The Awful Truth: Seasons 1 and 2

reviewed by Dave

You may not have heard of Michael Moore before this year's Oscar ceremony. There seemed to be a lot of shock and outrage expressed at his political statements that night. However, anyone remotely familiar with him would have been much more surprised if he hadn't said anything.

It's difficult to not discuss politics when you discuss Moore. Politically, I probably have more differences in opinion than similarities with Moore. So why do I consider myself a begrudging Michael Moore fan?

I was dimly aware of Michael Moore's first TV show, TV Nation, back when I was in high school. I remember it as a 60 Minutes for those under 60. Of course Moore can never be excused of objectivity, but most of what he was taking to task was common sense stuff, like actually traveling to Russia and convincing armed guards at a nuclear weapon silo to point the missile aimed at his home town somewhere else. No one every accused him of subtlety.

When I was in college Jaime and I watched Moore's first big movie hit, Roger & Me. This documentary followed the events that happened in Moore's hometown after General Motors, the town's largest employer, moved away to take advantage of cheap foreign labor. This is a must-see film, and one of the best documentaries I've ever watched.

Moore 's last TV series (a new one is scheduled to start soon, capitalizing on his current popularity/notoriety) was The Awful Truth. It aired for two seasons on Bravo and on the BBC in Britain. Both seasons are now available for purchase in their entirety on DVD.

While there are a few segments throughout the series that seem like filler, there are more episodes that are highly memorable. These are three of my favorite segments, just to give you an idea of what he's going after:

1. The first season starts out with Moore taking to task an insurance company for not covering pancreas transplants. It follows the story of a man who will die if he doesn't get the transplant. We learn that the insurance company has been in trouble before. Moore takes the man to the headquarters of the insurance company and holds a funeral "trial run" for the man on the street in front of their building. At the end of the segment we learn that due to Moore's actions, the company was pressured to change their policy, and the man will get his transplant.

2. The second season begins with Moore complaining about the lack of choice in the 2000 presidential election. He decides to approach all the candidates (this was before Bush was officially anointed) and try to get one of them to go in a mosh pit. Whoever goes in gets his endorsement. He actually finds a candidate who does it. That's right, Moore gets a presidential candidate to body surf over a group of rambunctious teenagers. We even get to see some of the political fallout from it, with clips of a debate where Gary Bauer takes him to task for participating in an event where songs with anti-family lyrics are playing. It's priceless.

3. Latina workers at a Minneapolis Holiday Inn are tired of getting less pay and no benefits when the American employees get full benefits and decent pay. They decide to form a union, and in retaliation the Holiday Inn management says they'll meet with them about the union, then arranges for INS to be there at the meeting to arrest them for being illegal immigrants. Holiday Inn says they did this because they were just trying to follow the law. Moore decides to bring in a health and fire inspector, where they find dozens of violations. He also spearheads a campaign that successfully allows the immigrants to stay in the country.

While there are segments devoted to Moore's extreme left views, even those segments usually have at least some element of truth to them. However, I find the episodes devoted to corporate crime much more interesting, and also easier to swallow. It's these moments where the show really shines.

Even if you disagree with Moore's politics, you'll likely find yourself entertained with much of what he's done, be it these seasons of The Awful Truth or the excellent documentary Roger & Me (we haven't seen Bowling for Columbine yet, but anticipate picking up a copy when it hits DVD).

Moore's dorky pudginess and approachable yet tenacious personality are enough to cover his, at times, unintellectual approach to some pretty weighty topics. He does inform, but he also entertains, and you don't get that over at 60 Minutes.