Unhappy American director comes down heavily on US administration

Michael Moore, Oscar winner for best documentary film, Bowling for Columbine, and author of the best selling non-fiction book for 2002, Stupid White Men, is certainly not your ordinary filmmaker.

Moore's disapproval of mainstream US politics, his constant ridicule of US President George Bush, and his staunch opposition to the US-led war on Iraq have all contributed to form his image of an unconventional American celebrity.

Ironically, Michael Moore's stardom prospered after he delivered his speech at this year's Oscar ceremony. Upon accepting the award, Moore launched an attack against George Bush calling him a fictitious president elected by fictitious election results. "We live in fictitious times, he said, where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons."

Then he exploded with his shouts of "Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you!"Although there were more boos than cheers on that Oscar night, yet this speech sent the box office for "Bowling for Columbine" up by more than 100 percent the next day!

"Bowling for Columbine" actually holds the record for the highest-earning documentary in history. The film severely criticizes the American arm culture as it sheds light on the problem of gun control which Moore believes is responsible for the state of chaos in the US.

The US has the greatest number of deaths resulting from firearms in addition to many incidents of mass murders often committed by young people.

The documentary focuses on the Columbine massacre where two students opened fire on fellow students before turning the weapons against themselves. The incident caused widespread anger and disbelief among American citizens.

Moore used this story to reflect on violence in America while addressing a society that became stupefied after the Sep. 11 attacks.

In the opening scene of the film, he reminds US citizens that their country armed the terrorists that are now threatening national security. "Stupid White Men and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation" was released by a British publication house as no American publisher accepted to issue such a book.

"Stupid White Men" came out as a powerful testimony of the current state of US politics and reinforced Michael Moore's role as America's number one social and political moralizer.

He is someone who would go as far as advocating the ousting of Bush and calling for UN observers and UN troops to intervene as Americans are no longer able to hold free and fair elections. He called Bush "The Thief-in-Chief, a trespasser on federal land, a squatter in the Oval Office."

Moore did not spare the Democratic Party in his full-fledged sarcastic humor and outrage. He demanded that the "ever-more-Republicanesque Democratic Party" be sued for fraud. He went further to say that Bill Clinton was one of the best Republican presidents America has ever had. Besides, "Stupid White Men" highlights social and racial problems in the US in its own cynical approach.

"Blacks should put inflatable white dolls in their cars so racist cops will think they're chauffeurs." As for Corporate America, Moore speaks about some worrying facts about the links between business and government and says that rich people will do their best to ensure that the poor won't come out looking for their piece of the pie.

Moore's next film is titled "Fahrenheit 911" and is scheduled for release in the two months before Election Day in the US.

According to Michael Moore, the film tells in part the story of twin errant sons of different oilmen and will highlight the intersection of business interests of the Bush and Bin Laden families prior to the Sep. 11 attacks when both had ties to the Carlyle Group. The film would also shed light on the fact that the Bush administration allowed for a private Saudi jet to take 24 members of the Bin Laden family away out of the US after 9/11 before they could be questioned by the Federal Bureau Intelligence.

At this time of pervasive American hegemony over major geopolitical issues and of US polls consistently showing support for Bush, the record sales figures achieved by Michael Moore's alternative documentary film and his latest book convey a healthy sign.

Hope is that Moore will keep on making the American audience laugh and maintain its interest so that he could ultimately have some influence on US politics.