Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Michael Moores 'Where to Invade Next' Is a Love Letter to the Things
Europe Does Better Than US
________________________________________
Michael Moores 'Where to Invade Next' Is a Love Letter to the Things Europe
Does Better Than US
By Anna Silman [1] / Salon [2]
September 11, 2015
When it was announced that Michael Moore was releasing his first documentary
in six years this fall, titled Where To Invade Next, there was much
speculation as to what the film was about. Moore, who is usually not shy
about publicity, refused to talk about the film while he was shooting it,
and recently has revealed only [3]: Its not what you think it is.
Last night, an audience the Toronto International Film Festival was treated
to the world premiere of the project and a searing takedown of the
military industrial complex it is not. Rather, Where to Invade Next, is
part travelogue, part love letter to European socialist ideals, and part
urgent call to action.
In the film Moore travels through a string of (mostly) European countries
and invades them by taking back their best progressive ideals and
stealing them for the U.S. As he put it in a Q&A after the film, Moore
didnt shoot any of the film in the U.S; rather, he felt he could scrutinize
who we are in a more hopefully profound and devastating way by going
elsewhere, so we could maybe examine what happened to our American Soul.
In Italy, Moore revels in the notion of 8 weeks of paid vacation, and
5-month paid maternity leaves. In France, he is astounded at the healthy and
delicious lunches served in even the poorest schools (not to mention the
selection of 80 cheeses the school chef prepares for dessert). He examines
the humane Norweigan prison system, Portugals successful decriminalization
of drugs, Slovenias free higher education system, and Finlands eradication
of standardized tests. He uses Germany as a case study in how to treat your
workers and how come to terms with a painful national past. And he focuses
extensively on the idea that women are the most powerful force for social
change, from the many female bankers, politicians and CEOs who have helped
remake Iceland to the Tunisian activists who fought successfully for a
womens rights amendment to their constitution.
Along the way, Moore finds fascinating subjects to speak to, including a
Norwegian father who lost his son in the Utøya massacre yet does not seek
retribution and a compelling Tunisian journalist who implores Americans,
conquerers of global culture, to look beyond themselves and express
curiosity about the vast world outside their borders. And of course, he
contrasts European utopianism with the state of affairs in the U.S.,
interspersing clips of Ferguson, police and prison violence and the dismal
treatment of veterans to serve as a a harsh indictment of our failing social
welfare system.
While the film is squarely aimed at American audiences, the Toronto audience
lapped it up (no doubt engaging in a healthy dose of schadenfreude while
doing so) and gave Moore a standing ovation, and its safe to say that the
filmmakers longtime fans will feel the same way. With its polemical tone,
zippy humor and broad appeal to progressive ideas, it feels very much like a
compliment to his previous works, a broad progressive mission statement that
eschews the myopic focus of Bowling for Columbine or Sicko. That said,
the film feels even less balanced than his previous films, entirely glossing
over the many persistent social injustices that exist side-by-side in the
countries he exalts.
In a post-screening Q&A, Moore acknowledged that many will criticize the
films positive slant on countries where many egregious social issues still
exist (Italy? Italy is a fucking mess! Greece? He didnt go to Greece, did
he!), he said his goal here was to pick the flowers and not the weeds
and to show Americans that the world outside fortress U.S.A. isnt just a
socialist hellscape, because the mainstream media does plenty of that.
We dont need to watch another documentary saying how fucked up this thing
is or fucked up that thing is, Moore said. We need to get off our asses
and get inspired by what we can do.
Indeed, what be most surprising about the film is how optimistic it is. In
the Q&A, Moore explained that his crew lovingly dubbed the film Mikes
happy movie, and his no problems, all solutions movie. Certainly, it
feels like a very personal project for him; Moore appeared to almost tear up
onstage as he thanked everyone for the love that exists in the world and in
my life, citing recent personal events, including his fathers death and
recently turning 60, that prompted him to start living differently.
And whatever inner peace Moore has reached as of late, he wants to believe
that his country can attain a measure of the same. Pointing to things like
the fall of the Berlin Wall, which he witnessed as a young man, and more
recently, Americas legalization of gay marriage and watershed womens
rights movements like Patricia Arquettes Oscar speech, Moore said he
realized that anything can happen.
Ive never been a cynic, Ive always believed that cynicism is just a
different form of narcissism, he told the rapt Toronto audience. And I do
believe in the goodness of people, and I do believe most people have a
conscience, they know right from wrong
theyre just afraid, or theyre
ignorant, but once those things get fixed, stop living in fear, stop being
stupid, things will get better.
Citing his line in the film that anything is possible, Moore continued: I
believe we can start to make the case for all of this could happen in the
next 2-3 years, and I actually think that will happen. Its going to happen
because young people are going to make it happen. There are not as many
haters in the young generation as there are in the older generation
the
young people will come up and they dont have that level of hate, and they
know they got a raw deal, they got a raw fucking deal. And we gave it to
them, my generation, which was not right, and we should try to do something
about it.
But, just in case Michael Moores American utopia takes a few years to get
off the ground, Moore had a gift for the young people in the audience:
Pencils made by the unionized, middle-class German workers we saw in the
film, along with applications to tuition-free Slovenian university.
Anna Silman is Salon's deputy entertainment editor. Follow her on Twitter:
@annaesilman. [4]
Share on Facebook Share
Share on Twitter Tweet
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [5]
[6]
________________________________________
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/culture/michael-moores-where-invade-next-love-letter
-things-europe-does-better-us
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/anna-silman-1
[2] http://www.salon.com
[3] http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/10/michael-moore-where-invade-next-doc
[4] https://twitter.com/annaesilman
[5] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Michael Moores
'Where to Invade Next' Is a Love Letter to the Things Europe Does
Better Than US
[6] http://www.alternet.org/
[7] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Michael Moores 'Where to Invade Next' Is a Love Letter to the Things
Europe Does Better Than US
Michael Moores 'Where to Invade Next' Is a Love Letter to the Things Europe
Does Better Than US
By Anna Silman [1] / Salon [2]
September 11, 2015
When it was announced that Michael Moore was releasing his first documentary
in six years this fall, titled Where To Invade Next, there was much
speculation as to what the film was about. Moore, who is usually not shy
about publicity, refused to talk about the film while he was shooting it,
and recently has revealed only [3]: Its not what you think it is.
Last night, an audience the Toronto International Film Festival was treated
to the world premiere of the project and a searing takedown of the
military industrial complex it is not. Rather, Where to Invade Next, is
part travelogue, part love letter to European socialist ideals, and part
urgent call to action.
In the film Moore travels through a string of (mostly) European countries
and invades them by taking back their best progressive ideals and
stealing them for the U.S. As he put it in a Q&A after the film, Moore
didnt shoot any of the film in the U.S; rather, he felt he could scrutinize
who we are in a more hopefully profound and devastating way by going
elsewhere, so we could maybe examine what happened to our American Soul.
In Italy, Moore revels in the notion of 8 weeks of paid vacation, and
5-month paid maternity leaves. In France, he is astounded at the healthy and
delicious lunches served in even the poorest schools (not to mention the
selection of 80 cheeses the school chef prepares for dessert). He examines
the humane Norweigan prison system, Portugals successful decriminalization
of drugs, Slovenias free higher education system, and Finlands eradication
of standardized tests. He uses Germany as a case study in how to treat your
workers and how come to terms with a painful national past. And he focuses
extensively on the idea that women are the most powerful force for social
change, from the many female bankers, politicians and CEOs who have helped
remake Iceland to the Tunisian activists who fought successfully for a
womens rights amendment to their constitution.
Along the way, Moore finds fascinating subjects to speak to, including a
Norwegian father who lost his son in the Utøya massacre yet does not seek
retribution and a compelling Tunisian journalist who implores Americans,
conquerers of global culture, to look beyond themselves and express
curiosity about the vast world outside their borders. And of course, he
contrasts European utopianism with the state of affairs in the U.S.,
interspersing clips of Ferguson, police and prison violence and the dismal
treatment of veterans to serve as a a harsh indictment of our failing social
welfare system.
While the film is squarely aimed at American audiences, the Toronto audience
lapped it up (no doubt engaging in a healthy dose of schadenfreude while
doing so) and gave Moore a standing ovation, and its safe to say that the
filmmakers longtime fans will feel the same way. With its polemical tone,
zippy humor and broad appeal to progressive ideas, it feels very much like a
compliment to his previous works, a broad progressive mission statement that
eschews the myopic focus of Bowling for Columbine or Sicko. That said,
the film feels even less balanced than his previous films, entirely glossing
over the many persistent social injustices that exist side-by-side in the
countries he exalts.
In a post-screening Q&A, Moore acknowledged that many will criticize the
films positive slant on countries where many egregious social issues still
exist (Italy? Italy is a fucking mess! Greece? He didnt go to Greece, did
he!), he said his goal here was to pick the flowers and not the weeds
and to show Americans that the world outside fortress U.S.A. isnt just a
socialist hellscape, because the mainstream media does plenty of that.
We dont need to watch another documentary saying how fucked up this thing
is or fucked up that thing is, Moore said. We need to get off our asses
and get inspired by what we can do.
Indeed, what be most surprising about the film is how optimistic it is. In
the Q&A, Moore explained that his crew lovingly dubbed the film Mikes
happy movie, and his no problems, all solutions movie. Certainly, it
feels like a very personal project for him; Moore appeared to almost tear up
onstage as he thanked everyone for the love that exists in the world and in
my life, citing recent personal events, including his fathers death and
recently turning 60, that prompted him to start living differently.
And whatever inner peace Moore has reached as of late, he wants to believe
that his country can attain a measure of the same. Pointing to things like
the fall of the Berlin Wall, which he witnessed as a young man, and more
recently, Americas legalization of gay marriage and watershed womens
rights movements like Patricia Arquettes Oscar speech, Moore said he
realized that anything can happen.
Ive never been a cynic, Ive always believed that cynicism is just a
different form of narcissism, he told the rapt Toronto audience. And I do
believe in the goodness of people, and I do believe most people have a
conscience, they know right from wrong
theyre just afraid, or theyre
ignorant, but once those things get fixed, stop living in fear, stop being
stupid, things will get better.
Citing his line in the film that anything is possible, Moore continued: I
believe we can start to make the case for all of this could happen in the
next 2-3 years, and I actually think that will happen. Its going to happen
because young people are going to make it happen. There are not as many
haters in the young generation as there are in the older generation
the
young people will come up and they dont have that level of hate, and they
know they got a raw deal, they got a raw fucking deal. And we gave it to
them, my generation, which was not right, and we should try to do something
about it.
But, just in case Michael Moores American utopia takes a few years to get
off the ground, Moore had a gift for the young people in the audience:
Pencils made by the unionized, middle-class German workers we saw in the
film, along with applications to tuition-free Slovenian university.
Anna Silman is Salon's deputy entertainment editor. Follow her on Twitter:
@annaesilman. [4]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [5]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[6]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/culture/michael-moores-where-invade-next-love-letter
-things-europe-does-better-us
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/anna-silman-1
[2] http://www.salon.com
[3] http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/10/michael-moore-where-invade-next-doc
[4] https://twitter.com/annaesilman
[5] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Michael Moores
'Where to Invade Next' Is a Love Letter to the Things Europe Does
Better Than US
[6] http://www.alternet.org/
[7] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
