by Morrow Hall

Created on: July 17, 2007

Because of one scene in one of his movies, I think Michael Moore will be long remembered as a political activist. That's the scene where President Bush, Jr. is told, while he is visiting a kindergarten class, that the World Trade Center has been attacked.

He just sits there, minute after minute, listening to some teacher read some story to the kids, while he waits for something... I can only think that he is waiting for Dick Cheney to get back to him and tell him what he should do next. This footage will become a visual icon like the Zapruder film of Kennedy's assassination.

Just by putting this bizarre clip in his movie, Moore will remain famous for the foreseeable future.

Films have been used to advance political agendas since D.W. Griffith's time, but Michael Moore will probably also be remembered for "kicking it up a notch." Al Gore's film might not have been produced if not for Moore's demonstration that people will pay money to see a political diatribe, if it's presented well.

Moore treads on territory already explored by such people as Mike Wallace, but he does so without the angels of righteous indignation that most muckrakers claim are sitting on their shoulders. Moore's goofy, sloppy persona and his ingenuous manner are something new in this genre, and they sugar-coat the bitter pills he's coaxing his audience to swallow.

It's great politics, and I think we can expect to see a lot more of it. It's not cinematography, though. Moore's films quickly move from theaters to television, where they really belong.

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