# Michael Moore **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913 "2003-12-04T11:02:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Joachim\_Pieper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Joachim\_Pieper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joachim_Pieper)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/1 "2003-12-04T11:02:18Z")
Hi, Can anyone fill me in a bit on Michael Moore? I’m just wading through Dude, Where’s my Country? and I was wondering why he whines quite as much as he does. Much appreciated… Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/2 "2003-12-04T11:17:52Z")
He’s just trying to make this world a better place ;). Perhaps you should watch his documentaries first, _Roger and Me_ and _Bowling for Columbine_. ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/3 "2003-12-04T11:21:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joachim Pieper \* > **I was wondering why he whines quite as much as he does.** You should read his book _Dude, Where’s my Country?_ for a full explanation. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/4 "2003-12-04T11:39:08Z")
You should read his OP. > [@](#): > > I’m just wading through Dude, Where’s my Country?.. ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/5 "2003-12-04T11:43:43Z")
I did. I guess I’m new at this sarcasm thing. ---
**Author:** ![Joachim\_Pieper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Joachim\_Pieper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joachim_Pieper)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/6 "2003-12-04T11:55:08Z")
seriuously, though. It’s all very well critcising the establishment, but he does come over a little smug. I keep waiting for him to say ‘vote for me instead’… ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/7 "2003-12-04T13:39:42Z")
I preferred when he wasn’t so smug, say around _Roger and Me_. In _Stupid White Men_ he rants about celebrities (saying how the riots in Simi Valley during the LA Riots should have been targeted towards celebrities and rich folk in Beverly Hills) and I’m thinking, “Michael, you are a celebrity. You’re one of those rich white men that you hate”. I like the gist of it, just not how he comes across. ---
**Author:** ![jellen92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@jellen92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellen92)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/8 "2003-12-04T18:15:59Z")
He is pompous in my opinion, and thinks his shit doesn’t stink. I wouldn’t pay $1 to read his crap. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/9 "2003-12-04T18:26:11Z")
And his “documentaries” are anything but. It has now come out from the people in “Bowling for Columbine” that it was all set up and not an acurate depiction at all. Feh. I say take back his award. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/10 "2003-12-04T18:31:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jellen92 \* > \*\*He is pompous in my opinion, and thinks his shit doesn’t stink. I wouldn’t pay $1 to read his crap. \*\* No, he just thinks that the goddamn government should be accountable, regardless of who is in power. I really dislike the sophomoric humor in his books. It detracts from the seriousness of the questions he asks, and makes me reluctant to read his stuff as well. But he makes some valid points and calls attention to the criminality of government and big business. ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/11 "2003-12-04T18:46:19Z")
You should see [http://www.michaelmoore.com](http://www.michaelmoore.com) He has recently addressed the accusations that Bowling… was set-up and nonfactual. (is nonfactual a word?) ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/12 "2003-12-04T18:50:59Z")
> [@](#): > > No, he just thinks that the goddamn government should be accountable, regardless of who is in power. … Accountable for… what? Things that don’t happen? Like being handed a free gun when you open a bank account? Michael Moore ranting about “accountability” is the biggest load of hypocrisy I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![jellen92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@jellen92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellen92)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/13 "2003-12-04T19:12:13Z")
He is pompous, trust me. He has a right to his opinion of course (that is what makes this a free country) but when people’s opinions somehow become “gospel”, that makes you pompous. He has the right to move out of this country if he is so unhappy. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/14 "2003-12-04T19:20:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > \*\*… Accountable for… what? Things that don’t happen? Like being handed a free gun when you open a bank account? > \*\* So that didn’t happen? Hmmm, according to [keepandbeararms.com](http://www.keepandbeararms.com/news/nl/display_day_archive.asp?d=3%2F17%2F2001) (which I’d assume would be a pro-gun site): > [@](#): > > Bank Promotion Gives Guns for Opening Accounts! > > The North Country Financial Corp. in Traverse City, MI, is attracting customers by giving away rifles and shotguns (instead of toasters!) in exchange for opening an account with the bank. To date, the program has brought in millions of dollars of deposits from customers in every U.S. state. I’d like to see what you’ve got that refutes what Michael Moore did and also proof that this sort of thing doesn’t happen. Thanks in advance.😃 ---
**Author:** ![whatmove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecc23a/32.png) [@whatmove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatmove)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/15 "2003-12-04T19:33:11Z")
Michael Moore sometimes comes across as whiny because he is incredibly frustrated with the huge gap between common sense and the way things happen here in the USA, and can’t believe that change doesn’t happen when people in power are presented with the plain and simple facts. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/16 "2003-12-04T19:43:44Z")
I think it’s good that someone is bringing these topics to up to the masses- I think many of the things he discusses need to be addresses- but I think he’s the wrong person to do it. I find him very condescending, and I’m not a fan of the whole, y’know, making-shit-up thing. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by My Darn Snake Legs \* > **It has now come out from the people in “Bowling for Columbine” that it was all set up and not an acurate depiction at all.** Do you have any additional cites for this? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/17 "2003-12-04T19:46:03Z")
Oh, and **Joachim Pieper** , there’s no shortage of discussion about Moore on this Board. Try a search. The board seems pretty evenly split between people who like and those who dislike Moore. ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/18 "2003-12-04T20:13:21Z")
I dunno. Moore is really entertaining, I’ll give him that, and he makes some good points, but he can’t expect to be taken seriously by anyone who doesn’t already agree with him. He’s sort of a liberal Michael Savage in that his views are far more extreme than most and he does more to stir sh\*t up/enrage the other side than to actually initiate important dialogue. I’ve seen him speak and met him, and he is a very charismatic and likeable guy. He’s also very funny, and it’s easy to see why he has the fan base he does (including me). I would just say to confirm anything you hear from him with an independent source before you make decisions based on it or pass it on as truth. LC ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/19 "2003-12-04T20:24:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jellen92 \* > \*\*He is pompous, trust me. He has a right to his opinion of course (that is what makes this a free country) but when people’s opinions somehow become “gospel”, that makes you pompous. He has the right to move out of this country if he is so unhappy. \*\* Don’t know you, so can’t say I can trust you. 😉 I’m not convinced that many people consider his opinions to be ‘gospel’. Opinions are meant to provoke thought and discussion, and to possibly jar others out of their complacency, which he manages to do to some extent. Your last statement is the penultimate argument of those who _have_ no rational arguments (the final statement in the series usually being “fuck you” or some other meaningless insult). It’s on a par with telling blacks to move back to Africa if they don’t like the way they are treated. He should leave the country because he doesn’t hold the same views as you? Because he’s a dissenting voice? Because he thinks things are out of whack and that life can be better than this? Can you tell me which of the Bill of Rights or which amendment to the Constitution gives him the “right to move out of this country”, by the way? It’s an option, not a right, and a cowardly one at that. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913/20 "2003-12-04T20:26:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by beajerry \* > \*\*You should see [http://www.michaelmoore.com](http://www.michaelmoore.com) > > He has recently addressed the accusations that Bowling… was set-up and nonfactual. \*\* [Linkety link](http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/wackoattacko/) It’s about a third of the way down the page where he actually starts addressing the accusations. The gun in the bank promo thing is the first of them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-moore/216913.md?page=2)