A Message from Michael Moore...

[Alex]

My Oscar "Backlash": "Stupid White Men" Back At #1, "Bowling" Breaks New Records

April 7, 2003

Dear friends,

It appears that the Bush administration will have succeeded in colonizing Iraq sometime in the next few days. This is a blunder of such magnitude -- and we will pay for it for years to come. It was not worth the life of one single American kid in uniform, let alone the thousands of Iraqis who have died, and my condolences and prayers go out to all of them.

So, where are all those weapons of mass destruction that were the pretense for this war? Ha! There is so much to say about all this, but I will save it for later.

What I am most concerned about right now is that all of you -- the majority of Americans who did not support this war in the first place -- not go silent or be intimidated by what will be touted as some great military victory. Now, more than ever, the voices of peace and truth must be heard. I have received a lot of mail from people who are feeling a profound sense of despair and believe that their voices have been drowned out by the drums and bombs of false patriotism. Some are afraid of retaliation at work or at school or in their neighborhoods because they have been vocal proponents of peace. They have been told over and over that it is not "appropriate" to protest once the country is at war, and that your only duty now is to "support the troops."

Can I share with you what it's been like for me since I used my time on the Oscar stage two weeks ago to speak out against Bush and this war? I hope that, in reading what I'm about to tell you, you'll feel a bit more emboldened to make your voice heard in whatever way or forum that is open to you.

When "Bowling for Columbine" was announced as the Oscar winner for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards, the audience rose to its feet. It was a great moment, one that I will always cherish. They were standing and cheering for a film that says we Americans are a uniquely violent people, using our massive stash of guns to kill each other and to use them against many countries around the world. They were applauding a film that shows George W. Bush using fictitious fears to frighten the public into giving him whatever he wants. And they were honoring a film that states the following: The first Gulf War was an attempt to reinstall the dictator of Kuwait; Saddam Hussein was armed with weapons from the United States; and the American government is responsible for the deaths of a half-million children in Iraq over the past decade through its sanctions and bombing. That was the movie they were cheering, that was the movie they voted for, and so I decided that is what I should ackno
wledge in my speech.

And, thus, I said the following from the Oscar stage:

"On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and Michael Donovan (from Canada), I would like to thank the Academy for this award. I have invited the other Documentary nominees on stage with me. They are here in solidarity because we like non-fiction. We like non-fiction because we live in fictitious times. We live in a time where fictitious election results give us a fictitious president. We are now fighting a war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fiction of duct tape or the fictitious 'Orange Alerts,' we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you. And, whenever you've got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, you're time is up."

Halfway through my remarks, some in the audience started to cheer. That immediately set off a group of people in the balcony who started to boo. Then those supporting my remarks started to shout down the booers. The L. A. Times reported that the director of the show started screaming at the orchestra "Music! Music!" in order to cut me off, so the band dutifully struck up a tune and my time was up. (For more on why I said what I said, you can read the op-ed I wrote for the L.A. Times, plus other reaction from around the country at my website www.michaelmoore.com)

The next day -- and in the two weeks since -- the right-wing pundits and radio shock jocks have been calling for my head. So, has all this ruckus hurt me? Have they succeeded in "silencing" me?

Well, take a look at my Oscar "backlash":

-- On the day after I criticized Bush and the war at the Academy Awards, attendance at "Bowling for Columbine" in theaters around the country went up 110% (source: Daily Variety/BoxOfficeMojo.com). The following weekend, the box office gross was up a whopping 73% (Variety). It is now the longest-running consecutive commercial release in America, 26 weeks in a row and still thriving. The number of theaters showing the film since the Oscars has INCREASED, and it has now bested the previous box office record for a documentary by nearly 300%.

-- Yesterday (April 6), "Stupid White Men" shot back to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. This is my book's 50th week on the list, 8 of them at number one, and this marks its fourth return to the top position, something that virtually never happens.

-- In the week after the Oscars, my website was getting 10-20 million hits A DAY (one day we even got more hits than the White House!). The mail has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive (and the hate mail has been hilarious!).

-- In the two days following the Oscars, more people pre-ordered the video for "Bowling for Columbine" on Amazon.com than the video for the Oscar winner for Best Picture, "Chicago".

-- In the past week, I have obtained funding for my next documentary, and I have been offered a slot back on television to do an updated version of "TV Nation"/ "The Awful Truth."

I tell you all of this because I want to counteract a message that is told to us all the time -- that, if you take a chance to speak out politically, you will live to regret it. It will hurt you in some way, usually financially. You could lose your job. Others may not hire you. You will lose friends. And on and on and on.

Take the Dixie Chicks. I'm sure you've all heard by now that, because their lead singer mentioned how she was ashamed that Bush was from her home state of Texas, their record sales have "plummeted" and country stations are boycotting their music. The truth is that their sales are NOT down. This week, after all the attacks, their album is still at #1 on the Billboard country charts and, according to Entertainment Weekly, on the pop charts during all the brouhaha, they ROSE from #6 to #4. In the New York Times, Frank Rich reports that he tried to find a ticket to ANY of the Dixie Chicks' upcoming concerts but he couldn't because they were all sold out. (To read Rich's column from yesterday's Times, "Bowling for Kennebunkport," go here: http://www.michaelmoore.com/articles...30406-nytimes. He does a pretty good job of laying it all out and talks about my next film and the impact it could potentially have.) Their song, "Travelin' Soldier" (a beautiful anti-war
ballad) was the most requested song on the internet last week. They have not been hurt at all -- but that is not what the media would have you believe. Why is that? Because there is nothing more important now than to keep the voices of dissent -- and those who would dare to ask a question -- SILENT. And what better way than to try and take a few well-known entertainers down with a pack of lies so that the average Joe or Jane gets the message loud and clear: "Wow, if they would do that to the Dixie Chicks or Michael Moore, what would they do to little ol' me?" In other words, shut the f--- up.

