4.5 stars out of 5
Everyone except your most alt-right friends regards Donald Trump as a dangerous idiot, but Michael Moore is not here to preach to the choir. In answering his central question — “How the fuck did this happen?” — he pulls no punches while indicting Bill Clinton, the New York Times, the DNC, and even our hero Obama for our current shitstorm. This is an important film, one you should see and then discuss with others — but before you go, brace yourself for hard truths.
To set the scene, Moore first takes us back pre-2016 election, when the concept of a Trump presidency was laughable to nearly everybody, left and right, including Trump himself. It’s harrowing to revisit that sudden shift in momentum, followed by shell-shocked realization, and depression quickly setting in. Moore is neither willing to place simple blame (Russians, Comey) or put faith in easy solutions (impeachment, Mueller). Rather, he shows how the rise of the corporate-right hybrid is deep-rooted, many on “our side” have been complicit, and the way out will require genuine commitment.
In putting together this documentary, the ever skillful Moore seamlessly blends fear, hope, righteous indignation, and humor. Then the movie shifts gears; I was at first thrown off as a viewer — and I’d imagine some critics have questioned the cohesion of the film. Because suddenly we’re off Trump and onto the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. Certainly it’s an issue very close to Moore’s heart, and no one is more qualified to investigate it, but… what is it doing in this movie? Relax — Michael Moore knows what he’s doing. Flint is a case study, a microcosm, for what’s wrong with this country. Commerce over community. Centrist collusion and cover-ups. Black lives not mattering.
And yet, despite the dark tapestry he weaves here, Moore finds many reasons to be optimistic. We meet the unlikely young, to-hell-with-compromise political candidates that are shaking up the left. (You can see the caring and honesty in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s eyes; it’s enough to give anybody hope for the future.) He sits down with the to-hell-with-compromise teachers nationwide who defied their own unions to fight for rights. They just want a living wage for their extreme dedication, such as the West Virginia teacher who is listed in several students’ phones as “Mom.” And Moore salutes the Parkland student leaders who thankfully don’t know the meaning of compromise — get out the way, gramps, the kids are here to tear down the establishment.
Moore outlines frightening parallels between the rise of Trump and the rise of the Third Reich. He shows just how fragile our so-called democracy is. But he also reminds us there are more of us than of them; we just need to get off our asses and increase our representation. Fahrenheit 11/9 serves as an urgent call to action. Follow the examples of teachers and students, and with school back in session, let’s not fail our midterms.
Jack Silbert, curator