the other press >>> CULTURE Moore misses the mark Tyler Bradford Culture Editor Michael Moore April 23rd Vogue Theatre Lining up for the free “lecture” by social activist, comedian, author and documentari- “an, Michael Moore was rather reminiscent of the bread lines in the communist regime of the USSR. You know, the ones where they waited in line all day for a loaf of bread and a block of cheese. Like the USSR’s socialism, the free lecture sounded like a good idea, but in the end, it was rather disappointing. For those who aren’t familiar with Michael Moore, he burst on the scene in 1989 with Roger and Me, a documentary that looked at labour injustices in the automotive industry and asked Roger Smith, chairman of the world’s largest corporation, General Motors, how he could turn Flint, Michigan (Moore’s hometown), “into a ghost town.” The film won numerous awards and offered Moore the opportunity to create films, television, and books that sought to uncover corporate and government hypocrisies, injustices, and flat- out lies. From there, Moore has gone on to win an Emmy for his TV show, TV Nation, and was nominated for an Emmy for his last foray into television, The Awful Truth. In addition to his current book Stupid White Men, which prompted Moore’s visit to Vancouver, he also wrote Downsize This and_ co-wrote Adventures of a TV Nation. Also to Moore’s credit is the film The Big One, a film that took Nike to task for hiring children to make its shoes. The lecture sponsored by the UBC Bookstore and Harper Collins, was a free event with tickets being handed out to eager fans starting at 5:30, doors opening at 6, and Moore scheduled to hit the stage at 7. If only it had been that easy. Arriving at 4:30 in the afternoon placed this reviewer roughly 500th in the line. By the time tickets were given out an hour later, roughly a hundred folks had joined friends and “butted” in line. No worries here of course. Shitty for the folks at the end of the line who ended up without tickets though. All was good (except for the cacophonous David Byrne blaring from the loudspeakers) once the audience entered the Vogue as we waited in anticipation for Moore to take the stage. Disappointingly, at 7:30, half an hour after Moore was scheduled to take the stage, one of the organizers informed us that Moore had been delayed and was currently “on the Oak Street Bridge.” Moore finally took the stage at 8:30 after most in the crowd had been waiting for four hours or more. The lecture was in support of Michael Moore’s recent book Stupid White Men; a book that may be Moore’s most remarkable success. Sadly, his recent visit to Vancouver was anything but. After. the lengthy wait, Moore finally took the stage and launched into a talk that included a rant about U.S. President Bush’s links to the Taliban and praise for the librarian whose email campaign helped Stupid White Men finally get pub- lished. While the first hour was okay, consisting of a melange of political satire, unbacked statis- tics and heady self-righteousness, the remainder of Moore’s lecture seemed to implode as the heavy-set left-winger lost con- trol of the crowd. By responding to heckles from extremists in the crowd, it started a downward spiral where it was unclear who was in control of the lecture. At that point, many in the crowd (including your reviewer) left the Vogue. At a time when the U.S. public remains strongly supportive of the Bush administra- tion, his book has stood atop the New York Times bestseller list in the U.S. for over a month, as well as topping the best-seller list here in Canada and over the pond in the U.K. This is especially impressive considering that it comes at a time when U.S. Republican leaders are using Bush’s popularity to equate any criticism of U.S. policy with treason; Moore’s success should be a reason for any democracy-lovers to cheer. The overwhelming response to Stupid White Men is something Moore latched onto during his talk, but rather than using it as a stepping stone to greater discussion he chose rather to beat his chest with how many copies of the book had sold and how great it was. While most in the crowd understood his appearance was in promotion of the new book, it came as a disappointment that Moore, one of the most recognizable social- ists in media, did little to offer direction for the many young activists in the crowd, but rather used the forum to have a few cheap laughs and to shill a book. - >>>otherpress 13.