[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [SRRTAC-L:10653] Fw: Michael Moore on Iraq and Oscar "Backlash"

[Alfred Kagan]

>From: "Elaine Harger" <eharger at agoron.com>
>To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l at ala.org>
>Subject: [SRRTAC-L:10653] Fw: Michael Moore on Iraq and Oscar "Backlash"
>Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2003 21:39:22 -0700
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>Dear Colleagues,
>
>Please forgive me if you've received this via other lists, but I think it's
>too good not to forward to everybody I know.
>
>Elaine
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "ILC" <ilcinfo at earthlink.net>
>To: <Recipient List Suppressed:>
>Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 8:31 AM
>Subject: Michael Moore on Iraq and Oscar "Backlash"
>
>
>>    My Oscar "Backlash": "Stupid White Men" Back At #1, "Bowling" Breaks
>>  New Records
>>
>>         http://www.michaelmoore.com/
>>
>>         Dear friends,
>>
>>         It appears that the Bush administration will have succeeded in
>>  colonizing Iraq sometime in the next few days. This is a blunder of such
>>  magnitude -- and we will pay for it for years to come. It was not worth
>the
>>  life of one single American kid in uniform, let alone the thousands of
>Iraqis
>>  who have died, and my condolences and prayers go out to all of them.
>>
>>         So, where are all those weapons of mass destruction that were the
>>  pretense for this war? Ha! There is so much to say about all this, but I
>will
>>  save it for later.
>>
>>         What I am most concerned about right now is that all of you -- the
>>  majority of Americans who did not support this war in the first place --
>not
>>  go silent or be intimidated by what will be touted as some great military
>vict
>>  ory. Now, more than ever, the voices of peace and truth must be heard. I
>have
>>  received a lot of mail from people who are feeling a profound sense of
>>  despair and believe that their voices have been drowned out by the drums
>and
>>  bombs of false patriotism. Some are afraid of retaliation at work or at
>>  school or in their neighborhoods because they have been vocal proponents
>of
>>  peace. They have been told over and over that it is not "appropriate" to
>>  protest once the country is at war, and that your only duty now is to
>>  "support the troops."
>>
>>         Can I share with you what it's been like for me since I used my
>time on
>>  the Oscar stage two weeks ago to speak out against Bush and this war? I
>hope
>>  that, in reading what I'm about to tell you, you'll feel a bit more
>>  emboldened to make your voice heard in whatever way or forum that is open
>to
>>  you.
>>
>>         When "Bowling for Columbine" was announced as the Oscar winner for
>Best
>>  Documentary at the Academy Awards, the audience rose to its feet. It was a
>>  great moment, one that I will always cherish. They were standing and
>cheering
>>  for a film that says we Americans are a uniquely violent people, using our
>>  massive stash of guns to kill each other and to use them against many
>>  countries around the world. They were applauding a film that shows George
>W.
>>  Bush using fictitious fears to frighten the public into giving him
>whatever
>>  he wants. And they were honoring a film that states the following: The
>first
>>  Gulf War was an attempt to reinstall the dictator of Kuwait; Saddam
>Hussein
>>  was armed with weapons from the United States; and the American government
>is
>>  responsible for the deaths of a half-million children in Iraq over the
>past
>>  decade through its sanctions and bombing. That was the movie they were
>>  cheering, that was the movie they voted for, and so I decided that is what
>I
>>  should acknowledge in my speech.
>>
>>         And, thus, I said the following from the Oscar stage:
>>
>>         "On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and Michael Donovan
>(from
>>  Canada), I would like to thank the Academy for this award. I have invited
>the
>>  other Documentary nominees on stage with me. They are here in solidarity
>  > because we like non-fiction. We like non-fiction because we live in
>>  fictitious times. We live in a time where fictitious election results give
>us
>>  a fictitious president. We are now fighting a war for fictitious reasons.
>>  Whether it's the fiction of duct tape or the fictitious 'Orange Alerts,'
>we
>>  are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you. And,
>>  whenever you've got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, your time
>is
>>  up."
>>
>>         Halfway through my remarks, some in the audience started to cheer.
>That
>>  immediately set off a group of people in the balcony who started to boo.
>Then
>>  those supporting my remarks started to shout down the booers. The L. A.
>Times
>>  reported that the director of the show started screaming at the orchestra
>>  "Music! Music!" in order to cut me off, so the band dutifully struck up a
>>  tune and my time was up. (For more on why I said what I said, you can read
>>  the op-ed I wrote for the L.A. Times, plus other reaction from around the
>>  country at my website)
>>
>>         The next day -- and in the two weeks since -- the right-wing
>pundits
>>  and radio shock jocks have been calling for my head. So, has all this
