More Moore

The making of a contrarian

For those of us who consider Michael Moores high point as Fahrenheit 9/11,a cracker of a film made well before it became routine to say that the wars being waged by the US after the attack on the Twin Towers were a very bad idea,his bunch of stories Here Comes Trouble is bound to generate considerable excitement. Moores hallmarks are his quirky turns of phrase about things changing the course of history and a witticism that is simple,one that does not go in for deep discourses that talk down to readers or audiences. But most of all,it is his ability to make connections that are otherwise difficult to spot and turn them incredibly funny too.

Here Comes Trouble is not a memoir or an autobiography,but a series of incidents that have happened early in Michael Moores life. These are well written short stories,carefully chosen incidents with each tale having a connect to what is happening in the US politics at the time,and gradually,in the world.

So there is 11-year-old Michaels extremely dramatic encounter with Bob Kennedy who rescues him from an elevator in the Senate building. Later,there are meetings attended by Moore,where he pretends to be one among them. There is a landmark one in which the automobile industry plans to shift out of Moores town Flint in Michigan,the heart of General Motors. He slips in,by virtue of having dressed nicely and being white. Moore describes the industry planning to move out and avail of cheap Mexican labour and the prejudices it has about Pedro,the generic name given in presentations to the Mexican worker.

There is more Moore by the way: in 1985 a trip to Amman ends in Vienna the day that Abu Nidal and his men terrorise and kill passengers. Moore also describes how he and his cameraman friend spent time in Michigan with the founders of the local Ku Klux Klan who make a frank admission of their supremacist points. Again,even more dramatically,his cameraman friend who helps him with baby steps in the world of documentaries is revealed to be George Bushs nephew present on the stage at his uncles inauguration.

There is reason to laugh,sigh and snigger as you read on. But something leaves you cold,and seems just a little bit forced,as Michael Moore tries to push Howard Zinn- and Noam Chomsky-type broadbrush ideas through personal incidents. He tries to cram too much into a single life,but then,says Moore,this is only the first volume of stories,which he says he wanted to commit to paper while paper and bookstores and libraries still existed.