Don't be a hater, go see sicko

Lots of people hate Michael Moore. Seriously. I don't have a lot of evidence of this fact, but that doesn't stop me from making the statement, because, hey, this is a blog, not a newspaper, and this is America, where the pundit rules.

But here are my facts, in case you're a stickler for that so-last-century notion of backing up opinions with facts:

1. Some people made ugly faces when I told them I just saw Sicko.
2. In that film, Moore himself references a website devoted to hating him.
3. Type "hate Michael Moore" into Google. Almost 2 million hits. (Oddly enough, it is exactly the same number as "hate Jessica Simpson," only slightly less than "hate George Bush," and twice as many as "hate Adolf Hitler.")
4. So, with bLogic, I think I just proved that twice as many people hate Michael Moore as hate Adolf Hitler.

So, I did some thinking about why people hate Michael Moore. After conjecture, subjective rumination, and unsubstantiated postulation (I almost just wrote "pustulation" - typos how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!), I hypothesize that the following "5-Pronged Rationale for Animosity toward Director Michael Moore" covers all the bases.

1. He's unattractive.
   Now, I know many of you think this isn't a reason to hate someone, but if beauty is a reason to love someone or something (see Shakespeare, Byron, et al) mightn't it also be a reason to hate someone? I honestly believe that roughly 10% of the people who think they dislike Moore for any of the following less shallow reasons wouldn't hate him if he looked like Rosamund Pike or Clive Owen.
2. He's unrelenting and annoying.
   Even fans of Mr. Moore are occasionally made uncomfortable by his interactions with his prey. Sometimes I even feel bad for really horrible people -- like pro-gun lobbyists, republican aides, and security guards -- just because he won't walk away, give up, etc. And while he's usually polite, in word if not in deed, he has a tone. An unveiled disdain for all the corporate goons and uneducated elite. Some of you haters of Michael Moore were brought up to be people-pleasers and you just cannot accept that he won't do what you would do, which is to let the corporate goons kick you out without a fight.
   
3. You disagree with what he's saying based on the fact that you don't want to believe what he's saying.
   Denial is a powerful tool. Why would any of us want to accept that our country has problems? The U. S. of A., the country they taught us was a bastion of hope, the one Bush called "the hope of the oppressed and the greatest force for good on this Earth?" Why would we want to swallow the fact that we might not actually be better than everyone? And there goes Mr. Moore comparing us to other countries on the murder rate, the infant-mortality rate, life-expectancy, and other pretty-serious sounding things. He must be making it all up, right?
   
4. You disagree with what he's saying based on "facts." There are a lot of websites, a lot of books, a lot of pundits on television and radio. Finding the "truth" is harder and harder. Just because it is printed in the NY Times or CNN doesn't always mean it's true, anymore, right? You have to know some one's motivations, check all of his or her facts, maybe even talk to the speaker's family, 2nd-grade teacher, rabbi, what have you, to know whether what you're reading is "true." So, these people would fall under reason #3, but they back up their opinions because they listened to a radio show, read a book or a pamphlet they picked up at an NRA fundraiser, or saw it on a well-respected blog.
   
5. You don't like his style of film making. He's heavy-handed and manipulative. He basically created, or brought into the mainstream, the persuasive documentary. He isn't just going out and collecting miles of celluloid about subject matter and then finding the story somewhere in the cutting room. He forms an opinion -- maybe sometimes like the people from rationale #3 and sometimes from rationale #4 -- and then he makes a movie that proves his point. He doesn't tell a story, he rams the story down your throat, with a cheeky, blue-collar snort.

So, which are you? Have I left a reason out?

So, while I am occasionally irked by his personality, and his style of film making (which is sometimes just a little too precious -- the Guantanamo Bay scenes started out that way, but then became sincerely moving when I saw the relief and sadness on the faces of the 9-11 rescue workers), I like him. Here's why (I cannot stop making lists!):

1. I think he's doing it for the right reasons - maybe I'm a naive idiot, but I believe he makes his movies because he loves his country and wishes that he could fix some of its problems. It can't be for the money, because he made a ton on the last one and he came back and made another - he even sent 10k to someone who hosts a website devoted to hating him.
2. He is bringing politics to the masses in a way that is almost as easy to consume as the candy in the lobby (and if you go for the matinee, it costs less, too!).
3. He doesn't give in or give up. He's a fat, unattractive man from a dirt-poor town and he didn't let that stop him from making his voice heard and without competing on American Idiot, er, Idol. (For fun, just close your eyes and imagine him singing "Soldier" by Destiny's Child.)
4. He is trying to entertain, educate, and persuade all at once, and often succeeding. It's actually harder than it looks.
5. He is looking out for the little-guy. Mainstream narrative-film directors used to do this (Capra?) but now they don't often get a chance to, or by the time they have the money and sway, they don't care anymore.

So, I like him. I liked Sicko. Go see it.