Am I a Michael Moore fan? I wouldn't call myself that. Heaven forbid that I should call myself a fan of anybody. That said, I find it difficult sometimes to get past his style to get to his substance. But kudos to anyone who takes risks to state opinions that challenge the status quo. Being of an incurably curious nature, I decided to go to Seattle to check out Michael Moore live, to follow up on his words since the brouhaha of Bowling for Columbine.
I enjoyed Bowling for Columbine. Was it entertaining? Hell yes. Did I think it deserved an Oscar on its own merits as a documentary? Hell no. But it led to an opportunity for Michael Moore to be in front of a microphone at what could very well be called the throne of undeserved self-congratulatory spectacle -- the Academy Awards. For that I say give the man an Oscar! The Academy Awards needs humour and chutzpah!
Kevin dropped off my car in the morning, and I decided to drive it down to Seattle. After introducing May to the weekend hangout Bon's on Broadway ($2.95 all-day breakfast), she and I hit the road. At the border we were unlucky enough to get randomly selected for an agricultural search, which meant they took their sweet-ass time ransacking the car, but it was already a mess so I wasn't concerned. At least they didn't take it apart, looking for marijuana or gay marriage licenses or any one of the many other vestiges of abhorrent liberal-mindedness that some Americans find somewhat loathesome in us. (Not that they'd find any of that stuff, anyway.) But the border was otherwise fairly uneventful -- in this case a good thing -- and the U.S. Immigration guy had no idea who Michael Moore was. I have long ago learned to reign in my sarcasm with immigration officers, but I did have the tiniest of urges to play around with this guy and say something like Michael Moore was a good friend of Osama...
Anyway, the drive felt easy and the weather was impeccable... traffic heading into Seattle was heavy, so we ended up getting to the Paramount with less time to spare than we'd anticipated. But it was all good: the show itself was entertaining and definitely worth the trip. I was wondering if the show would resemble an evangelical revivalist meeting -- after all, wasn't Michael Moore preaching to the converted?? Instead of hallelujahs and amens, it would be rousing applause. I couldn't imagine Republicans or conservatives paying their hard-earned corporate dollars to listen to Michael Moore's political diatribes in person, but partway through the show he asked if there were any conservatives there, and one brave soul did identify himself.
I'll get into the details of the show (and our evening that followed) later, but for now I'll post some links of e-pinions:
Shame on You, Michael Moore : Vancouver Indymedia
Moore's Oscar Speech - Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, March 25, 2003
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE - Documentary or Fiction? - David T. Hardy
Michael Moore responds to attacks
