). Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American. Perennial (Harper Edition). ISBN 0060977337. Moore, Michael; & Glynn, Kathleen (1998). Adventures In A TV Nation. Perennial. ISBN 0060988096. Moore, Michael (2002). Stupid White Men ...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!. Regan Books. ISBN 0060392452. Moore, Michael (2003). Dude, Where's My Country?. Warner Books. ISBN 0446532231. Moore, Michael (2004). Will They Ever Trust Us Again?. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743271521. Moore, Michael (2004). The Official Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743272927. [edit] List of films Roger & Me (1989) Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint (1992) (TV) Canadian Bacon (1995) The Big One (1997) And Justice for All (1998) Bowling for Columbine (2002) Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) "Palme d'or" in Cannes Sicko (projected for 2005) Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2 (projected for 2006) [edit] List of TV series TV Nation (1994) The Awful Truth (1999) [edit] Quotes "Every single fact I state in 'Fahrenheit 9/11' is the absolute and irrefutable truth...Do not let anyone say this or that isn't true. If they say that, they are lying." - "My First Wild Week with 'Fahrenheit 9/11'" MichaelMoore.com July 7, 2004 "Our young people who go off to war and who join the service, we need to honor them because they're willing to risk their lives to protect us, to defend us, so we can have this way of life. And the agreement that they make with us is that we never send them into harm's way unless it is absolutely necessary. I think most Americans -- I just saw the latest poll today -- 54% now believe that this [invading Iraq] wasn't the wisest thing to do -- it wasn't certainly in self-defense. You weren't threatened; I wasn't being threatened, and that's the only time, because ultimately if it was your child...would you give up your child to secure Fallujah?" - On the television program Late Night with Conan O'Brien June 25, 2004 "The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not "insurgents" or "terrorists" or "The Enemy." They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win." - "Heads Up... from Michael Moore," MichaelMoore.com, April 14, 2004 "I don.t know why we are making so much of an act of terror. It is three times more likely that you will be struck by lightning than die from an act of terror." - Before the Airing of BBC's Question Time on September 11, 2002