Michael Moore, ready to pass the baton?

by Carl Jackson

SEDONA, AZ - (March 4, 2010) - Filmmaker Michael Moore was the featured guest at the 16th Annual Sedona International Film Festival held in Sedona, Arizona the week of February 21, 2010.

Moore is the director and star of independent films "Roger & Me," "Bowling from Columbine," "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Sicko," and "Capitalism: A Love Story."  Both "Roger & Me" and "Capitalism: A Love Story" screened at the Festival with Moore on hand for Q&A. 

The filmmaker was spotted throughout the week in his trademark baseball cap, t-shirt, and hoodie; watching films, chatting with filmgoers, and even singing a little karaoke at one of the late night Festival parties.  Plain clothed Sedona police officers were always nearby to protect the controversial liberal satirist. 

On February 27, Moore spoke to a packed house of more than 250 people at the beautiful L'Auberge de Sedona. 

Perhaps it was just a long week of back-to-back appearances, or maybe 20 years of making films that speak out against corporate greed, the war in Iraq, and the U.S. healthcare system have finally caught up to him; but the almost 56 year-old Moore seemed ready to pass the liberal baton to a younger generation.

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Moore admitted that years of personal attacks from the right wing media and threats from conservative loonies have taken their toll.  "I'm tired. I've done this for 20 years," he said. 

About the Iraq War he said, "I remember Keith Olbermann attacking me. I remember Al Franken telling me the war was right...liberals were for the war...So...I'm not able to turn around GM, I'm not able to save Flint, I'm not able to stop a war...[As for healthcare], I see what's going to happen: nada.  After all this...on a personal level, it's taken a lot out of me...what's the friggin' point?  Nothing really seems to change."

He admitted that universal healthcare could make it longer for people to get treated, but said that would be because more Americans would be covered.  "How can we feel anything but shame for not letting 47 million Americans in line with us?" he said.  According to Moore, the number one cause of foreclosures in the United States is high medical bills, a problem that doesn't exist in Canada.  He also believes that the American Medical Association has created a quota system that controls the amount of doctors that graduate from medical school. 

When asked about Utah's new law that would make it a crime to have a miscarriage, Moore said, "You know, for certain states, I don't know why they're in the country...I think it's a much more sinister thing in terms of pushing religious beliefs once again on people."

He also had harsh words for states in the south.  "I've never understood why we fought the Civil War.  Why did we want to keep the south, can anyone help me with that? I'm sorry. What was the point of losing all those lives, so we could have Alabama, Texas? Do you realize that since Kennedy we haven't had one president other than from the south or west until Obama?"

Pointing to the audience Moore said, "I don't want you to be in the audience watching my films. I want to be in the audience watching your films...I want to be the one to soak up films that get me energized to become active and make a difference."  He said he wants to see a million Michael Moores, and he has high hopes that the Internet and the younger generation will help spread the liberal word.

Actor and comedian Jerry Stiller was also at the Festival and in the audience.  When Moore was asked how he handles personal threats, Moore said he's not a brave person.  Stiller stood up and spoke. "[Michael], you have passed the torch on to hundreds and hundreds of people.  You said you're not a very brave person...but at some point in our thinking and in our life we do something we don't think we can do...You're the man."

The product of the Catholic seminary, Moore seems to be on a mission to convert people to his liberal church, and says that Democrats and Republicans have more in common than not, citing that everyone wants equal pay for women, clean air, and wouldn't let a kid take an assault weapon to school.

Moore said that "Capitalism: A Love Story" is his favorite movie, and might be his last.  "This film is a culmination of 20 years of me thinking this stuff out...It goes right to the core of all these other problems I've been talking about: healthcare, the war, corporations...We have an economic system that is unfair, it's unjust, and it's not democratic.  It's rigged now. It's a Three-card Monte game, it's not capitalism anymore, it's something else."

He encouraged the audience to become missionaries and spread the liberal word in red neck bars throughout the State of Arizona.

When asked when he would return to Arizona, Moore said, "When you elect a Democrat as senator."