Oh the humility.. Modest Mike speaks about his Modesty. And on being from Flint:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10098
“I’ll be sleeping in Beverly Hills tonight to be on Jay Leno tomorrow,” he said. “I was just on a month ago and because Jay and the people who produce the show were deeply affected by the movie, they want to continue the discussion.”
Now Jay Leno’s a political pundit.
That’s pretty much how his life had been for months though, jetting back and forth from home in northern Michigan to California, New York, Cannes — to finish and promote “Sicko,” then screening and selecting films and tending to other details for the Traverse City Film Festival in between.
Yep, got a carbon offset as big as his chin and jowls.
But it’s the life he has carved out — one part Hollywood and the other part regular old Michigan. He said he’s the same person regardless, but admits that his film career has made him privy to a world that everyday people don’t see.
”People like me from Flint, Michigan don’t get to look behind the curtain,” he said. “I’ve seen so many crazy things happen and behaviors that are bizarre, inappropriate ... what you see on the news is really the tip of the iceberg.”
The right-wing media??
Moore said he’s also met a lot of good down to earth people in the film industry. Still, he and Glynn choose to make their home in Michigan.
“I have found the way to survive it all is to remain true to yourself, be an authentic person, and don’t try to pretend,” he said. “I still wear the same clothes that I wore. I still have the same friends. I’m married to the same woman I’ve been with for 26 years.”
Asimbonanga.
But Moore can’t go anywhere without being stopped by people who want to talk. In other states, he said, he gets treated like a celebrity. Back home in Michigan, though, people treat him like “I’m a neighbor down the street.”
Aseeeembonanga.
“Just before we finished making the film (’Sicko’), we wanted to do a test screening in Ann Arbor and Flint. People feel comfortable to be critical of me there,” he said. “So when we arrived in the Detroit airport with the New York producers, I told them people are going to be talking to me like they’re borrowing a quart of milk. And right away, some guy came up and said, “Heard you are going to be showing your movie in Flint tonight — it’s going to have to be shorter than the last one.”
Thas being “critical” as per Michael Moore, folks.
“I like that. it’s refreshing to me. I want to be treated like a normal person.”
I want, I want, I want, me, me, me. Just kidding. I’s jes a lil peoples from Flint.
Not everyone is friendly, of course. Moore is a controversial figure, and a popular target because of his political views.
“The public Michael Moore and the private Michael Moore are actually the same person,” he said. “But there’s been a fictional character created by the right wing media.”
All the media is right-wing. Tell us again how down-home you are, stewing a rabbit with yer Rabbit Lady every year to celebrate your never getting an interview with Roger Smith, but instead chatting with the Rabbit Lady.
But there’s a limit to that thick skin. While he and Glynn have a place in New York, they consider Antrim County to be home. And he admits it bothers him when wire service stories that question his integrity — like one recently that suggested some of the facts in “Sicko” weren’t accurate — turn up in what he considers to be his hometown paper.
“What he considers to be” this or that pretty much sums up MM.
But how can that be? Doesn’t controversy go with the territory of being Michael Moore?
“This is where I live.”
He may get the last word, though.
“I’m basically always taking notes,” he said. “I’m going to write about this someday.”
“In Flint, where I’m from...”
