Fahrenheit 11/9

Documentarian Michael Moore has been called a muckraker, prankster, and populist prophet for his political propaganda films (Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Where to Invade Next) that are designed to elicit an emotional response. The title here references the date on which Donald Trump became 45th President of the United States. How did a reality TV host become Commander-in-Chief? Moore whimsically asserts that Trump was so irked that NBC paid Gwen Stefani more for The Voice than he received for The Apprentice that he staged a “fake” press conference that inadvertently launched his Presidential campaign. “We helped create a situation that has allowed us to end up with Trump,” Moore says. “The dumbing down of our society through the media, the lack of education through poor schools, allows for a dumbed-down electorate, and for him to actually get 63 million votes.” Being a provocateur, Moore further details Trump’s obsession with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, compares Trump’s ascension with Hitler’s fascism in Germany, and chronicles Trump’s smarmy infatuation with his daughter Ivanka. Also covered is the lead pollution of Flint, Michigan’s water supply and inherent governmental corruption, skewering not only Gov. Rick Snyder but also then-President Barack Obama (who made a show of sipping the local water), along with Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and the rest of the entrenched Democratic establishment. Moore lauds insurgent politicians like Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib and New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez before turning his cameras on teenage David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez, survivors-turned-activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. Although somewhat scattershot agitprop, this is still recommended. (S. Granger)