What I really think of Mr. Moore
By: Ryan McDonough

I have to admit, I thought long and hard about writing this article. On the one hand, I have felt it is important to keep actual opinions about Michael Moore and his work separate from this project (which I still do). As you'll notice at the bottom of each page of the site, there is a cute little disclaimer that notes in bold type “ This is a nonpartisan independent project”. Unfortunately, many have failed to read that message.

There have been Michael Moore supporters swarming to the forum, pretending to be moderators and proclaiming that the forum is now closed and that I have apologized to Michael Moore (don't worry, the forum has not been closed). Michael Moore supporters have also been signing the petition, adding comments asking, “ I don't understand why you guys hate Michael so much. Is this website run by Republicans? (-Jasmine Blumer)”

Despite the fact that the administrator of Moorewatch.com noted on the main page of their site, “We are not in any way responsible for the brilliance of the idea, or the content of the site. Ryan is the sole editor and author of the content, he just asked us to host it. And we agreed”, people are still failing to get the message.

People are e-mailing me and wondering who the creator of this web site is, what's his angle? Why is he trying to destroy Michael Moore? Why is he in cahoots with Moorewatch.com and why is there a big conspiracy here? How can it be an independent project when the biggest anti-Moore web site in the whole world (They come up third when you type “Michael Moore” into Google) is hosting the project? It was at that point I realized that this project was in danger of becoming marginalized as some sort of right-wing propaganda to discredit and embarrass Moore. I decided that if this project was going to be perceived as a legitimate, non-partisan project, a project with honest intentions that has nothing to do with whether you agree or disagree with Michael Moore, I was going to have to come clean.

Let me start by saying that when I came to Moorewatch.com with the initial idea, one of my stipulations was that I be granted full editorial freedom. The website administrators of Moorewatch.com agreed wholeheartedly, which I think is a great testament to their willingness to embrace different points of view.

That being said, I want to put an end to the rumors and accusations that this project is one big giant scam by Republicans to make Michael Moore look like an idiot.

I have a dirty secret everyone. I love Michael Moore's work. Yes, you read that correctly. I love his work. I have seen all of his major movies, I have watched him speak in person, I have read his most recent book, and I agree with much of what he says.

One area where I disagree with him is that we need stricter gun control laws. He illustrates very pointedly in Bowling for Columbine that it isn't the fact that we have a lot of guns in America that causes us to have a high gun death rate, Canada also has a lot of guns. It is our culture of fear that is the root of the problem. Restricting guns won't solve the root of the problem. I had too many friends that would discuss the movie and claim it was about gun control. The movie wasn't about gun control, it was about fear, and how Americans react to it. I'm still pretty mad at Moore for not being clear enough about his thesis in the film, but those that watched carefully, got it.

In any event, unlike the crazy-Moore supporters that are blind to any criticism of their fearless leader, I think there is plenty of room to be critical of Moore , and I think that his work SHOULD be debated. He is a highly opinionated man, and many of these opinions find their way into his films, becoming mixed with fact. Critics contend that his arguments are often one-sided, and I think that is also valid. I also think that the anti-Moore web sites have been very good at exposing flaws in some of Moore's facts, the way he edits material together, etc.

However, I also believe the critics get too carried away with disproving tiny points in the film that aren't necessarily central to Moore 's thesis, and then try to discredit or marginalize his film altogether based on these problems. I think it is important to take the main thesis of his film, and attack that thesis directly. Why do we have the highest gun death rate in America? If not because of fear, as Moore argues, what is the real reason? What do Moore 's critics say about that?

I view Moore's films as arguments by a man trying to get the American public to understand his point of view, about topics that wouldn't get as much discussion otherwise. These issues are boring to a lot of Americans, and Moore's classic satire and wit brings it to us in an entertaining fashion. His films are supposed to act, in my opinion, as a catalyst. They are produced to get people talking, to get people to care about politics, to care about the economy, to care about America.