And that, my friends, is the real point of this film that I just got an Oscar for -- how those in charge use FEAR to manipulate the public into doing whatever they are told.

Well, the good news -- if there can be any good news this week -- is that not only have neither I nor others been silenced, we have been joined by millions of Americans who think the same way we do. Don't let the false patriots intimidate you by setting the agenda or the terms of the debate. Don't be defeated by polls that show 70% of the public in favor of the war. Remember that these Americans being polled are the same Americans whose kids (or neighbor's kids) have been sent over to Iraq. They are scared for the troops and they are being cowed into supporting a war they did not want -- and they want even less to see their friends, family, and neighbors come home dead. Everyone supports the troops returning home alive and all of us need to reach out and let their families know that.

Unfortunately, Bush and Co. are not through yet. This invasion and conquest will encourage them to do it again elsewhere. The real purpose of this war was to say to the rest of the world, "Don't Mess with Texas - If You Got What We Want, We're Coming to Get It!" This is not the time for the majority of us who believe in a peaceful America to be quiet. Make your voices heard. Despite what they have pulled off, it is still our country.

Yours,

Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com

[LAmind]

What a paranoid f*ck.

[cameraguy]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 30, 2003 05:27 AM: Message edited by: cameraguy ]</font>

[Alex]

A few topic posts have been started about the Michael Moore "Oscar tribute" he paid to President Bush on many different Hostboard forums.

I thought this was an excellent way to both actually post what Michael Moore originally said, and now his follow-up.

I thought it made for interesting reading.

As a filmmaker, Michael Moore is speaking his mind. Or should I only put things on here that I agree with 100%?

What did you think about his documentary movie, Bowling for Columbine?

[Mike Buckles]

I respect Mr. Moore's rights to his own opinions, and thankfully, he lives in a country where he can speak his mind...but I really don't feel the Academy Awards is the proper place or time for protest. If Mr.Moore feels as strongly as he does, he should make a film about it. Or lobby feverishly to abolish the electoral college. Personally, I like what Susan Sarandon did...as she walked on stage to present an award, she flashed a quick "peace" sign with her hand...she managed to get her view across without any disruption or grandstanding...a really class act, that Susan!

[Alex]

As good an example as that is Mikey B, look who was banned from the 20th anniversary of the film Bull Durham, Susan Sarandon!

Susan Sarandon, the star of Bull Durham, was scheduled to appear at a 20th Anniversary celebration in honor of the film Bull Durham. Instead Sarandon was banned from showing up by Major League Baseball and the event was either cancelled or downsized.

Just who was it that banned Susan Sarandon?

Major League Baseball, aka the same group that threatened to strike last summer while our troops were risking their lives in Afghanistan!

If talk of harming our troops via negative comments is the reason given why protestors should shut up while the war in Iraq is going on, then what do we call the threat of a strike stoppage planned by Major League Baseball last summer while our troops were in Afghanistan?

For those who claim that protestors are endangering our troops by their actions, explain to me how demoralizing our troops in Afghanistan in the middle of a war by threatening to strike didn't subsequently endanger our troops.

The morning before Major League Baseball threatened to strike in Mid-August 2002 and cancel the rest of the baseball season, CNN carried a live feed from Afghanistan of a serviceperson inviting the ballplayers to come to Afghanistan and visit, should they choose to strike! Of course this was said in a sardonic jest.

But in the weeks leading up to the baseball strike vote last August, baseball fans/servicemen were halfway around the world looking for a glimmer of light in their dangerous environment, and some of those serviceperson's turned to the U.S. and their favorite sport, Major League Baseball. Instead these serviceperson's had to read about and listen to the impending baseball strike.

If I had been in Afghanistan fighting a war against terrorism for my country, and in my one allowable moment of leisure I had read that back in the states Major League Baseball players who make the LEAGUE AVERAGE of two million dollars a year WANT EVEN MORE, or will strike, even as I risk my life for a fraction of that amount in Afghanistan, I would have been bummed out to say the least. It would have demoralized me.

And this "constricted" in need of an enema corporation known as Major League Baseball now condemns Susan Sarandon for speaking out when they themselves did WAY more to demoralize our troops last summer!!!!!!!

The last thing I want to see on television is any ballplayer talking about how they support are troops, now that they have their big fat pay raise from last summer.

If you see Michael Moore's Documentary, Bowling for Columbine, you'll see that he has already made his movie against the war & the bureaucracy, and his comments now are right in line with the position that won him the Oscar.

In some ways, I feel that Mr. Moore is just as much a fear monger as those he condemns for being fear mongers, but at least Moore prepares a well thought out opposing viewpoint in his documentary, a viewpoint that is ignored by the media most of the time.

[Mike Buckles]

Why would major league baseball have a problem with Susan Sarandon? And is "bull durham" really 20 years old...oh man...

[Alex]

Sorry about that, Bull Durham fifteen years old. (a slight sigh of relief! [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

It was the Hall of Fame committee who canned Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins from a 15 year reunion celebration because of their "outspokeness" about the war.

But the Hall of Fame is still an extension of the Major League Baseball. I seem to recall a group of Hall of Famers asking the ballplayers not to strike, and I believe it was because of the war that was going on.

[Mike Buckles]

I don't feel quite so old now...whew...almost made me go out and get my senior discount at the local Pancake house!