Shad

I went out to the Alamo Drafthouse this past weekend to catch the opening night of Micheal Moore’s newest documetary, Fahrenheit 9/11. I’ve always been a pretty big fan of his work in the past, and wanted to see exactly how he was going to take on the Bush administration. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t aggree with everything that Moore does or stands for, but I can honestly say that I respect his resolve. To beleive something so deeply and verbally is respectable.

About 5 years ago I was in college in Virginia and I worked for the newspaper. I was photo editor for a 4 day-a-week color paper. I was once lucky enough to be allowed to “cover” a Micheal Moore talk. Front row. Snapping a few pics. And listening. I can honestly say that I’ve not heard a better speaker in my life. Not only was he prepared with an interesting speech & video clips of his various works, but he also answered questions… for 3 hours. He answered questions until there was no one else with a question. And some of his answers were surprising.

Random Person: “In the Awful Truth you and your crew stop and eat a McDonald’s… doesn’t that make you some kind of incredible hypocrite? They’re one of the largest corporations in this country!”

Moore: “Of course it does… why do you think I put it in there (you did know that I edited this myself?). I purposely wanted to put this in there to show people that you really can’t totally trust anyone to think FOR you. I’m just another guy… a guy with a camera and a little fame… but a guy none the less. Don’t let people think for you. Figure it out for yourself.”

After he was finished, the place pretty much cleared out. After 30 mins or so, when all but 20 people had left, Moore emerged to sign books. He signed books for another hour or so, spending a few minutes talking and learning the story of each person in the line to get thier books and copies of Roger & Me signed. This is what impressed me the most. Each person that approached him had an honest conversation witht he man. Not just a nice little “Thanks for coming out” but an actual conversation. In that moment I realized how he managed to get the footage of people that he does. He actually cares. You could see it in his eyes. You could hear it in his voice. He really cared about the stories of those people.

Needless to say, I was impressed.

Bush on the other hand… while I’ve not met him personally… I can’t see him answering questions honestly for 2 hours an signing books while conversing with the rif raf.

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