Michael and Me

A camera crew follows the liberal poster boy around in the upcoming Michael Moore Hates America.

Here’s a brief email interview that I, Gene Mahoney, had with the film’s director, Mike Wilson...

Was there one defining moment when you decided to make this movie or was it just something you decided to do gradually?

I had been thinking about pulling a "Michael Moore" on Michael Moore for a while (like many filmmakers had thought about before). When the Oscar speech happened, I thought "I guess I don't need to do this anymore. People probably realize now what this guy is really about." So the day after the Oscars, I was having lunch with my producer Chris Ohlsen, and he suggested that if I was going to do this project, now was the time.

As we developed the idea, I came to realize that simply following Michael Moore around or doing a hatchet job on his work would be boring, so we started thinking about how to inspire people with the film. It became clear to me, as I researched, that Moore is really about telling people that they don't have a chance in life. I've always believed that no matter what color, gender or class you're from, that you have a shot in this country. You might fail repeatedly, but if you have the guts to persevere, you'll eventually succeed. So that became the message of the film... we're contrasting Moore's image of the U.S. with mine. And in the process, we're debunking some of the myths Moore has helped perpetuate by telling the story of people whose lives contradict his message.

What has Moore's response been to your requests to interview him?

For a long time, he just ignored us... I emailed, faxed, and called. But once he was on MSNBC's “Buchanan & Press” and the late Jerry Nachman held up our press kit and asked him if he would do an interview with me, things changed. He gave some lame excuse and sort of backpedaled. Then, when he was in Minneapolis (my hometown) at the University of Minnesota, I went up during the Q&A and told him who I was, what I was doing, and that I'd been requesting interviews with him for 6 months. I asked him for an interview and he literally flipped out. Started yelling and screaming that I hate America... but he didn't actually decline. We filmed the whole thing, and it will be in the film. It's hilarious.

Since then, he's been spouting off about it in his speeches, and he's been asked about it by journalists, so I know we've made an impact.

What are some of his biggest distortions... or lies?

There are a ton of inaccuracies in his work that have to do with manipulating statistics, etc. Some of it's rather nitpicky, but all of it has to do with changing the conversation around the issues Moore raises to a place where it shouldn't be. I think it's fine for Americans to debate things like guns and socialized medicine, but we have to be honest about them. And while the film goes through some of those inaccuracies, I'm more interested in the big picture... the Big American Conversation about where we are, who we want to be, and where we're going. I'm interested in presenting a side of that discussion that you don't hear all that often.

And I think his biggest lie is in "Dude, Where's My Country?" He writes, "you'll never be rich. The odds of that happening are about 1 in a million." I think that's so egregious to say to Americans. Here's a guy with a high school education, who simply did what he believed, and made a huge fortune. And he has the nerve to tell people that they aren't worthy of the same result in life. I think that is really unAmerican. We should reassure people that they can achieve whatever they can dream and we should do what we can to help them do that.

Why do you think the mainstream media hasn't exposed these false statements?

I think they've been really enthralled and taken in by his "average Joe" shtick. They look at anyone who would debunk him as a right-wing wacko. The fact is that there are a lot of people like me who question everything and see through Moore's BS. That's not to say that he doesn't bring up some valid issues. It's perfectly acceptable to me for him to come from a socialist perspective and argue issues. But when you create documentaries, people often perceive your work as truth, so it's a real gray area.

And to be fair, I don't expect Michael Moore to be objective, but I expect him to offer me the disclaimer. He often says that the people who see and read his work know where he's coming from. That may be true, but I also think he should let them know that he's manipulating the conversation.

Apparently all of Hollywood aren't knee-jerk (emphasis on the jerk) lefties. Some celebrities are interviewed in your movie that disagree with Moore.

Penn Jillette is my favorite celeb so far. He's the big loud half of Penn & Teller and probably the most outspoken libertarian I've ever met. And he just doesn't buy into the BS. What's interesting about that is that Penn is a guy who deceives people on stage for a living, and he knows how it's done. So he's an expert in that area. And he's a very smart guy. Probably the smartest celebrity I've ever met and very willing to talk about manipulation and how it's used to infringe on liberty.

I was in my mid twenties when "Roger and Me" came out, so I was a lot more liberal, and I enjoyed the movie at the time. Were there significant misrepresentations in the movie, too?

There were some... I think the most widely talked-about issue had to do with Moore's manipulation of the chronology of events in that film. This is a trend that carries over into his other work. But to be fair, I think the Michael Moore who made that film was a different man. An old friend of his told me that when “Roger & Me” came out, Moore was a genuinely caring guy. He was flat broke, but he understood the power of one voice. I can appreciate that. It seems that he's really changed over the years, though, sort of buying into his own worth. So many people who know him think he's become a very different person.

Your movie is set to be released this summer, when his “Fahrenheit 911” movie comes out. Any advance word on that movie? Do you think he might finally put out something truthful or is it just another pack of lies?

I've been approached by folks like PABAAH (Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti-American Hollywood), who asked me to sign a petition to boycott the film and any theater that shows it. They've been very supportive of our project and I appreciate that, but I don't know what's in “Fahrenheit 911”. If it follows the same formula as “Bowling for Columbine”, it will be similar to “Dude, Where's My Country?” which was clearly a smear on Bush, and nothing more. It tried to raise issues in a ridiculous way. Most of the "connections" he drew between the Bush and bin Laden families were from very questionable sources, and mostly insignificant.

It's like this... I once made copies at Kinko’s. If one of the hijackers had worked at Kinko’s before 9-11, Moore would claim that I was in cahoots with the terrorists. It's just silly. The Bush family is wealthy... they do business with a lot of organizations, just like most wealthy people do. But I certainly don't believe that because Bush and Osama's dads invested in the same oil company that they were planning the attacks together. It's just ridiculous. And my fear is that by manipulating the truth, that Moore will really change the course of democracy for the worst. It might be a stretch, but look at the fallout of his work in the past. So our film is just here to say, "Hey! Think for yourselves! Look at the sources of this information before making a decision!

For more info visit michaelmoorehatesamerica.com

What’s that? Why didn’t I interview Michael Moore to get his side of the story?
Hey, this guy can’t get an interview with him so you think I have a chance in Hell?