Also unfair to Michael Moore is the tendency of critics to attack the man and not his work. Whether or not you believe that Moore is conceited because he makes himself the center of many of his films, or whether you believe he has lost all touch with his roots now that he has a fancy Manhattan apartment and millions of dollars in his pocket, that shouldn't have any bearing on whether his work is good or not. Even worse, some directly attack Moore 's physical appearance, and that, while amusing to some, has nothing to do with his work; that is a “cheap shot”.

Now, I do not know Michael Moore personally, and it is for this reason that I have not been quick to judge what kind of person he is. People can be very different publicly than they are in their private lives. I have impressions based on what I do know of him, (watching him speak, watching his movies, etc.) but they are just my impressions, just my best guesses as to what he's really like. I think of him as a very sincere man, who is terribly angry about what GM did to Flint (he brings it up in every film and it's been over 10 years since Roger and Me came out now… that's a pretty good hint), and he's terribly angry about the way our country is being handled, and I think he genuinely cares very strongly about these issues, he cares about people, he cares about Flint, he cares about America, and I think that the message is more important than the money to Mike.

His critics, however, have called him “An opportunist who exploits the misfortunes of others,” and I have to say, he needs to do something to rid himself of this label, and it's going to have to be a big bigger than donating a few thousand dollars to some cause.

I think releasing his film online would be great for not only Michael Moore, but for several other reasons as well. First of all, a lot of critics that have visited the page have said that it would earn them a lot of respect for Moore . In fact, Jim, an administrator of Moorewatch.com, wrote, “Hey, if he does this, I will buy...NOT download, but BUY the DVD. He will have proved that he truly cares about the message he is sending, at least to me.” As one signer of the petition wrote, “This would rid Moore of his title of "America 's mudraker" once and for all (-Andres Torres).”

Secondly, he would gain an awesome amount of press for being the first filmmaker with enough guts to put a MAJOR movie out there on the internet before the movie is released in theaters. That press would be good for Moore , and great because it would result in more people seeing the film. Third of all, I think that the more people that view this controversial film, the more people will get out and vote. I think it would be a great public service of Moore to get it out on the Internet, because over 43 million Americans are using filesharing services, and the more exposure there is to the movie the better, whether you agree with the movie's conclusions or not.

Star Wars Episode 1 was leaked on the internet a few days before its official release, and it still went on to make millions and millions of dollars. And because his movie will be pirated literally the day it is released in theaters, and because Moore has come out publicly and said he doesn't mind people downloading his movies, I don't think it is that much to ask of him to make an official internet release part of the deal with the distributors.

Last but not least, don't you want to watch him stick it to the movie industry? Maybe then the movie industry and the music industry will realize that sharing movies and songs is free advertising that is actually helping their sales, and maybe they'll stop suing poor college students. (I refuse to buy CDs, I'll have nothing to do with an organization that sues their own customers.) The movie industry was scared when the VCR came out, the music industry was petrified when recordable cassettes came out, and they both need to realize that we've been through this before. What's going to be different is when everyone has a computer and the artists are selling their CDs and DVDs directly through their web site to the consumer… there won't be a need for the MPAA or RIAA anymore!, and the artists will get the money they deserve! That is what they should really be scared of.

As for movie piracy, they need to learn that the theater experience counts for a lot. It's a social event, it's more than just what's on the screen. Not everyone is content to sit at home and watch a crappy camera bootleg on a tiny computer monitor. They need to understand that withholding the DVD for a month until after the theater debut is over is not what consumers want. If you can't offer the product that consumers want, and it's available elsewhere for free, then what do you expect the consumer to do?

Well, now you all know what I think of Michael Moore, you know that I will do my absolute best to assure this project is as non-biased as possible, despite my own hopes that the project succeeds. For those “Moore-ons” (as The Brit in the forum would say) that are pretending to be administrators in the forum, I will not delete any content that facilitates meaningful discussion, because I obviously want both sides of the story to be told. Obviously though, if you lead people to believe that the forum / site is closing down, I just can't allow that, and those comments will be deleted. Thank you all for your continued support, I appreciate the e-mails, and I hope you continue to pass along the message.

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