Historical Figure
Michael Moore
b. 1965
American filmmaker and author (born 1954)
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Biography
Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut documentary Roger & Me, a scathing look at the downfall of the automotive industry in 1980s Flint and Detroit.
Timeline
The story of Michael Moore, told in moments.
Releases Roger & Me, a documentary about GM's closure of plants in Flint. He chases GM chairman Roger Smith through corporate lobbies and shareholders' meetings. The film costs $260,000 and grosses $6.7 million. Warner Bros. distributes it. Documentaries aren't supposed to do this.
Bowling for Columbine wins the Academy Award for Best Documentary. He uses the acceptance speech to criticize the Iraq War. The audience boos. He doesn't flinch. The moment defines him more than the film does.
Fahrenheit 9/11 grosses $222 million worldwide, the highest-grossing documentary of all time. Disney refuses to distribute it. The Weinstein Company picks it up. It wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Half of America loves him. The other half can't stand him.
In Their Own Words (20)
We are the richest country in the world. We spend more on health care than any other country. Yet we have the worst health care in the Western world. Come on. We can do better than this.
As quoted in cite journal, 2007
How does it feel to know that the man you elected to lead us after we were attacked went ahead and put a guy in charge of FEMA whose main qualification was that he ran horse shows?
cite web, 2005
Stop this war! Shame on you Hobbits! Shame on you! This is a fictitious war! This Lord was not elected by the popular — [a computer-generated Oliphaunt steps on Moore, crushing him].
In a humorous sendup of Moore's previous acceptance speech for Best Documentary Feature at the 2003 Oscars. Moore himself delivered the lines in the opening act of the 2004 Oscars, while standing in front of a greenscreen which had the Battle of the Pelennor Fields scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King playing on it; a battle which was, itself, literally fictitious. (23 March 2004), 2004
A lot of political people, especially people on the left, have forgotten the importance of humor as an incredible weapon, and a vehicle through which to affect change.
The Corporation (2004), 2004
Early talk was that anti-Bush people would go see it and pro-Bush people would stay home, and that's not the case. Most people do not go around with labels. A lot of Republicans have open minds.
On the movie Fahrenheit 9/11 — Zap2it.com (27 June 2004), 2004
Artifacts (15)
I had to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not going to get it from the profits...
1968 non-fiction book The Making of Star Trek for Ballantine Books, splitting the royalties evenly. Roddenberry explained to Whitfield: "I had to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not going to get...
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