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Michael Moore Blasts Bush at Oscars

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By Rebecca Bryan

Middle East Online
March 24, 2003

Famed US filmmaker Michael Moore used his Oscar win on Sunday to launch a violent attack on US President George W. Bush and war in Iraq, drawing loud boos from the star-studded audience. The assault on the US president as US troops were pushing deeper into Iraq appeared to stun and then outrage many of the 3,500 people packed into Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, but the outspoken director was unrepentant.


"We live in fictitious times," he said when picking up the award for best documentary for his anti-gun film "Bowling for Columbine." "We live in a time with fictitious election results that elect fictitious presidents," he said referring to Bush's contest 2000 election victory. "We live in a time when we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. "We are against this war Mr Bush. Shame on you. Shame on you!," he said to loud boos from an audience of 3,500, including most of Hollywood's top stars.

Backstage, Moore rejected US claims that a threat to the United States from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was imminent. The reality, he said "is that we're over there because they have the second-largest supply of oil in the world.

"Bush almost said it the other night when he said, 'Now don't burn those oil fields." Steve Martin, the evening's host, quipped later that the controversial author, filmmaker, and political activist Moore, who was born in Michigan in 1954, has been stuffed into a car boot by Teamster unionists.

But when the filmmaker went backstage at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre to face reporters, Moore was unapologetic for his outburst. "I'm an American, and you don't leave your citizenship when you enter the doors of the Kodak Theatre. What's great about this country is that you can speak your mind," he said. He insisted that, far from being appalled, many people in the audience stood up to applaud him.

"I say tonight I put America in a good light," he said praising the decision to push ahead with the Oscars despite the war raging in the Middle East. "I showed how vital it is to have free speech in our country and all Americans have the right to stand up for what they believe in," he said. Moore, describing himself as an "honest and sincere person" and saying he believed deeply that the war was wrong, pointed to the violence that exists within US society.

"We Americans kill each other at an enormous rate, more so than virtually any other country on this planet," he said referring to the theme he depicted in "Columbine," the title of which was taken from a 1999 slaughter of 13 people in a gun rampage at Colorado's Columbine high school. "What was the lesson that we taught the children of Columbine this week?" he asked. "This was the lesson, that violence is an acceptable means to resolve conflict." But while many members of the Oscars audience agree with Moore's point of view regarding the war - as witnessed by the peace symbols worn by scores of celebrities and other anti-war statements - some thought that he went too far.

"I think Michael Moore made an incredible movie and that was a great statement," Martin Richards, the producer of "Chicago," told reporters backstage. "In my opinion, I think what he wanted to say was right for him, but he started it off too fast and should have built into what he was going to say." However stars such as Barbra Streisand, who presented an Oscar, publicly defended the right of all Americans to speak out freely on any subject.

A lifelong social and political activist, Moore has frequently been at the centre of controversy, not least with "Bowling For Columbine" which is reviled by America's strident gun lobby. In 1996, he published a book of political commentary titled "Downsize This!: Random Threats From an Unarmed American," which proved to be a surprise best-seller and made him something of a celebrity who does not balk at publicly airing issues and views what others may not dare to talk about.


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FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.