Brooklyn Mutt

It’s been about twenty-years since the release of “Roger and Me” Michael Moore finally released the movie he always wanted to make. In the past, he exposed the awful practices within the Capitalist system whether it was the ills corporate downsizing, violence in our culture, the Iraq war, or the issue of healthcare, but in this movie, he finally addresses the system in itself. That’s right… he spells it outright in the title. The system of Capitalism, in the manner that it is currently practiced, is at best deeply flawed, and its survival deeply relies on downright evil practices by some of the wealthiest and most powerful people on earth.

Despite your feelings about Michael Moore’s politics, his ability as a film maker are top-notch. His movies are well paced, his injection of humor are timely, his points are well established, and his subjects are powerfully compelling. There were some interviews in “Capitalism” that seemed out of place, and it may have been rushed, but the topic is timely which trumps any negatives that you can find.

The movie opens up with 9 cars of police cars entering a farm to evict a family of four out of their home. It was a heartbreaking opening to what we already know to be a heartbreaking moment in our nation’s history. The collapse of our banking institutions has bankrupted millions of people, leaving as many without jobs, and as a result they are losing their homes. Ok, we knew that already. But the movies main point addresses this simple notion; what some of us are willing to do for money.

Now, I am not easily surprised to see what people would do, but I tell ya, I was really surprised and outright sick to my stomach as to some of awful practices by some of the most profitable companies in the world. I’ll let the movie speak for itself in the regard, but in the event you never heard of “Dead Peasant” insurance… I insist that you take a moment to “Google” it. It may seem benign in nature, but it literally is a profit scheme that allows companies to BENEFIT from the death of its employees. Moore goes on to address other awful practices including going into more detail regarding how a Pennsylvania Judge was accepting bribes by sending children to “Privatized’ juvenile centers, in which the smallest and benign infractions resulted in nearly a year of imprisonment for children. I addressed this in an earlier post of “Nick of Time”. Maybe Michael Moore read my article…. (I can dream right?)…

The movie also provided a sliver of hope to its viewers, with minor if not moral victories by some of the subjects who fought the system. But what may be the most powerful moment in any of the films Moore has ever released, he managed to unearth footage of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s final State of the Union address from the White House. The address was conducted on radio, but he asked the film crew to enter as he introduced the “2^nd Bill of Rights”. The footage showed a leader like none other that we have truly seen in our lifetime or any other. This wasn’t pretty, FDR was dying, and he looked like he was dying. But his passion, dedication and most of all his understanding that a better life was predicated on a society that demanded that everyone in this country has a right to work… I can honestly say that any President since FDR was a mere child in comparison.

I left the theatre with a stunned disbelief at what I saw, and renewed sense of what is right and wrong. Though sadly, I have to conveniently block out the fact that I work for one of the biggest media companies in the world.

The movie is a must see…

by Brooklynmutt contributor Niko