Jonathan+Deome

__Michael Moore: A Man of Controversy__





 Michael Moore is a film maker who has addressed many of our country’s issues and problems in ways that have provoked criticism and praise alike. He has addressed many topics from the controversial war on terror, our health care system, and the financial crisis we experienced in the fall of 2008. Many of his movies ultimately criticized the way big corporations have taken advantage of the common man and how government has overstepped its bounds. Michael Moore tries to show through his documentaries how the government goes too far and exceeds the limits of its power. Michael Moore was born in Flint, Michigan on April 23, 1954. His father was a spark plug assembler for one of the General Motors factories. Michael worked in those same factories that his father worked in until he quit to work for the __Mother Jones__ which is a liberal political magazine. He was fired by the magazine when they refused to allow Moore to cover the issue of General Motors closing down auto plants in Flint, Michigan. He settled suit with the magazine out of court for $58,000 which he use to fund his very first documentary movie called __Roger & Me__ documenting the closing of 30,000 auto plants in Flint.



Moore credits __Roger & Me__ for spearheading his new movie called __Capitalism: A Love Story__. In the movie, he addresses the flaws in our current economic system. Moore illustrates how the major corporations and whistle blowers on Wall St continue to go about their business unchecked. In the movie he recounts a story of a Citibank report describing the United States as a plutocracy in which the top one percent of the country has all the wealth while the other 99 percent has very little and sometimes nothing at all.



Michael Moore states he has been waiting twenty years to make a movie that followed up on his initial beliefs of the failure of the United States economy and the big difference in the social classes. In many ways Michael Moore is right about the state of the United States economy. He claims that the closing of the 30,000 auto plants had a profound impact on the city of Flint and is the main reason for the social and economic collapse of the town. This message is reiterated in __Capitalism: A Love Story__ when he interviews small town folks and some families with housing foreclosures. The most profitable and controversial documentary of his movie making career is Fahrenheit 9/11. In this movie he questions the United States war on terror and the controversial war in Iraq. The film criticizes the Bush administration and its methods of combating the war and the taking advantage of his executive powers to pass laws that overreach the executive branch. Michael Moore describes how it is the lower class that are always the first people to go and defend their country while the upper class is exempt from this.

Michael Moore did a great job tying together many different aspects of his movies. He was able to show Flint, Michigan (Michael Moore’s hometown) as an example of how the economy and war can affect a town that has gone through hard times and how the upper class can take advantage of those people. Even in his documentary film called Sicko, Moore explains how the upper class receives some of the best health care in America, while the common man does not receive the equivalent treatment that the upper class receives. He tries to show the divide in the health care system by going to other countries that have universal health care and comparing it to our countries health care system.

Many reasons why Michael Moore is controversial is the methods he uses in the documentaries. Instead of just narrating the movie, he will make unscheduled appearances and irritate the interviewer. Sometimes he will get a straight answer from the interviewer and sometimes the person will just blow him off. Sometimes he will add a bit of comedy into his movies as well. In Fahrenheit 9/11, he learns that some members of Congress did not read the Patriot Act before voting on it. Michael Moore then rents a ice cream truck then drives down to the Capitol Building reading the Patriot act out loud on a loudspeaker. Many people believe that Michael Moore is a left-wing liberal that just makes movies that bash the opposing party. Michael Moore puts equal blame onto both parties for the failures that he has documented in his movies. He tries to show how the United States still has problems and a social divide even though we are one of the most powerful and democratic countries in the world. Even if people do not want to hear what problems we have, he attempts to address them in a way that most people will understand. Some people call it propaganda; I call it a very intelligent way of getting the message of America’s issues addressed. From his first movie __Roger & Me__ to his latest movie __Capitalism: A Love Story__ Moore addresses the problems we have in this country. No matter if its costing jobs from a local town destroying is economy, getting our country into unnecessary wars, poor health care, our the enormous social divide that we have in this country he tries to show the problems that the United States has. He addresses the issues and explains solutions that we need to incorporate to make it better. It does not matter if your left-wing or right-wing, you are entitled to your opinion. However you owe it to yourself to listen to what he has to say how in-depth his information is. One way or another and he hits the issues right on the nose. Let’s hope his controversial ways keeps getting the message out there and people will listen.

Jonathan Deome 11/15/09 ENGL 101 Sec 8 __Turner Free Library__ When you go to the Turner Free Library, not only do you get the type of environment that you would expect from a library, but you also get the centre feel of the town. It’s a mixture of peace and quiet and loud noisy feel of the outside. The style of the building also sets it apart from most other buildings in the area. Not to mention its strategic location to several key locations in that general vicinity. The Turner Free Library is located in the center of the town of Randolph. Major roads connect to the center where the majority of traffic flows through. Plus there are two bus stops that are right in front of the library that bring people from all over the Norfolk county area. Also it is located near Randolph High School, so it provides a very good location for students to come after school to study and to do homework. When you first arrive at the Turner Free Library, you see that is really different from the other buildings that you see in the town center and from other buildings that you see around town. It is made out of red brick layers with white pillars in the front. Around the building lays a metal fence with ferns going and properly trimmed. What I also like about the outside of the library is that there is a memorial dedicated to the U.S. servicemen who gave there lives during World War two. It is also located right next to the fire station and the police station which makes is easy for them if anything were to happen inside the library. When you head inside the library, you see many things that are accustomed to what you would see in a library. However, there is one thing that you would not expect to see inside a library and that is a fish tank with a built in waterfall. The fish tank itself is actually made out of marble with many different types of fish inside. The built in waterfall does make a little noise but it is not loud enough to make you lose concentration from what you are doing. Inside the library there are three levels of which the library are divided up into. As with most libraries, the levels are divided up into categories with all the books in alphabetical order. Many people show up to check out books to read or to do research. They range from adult, to young adult, and to children books. What is most unique about this library is the fact that there are so many different things that help show the history of the town. There are old paintings of Mr. Turner which the library is named after. Plus there are old paintings of what the town looked like back in the early 1900’s. It shows what it would look like back in the days when we were too young to even think the town would even be in existence. A couple of years ago, they added in some new hp computers that would help students or customers in research. These are by far the most important thing that is located inside of the library. It helps students if they need to do homework or if people want to reserve a book. There is also a copier machine located near the entrance of the library. It costs five to ten cents a copy so it’s not too expensive. The Turner Free Library is most defiantly a “third place”. I put the library in the same category as a coffee shop like Starbucks. Many people show up to not necessarily hang out but to get together and to study and do homework. After school Monday thru Friday, it can be pretty hectic. Sometimes you hear some talking inside the library but it is only small talk that you can barely hear. Pretty much the only thing that you will hear is the occasional question asked at the information desk or somebody answering the phone inside one of the offices. Cell phones or beepers are not allowed on inside the library due to it will disrupt people trying to read or study. It’s the location that appeals to me and to people to come to the Turner Free Library. It’s easy to access which allows it to be one of the most accessible libraries around.

__Works Cited__ 1. http://www.townofrandolph.com/Public_Documents/RandolphMA_Library/index8