> On Tue, 2 Dec 2003, Ilene R. Tyler wrote:
>
> > Michael, I'll admit it, I'm a liberal, and I like Michael Moore,
> > although I don't read his books.  He is from my state, Flint, even, and
> > I for one am proud of his success for saying it is like it is here in
> > Michigan.  Besides he is funny and does a great "show".
>
> On Tue, 2 Dec 2003 10:00:17 -0500, Lawrence Kestenbaum wrote:
I'm a Michigan liberal, and I have mixed feelings about him.  He's
> our version of Peter Pan, a kid to whom growing up is anathema.  I wasn't
> impressed by "Roger & Me", since I had already read most of it in the
> pages of the Michigan Voice.
>
> "Bowling for Columbine" was a lot more interesting -- the candor of his
> interviewees is just astonishing.  When I saw the movie, Moore
> himself was on hand for some Q&A.  I asked him how he got all those
> folks to open up to him like that.  "That's the $64,000 question,"
> he said.  "You'd think they would know who I was.  Nobody should
> talk to me.  Hell, *I* wouldn't talk to me."  But his slovenly
> appearance (worse than you imagine) probably reassured them: "They
> probably thought I'd be lucky to get on public access."  Still, the
> movie has plenty of eye-rolling cheap shots and breathtakingly dumb
generalizations.
>
My admiration for Moore (and I liked "The Big One" and "Roger and Me" alot)
is in the healthy tradition of skeptical sarcasm he embodies. He effectively
uses the camera to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable".

My problem with his recent work is that he has tended to rant, rather than
ironically illustrate, hence what Mr. Kestenbaum has aptly referred to
as "eye-rolling cheap shots and breathtakingly dumb generalizations".

Though I put down his most recent book after browsing a few pages at
Border's, I am still glad that his voice is one of those being heard,
because far too much of the national discourse is entirely one-sided.

A diversity of views and approaches to problems is as good a thing in public
policy as it is in restoration technology.

Mike E.

--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>