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Fahrenheit 11/9- rm

This is a documentary movie by filmmaker, Michael Moore. So, if you know anything about him, you can expect a strong political statement reflecting his views. However, we found that he took us some places we did not anticipate and we were emotionally moved by several points that were being made.

While the title (One Day After Trump’s Election) and introduction zoomed in immediately on the election of Donald Trump, which surprised most everyone, probably including Trump and his supporters. Moore did not let us forget that there was a clear majority of voters supporting Clinton and of course, the Electoral College, which allowed Trump to be elected president, is a remnant of a compromise made to appease the slave states.

As we settled in to see a further dissection of Trumpism in this country, the movie took us on a somewhat different journey than we expected. We ended up in Moore’s homeland of Flint, Michigan where we were told the story of one of the most horrendous acts of deception ever played upon American citizens. The water supply of the city was changed and then came from a new river source, which was polluted with lead and other substances that were an irreversible poison to the residents of that city, especially impacting children. The governor of Michigan, Jim Snyder, even when he knew about the facts, hid the truth from the people in order to protect corporate interests who were benefiting by the status quo. He did make some changes, so a General Motors plant would have clean water so as not to damage the cars that were being made. Apparently, even President Obama did not understand the true gravity of the situation as we see him speaking in Flint, Michigan minimizing the seriousness of this issue.

This movie also took us to West Virginia, where we met poorly-paid teachers who defied their own union and were going on strike for a 5% raise in salary for themselves, school bus drivers and kitchen workers in the schools. We saw how their brave acts of defiance were then copied by teachers in other states, giving a picture of how people can rise up for their rights.

Seen through the eyes of this documentary filmmaker, the human elements of such events can be very well conveyed. However, nothing was more moving than the depiction of the well-known story of the children of Parkland, Florida who rose up to capture the hearts of the entire country as they exposed the self-centered actions of the gun lobby in this country who have resisted changes in gun control despite the massacre of the Parkland children by a crazed killer with an assault rifle.

The ending of this film brought us back to Trump with Michael Moore’s eye-opening clear comparison of the rise of Donald Trump and the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism as seen in Germany. This documentary film pulls no punches and it will hit you in the gut, bring tears to your eyes and give you a great deal to think about. (2018)

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Capitalism: A Love Story – rm – Michael Moore set out to make a movie to show how things have changed in this country so now maybe 99% of the wealth is controlled by 1% of the people. The post World War II development of a healthy middle class which he experienced in his youth in Flint Michigan, no longer exists there and not in too many other places in the USA. There are lots of rich people still around but tons of hard pressed people losing their jobs and their homes. He is contending that because we have capitalism, doesn’t mean that we have true democracy. He makes his point by documenting the well-known stories of the changing economic conditions and by using very personal vignettes, which he poignantly captures on film. Is he being completely fair to all the Wall Street bankers and CEOs some of whom have taken major government positions whom he now depicts as only trying to make more money for their old firms and their own portfolios? Is he being fair to Senator Chris Dodd whom he shows was given a mortgage on favorable terms because he was considered a friend of the CEO of AIG when so many others were defaulting on sub prime mortgages? Was the government bailout all-bad, as he seems to be saying? Moore certainly knows how to push our emotional buttons as he shows the faces of the children as their parents try to resist foreclosures of their homes. How can we not be stirred up by the valiant attempt of workers who refuse to leave their now closed factory because they weren’t given wages they were owed? ? Moore’s parting shot is a piece of an obscure video of FDR calling for a new Bill of Rights where everyone is entitled to a job, a descent living, a home and healthcare. Moore shows how the United States helped our defeated enemies achieve these goals after WWII but have not accomplished them ourselves. If you leaned towards his point of view at the beginning, you will be moved towards some kind of action. If you have been on the other side of the philosophical spectrum, you most probably will soften some of your resistance. If the film has a weakness, it is it’s inconsistent form, which veers between being a documentary, a polemic and a comedy. Whatever it is, it is worth seeing and should not be missed. (2009)