Get Out and Vote!

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By Tom Pacak

Whether you like him or hate him, Michael Moore always brings a bazooka to a gunfight. The man has a strong conviction in his beliefs. He was one of the only few liberal figures to not dismiss a Trump victory in 2016. Michael Moore’s new documentary “Fahrenheit 11/9” shows how we got Trump and what we have to do to get rid of him before it’s too late. Now, I know a lot of my conservative buddies will dismiss this as a partisan attack on Trump. Yes, Moore hates Trump but he’s also pissed off at a lot of people on his side. The Clintons, Democratic establishment (Pelosi and Schumer), the media’s love for Trump, and even Moore’s boy Barack Obama get shots thrown at them. Moore deserves props for calling out his side in a climate where most people would remain silent. As Bill Maher would say, “That’s what friends do. They call each other out when they screw up.”

A silver lining in this documentary for Trump lovers is that the Trump coverage here is actually the weakest part of the film. I was scared going into it. I think it would be uninteresting to watch a two hour documentary on Trump. A lot of the stuff covered about Trump here is stuff we already knew. Basically, it covers how Moore screwed up by not pressing him in an interview, to how creepy Trump is around Ivanka and even his history with the Central Park Five. Moore then explains how we got Trump in the first place; it’s all because of Gwen Stefani. Trump’s ego was angry that Stefani had better ratings than him so he did a stunt saying he was going to run for president. After Trump’s xenophobic rant, NBC cut ties with him. So then Trump couldn’t make money so his dumbass sons gave him the idea to actually run for President. 

The film starts to kick in gear when Moore returns to his hometown: Flint, Michigan. Here, Moore stops the Trump bashing to expose the corruption and criminal behavior that caused the Flint Water Crisis. Moore explains how current Michigan governor Rick Snyder wanted to switch the water source from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the cheaper and dirtier Flint River. This was a power move by Snyder to fill his pocket with cash. Snyder let the citizens of Flint get poisoned and did nothing to stop it. You even get a hilarious but justifiable scene showing Moore trying to do a citizen arrest of Snyder and showing up at his house to spray it with some of Flint’s water. Moore links this evil corruption in plain sight to what inspired Trump.  Trump was so inspired by how open Snyder was about his corruption that he tried and succeeded at being openly corrupted as well. 

Moore also doesn’t just blame Republicans for this mess; he blames former President Barack Obama as well. When the people of Flint were in need of someone to represent them and stand by their side. They thought Barack Obama would come in and save the day. So after this, Barack Obama decided to stop by. Once at the rally in Flint, Barack Obama went against his people. He did a horrendous stunt where he pretended to drink a cup of Flint water. He basically called the people of Flint, Michigan stupid to their faces. This is then linked to why Trump won the state by two points. The people of Michigan felt betrayed by elected officials in their own circle.

Michael Moore is a polarizing figure as it is. He’s even a little too much for people in the center of the political spectrum. I don’t blame people for not wanting to see a movie marketed on the Trump Presidency. The last thing people want to do is see a movie about a figure they despise so much. I wish this documentary was marketed better because I believe people on both sides need to see this. “Fahrenheit 11/9” works best when it covers issues that Moore is passionate about. People should be pissed off that corrupt politicians poisoned their citizens because of self-interests and that the Democratic candidacy for President was stolen from Bernie Sanders because establishment types were afraid of him. 

One thing made perfectly clear in this documentary is that if you’re pissed off at the way things are going; don’t just sit there, get up and make some noise. Moore wants to encourage people to be passionate about issues that affect them. At the end of the day, if you don’t vote or make any noise, you’re just as ineffective as the people you feel don’t represent you. We have an election coming up this November. It’s a very important election for both sides. I encourage everybody no matter what political spectrum to get out and vote!

Rating: 3 stars out of 4 stars



Note: Now Playing in Theaters

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