Michael Moore Is Fat

This documentary questioning the tactics of Michael Moore, finding him impossible to reach for an interview himself, and revealing that he actually held on-camera interviews with Roger Smith during the making of "Roger & Me" and left them out of the final cut (which was really about him trying to interview Roger Smith and getting stiffed), will undoubtedly get a lot of play on the right. But this is kind of a well-known thing; I remember a Might Magazine article in 1995 about this exact same subject. They even dressed up a guy like a gorilla and followed around Moore, trying to get an interview with him, a tactic Moore then used HIMSELF for TV Nation.

Michael Moore is pretty deeply flawed as a filmmaker and an individual, something he knows; in The Big One, he shows himself flying first-class while the crew flies coach and signing a book deal with a major publisher the likes of which he criticizes in his work. His films are polemics and he structures them purposefully to further his goals. He's known to be fairly belligerent to his staff.

And, so? Michael Moore speaks for himself and doesn't even speak that loudly. Since Fahrenheit 9/11 he's pretty much gone underground. Moore is a filmmaker who rabble-rouses to get publicity for his films. But even the filmmakers of this hit piece on him recognize his impact:

The two were and still are fans of all his movies — including the polarizing "Fahrenheit 9/11," which grossed over $119 million and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival — and initially wanted to do a biography on him. They traveled to his childhood home of Davison, Mich., visited his high school and traced his early days in politics and journalism.

"The fact that he made documentaries entertaining was extremely influential and got all kinds of people out to see them," said Melnyk, whose previous films with Caine include 1998's "Junket Whore." "Let's face it, he made documentaries popular and that is great for all documentary filmmakers."

"All of these films — `Super Size Me,' `An Inconvenient Truth' — we've all been riding in his wake," said Caine. "There's a nonfiction film revolution going on and we're all beneficiaries of that. For that point alone, he's worth celebrating."

It's not Moore so much as the other fine creators of documentary filmmaking - who have been there all along, but only now can get people out to the theaters - that are the real threat to conservative propagandists. They focus on Moore because he's an inviting target, easy to caricature and therefore dismiss, and there are some legitimate criticisms. But he's an individual who speaks for himself alone.