>ruckus
>>  hurt me? Have they succeeded in "silencing" me?
>>
>>         Well, take a look at my Oscar "backlash":
>>
>>         -- On the day after I criticized Bush and the war at the Academy
>>  Awards, attendance at "Bowling for Columbine" in theaters around the
>country
>>  went up 110% (source: Daily Variety/BoxOfficeMojo.com). The following
>>  weekend, the box office gross was up a whopping 73% (Variety). It is now
>the
>>  longest-running consecutive commercial release in America, 26 weeks in a
>row
>>  and still thriving. The number of theaters showing the film since the
>Oscars
>>  has INCREASED, and it has now bested the previous box office record for a
>>  documentary by nearly 300%.
>>
>>         -- Yesterday (April 6), "Stupid White Men" shot back to #1 on the
>New
>>  York Times bestseller list. This is my book's 50th week on the list, 8 of
>>  them at number one, and this marks its fourth return to the top position,
>>  something that virtually never happens.
>>
>>         -- In the week after the Oscars, my website was getting 10-20
>million
>>  hits A DAY (one day we even got more hits than the White House!). The mail
>>  has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive (and the hate mail has
>been
>>  hilarious!).
>>
>>         -- In the two days following the Oscars, more people pre-ordered
>the
>>  video for "Bowling for Columbine" on Amazon.com than the video for the
>Oscar
>>  winner for Best Picture, "Chicago."
>>
>>         -- In the past week, I have obtained funding for my next
>documentary,
>>  and I have been offered a slot back on television to do an updated version
>of
>>  "TV Nation"/ "The Awful Truth."
>>
>>         I tell you all of this because I want to counteract a message that
>is
>>  told to us all the time -- that, if you take a chance to speak out
>>  politically, you will live to regret it. It will hurt you in some way,
>>  usually financially. You could lose your job. Others may not hire you. You
>>  will lose friends. And on and on and on.
>>
>>         Take the Dixie Chicks. I'm sure you've all heard by now that,
>because
>>  their lead singer mentioned how she was ashamed that Bush was from her
>home
>>  state of Texas, their record sales have "plummeted" and country stations
>are
>>  boycotting their music. The truth is that their sales are NOT down. This
>>  week, after all the attacks, their album is still at #1 on the Billboard
>>  country charts and, according to Entertainment Weekly, on the pop charts
>>  during all the brouhaha, they ROSE from #6 to #4. In the New York Times,
>>  Frank Rich reports that he tried to find a ticket to ANY of the Dixie
>Chicks'
>>  upcoming concerts but he couldn't because they were all sold out. (To read
>>  Rich's column from yesterday's Times, "Bowling for Kennebunkport," go
>here.
>>  He does a pretty good job of laying it all out and talks about my next
>film
>>  and the impact it could potentially have.) Their song, "Travelin' Soldier"
>(a
>>  beautiful anti-war ballad) was the most requested song on the internet
>last
>>  week. They have not been hurt at all -- but that is not what the media
>would
>>  have you believe. Why is that? Because there is nothing more important now
>>  than to keep the voices of dissent -- and those who would dare to ask a
>>  question -- SILENT. And what better way than to try and take a few
>well-known
>>  entertainers down with a pack of lies so that the average Joe or Jane gets
>>  the message loud and clear: "Wow, if they would do that to the Dixie
>Chicks
>>  or Michael Moore, what would they do to little ol' me?" In other words,
>shut
>>  the f--- up.
>>
>>         And that, my friends, is the real point of this film that I just
>got an
>>  Oscar for -- how those in charge use FEAR to manipulate the public into
>doing
>>  whatever they are told.
>>
>>         Well, the good news -- if there can be any good news this week --
>is
>>  that not only have neither I nor others been silenced, we have been joined
>by
>>  millions of Americans who think the same way we do. Don't let the false
>>  patriots intimidate you by setting the agenda or the terms of the debate.
>>  Don't be defeated by polls that show 70% of the public in favor of the
>war.
>>  Remember that these Americans being polled are the same Americans whose
>kids
>>  (or neighbor's kids) have been sent over to Iraq. They are scared for the
>>  troops and they are being cowed into supporting a war they did not want --
>>  and they want even less to see their friends, family, and neighbors come
>home
>>  dead. Everyone supports the troops returning home alive and all of us need
>to
>>  reach out and let their families know that.
>>
>>         Unfortunately, Bush and Co. are not through yet. This invasion and
>>  conquest will encourage them to do it again elsewhere. The real purpose of
>>  this war was to say to the rest of the world, "Don't Mess with Texas - If
>You
>>  Got What We Want, We're Coming to Get It!" This is not the time for the
>>  majority of us who believe in a peaceful America to be quiet. Make your
>>  voices heard. Despite what they have pulled off, it is still our country.
>>
>>         Yours,
>>
>>         Michael Moore
>>
>>         www.michaelmoore.com
>>
>>
>>


-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu