Ed. Note: Please make Amelia feel welcome so she comes back! –JN
My hometown of Traverse City, Michigan has also been home to the Traverse City Film Festival (TCFF) since Michael Moore established it in 2005. When Moore announced this new venture, some were excited, some were wary, and many were eager to see exactly what he would do. He assured the public that the festival was just about bringing great films to Traverse City (along with seminars, panels, and other opportunities) and that it would be completely non-partisan. For the first five years, he did a great job.
There were those (myself included) who weren’t crazy about our town being associated with Michael Moore, but it was hard to deny the good that the TCFF was great for us in many ways. The historic State Theatre downtown was donated to the TCFF and restored to its former glory, and the event brought in a nice influx of tourist dollars. For a resort town, that is always welcome.
After five successful film festivals, with few partisan slips, Moore has decided to switch things up. This year, he is openly bringing progressive rhetoric to the forefront. In an interview with local website The Ticker, he told the public what to expect from the 2011 TCFF. When asked what the biggest news would be from this year’s festival, his response was:
We’ll be doing a major salute to labor, working people, and unions. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the ‘Great Flint Sit-Down,’ a labor event that really helped create the middle class in this country. We’ll have a number of films and events surrounding this that deal with class, labor and working people. And, we’ll honor through the arts those people who are public employees and thank them for all they do.
A salute to labor. Hooray! I had never heard of the “Great Flint Sit-Down,” but it doesn’t sound like a very tough stance (if you’ll pardon the wordplay) to take. However, this was the action which turned the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into the major labor union that we see today, by going after General Motors in Flint.
This sounds like a cause tailor made for Moore. After Roger & Me, we all know how he feels about GM. My question, though, is this: Why wouldn’t you celebrate the event in, you know, Flint? There are plenty of union members still working in Flint, and I feel confident that Moore can find some that he feels are being mistreated. Instead, he’s making it part of his Traverse City Film Festival. Is that to bring added attention (the press is already here), or simply because he lives here? No, dear reader, he does not live in Flint.
However, does it really matter where he salutes labor, as long as he does so? As long as he does his part to help the working man? This is where the bells of hypocritical awareness clanged in my head, for he does not do his part to help the working man.
The hub of the TCFF is The State Theatre. I love the State Theatre. It plays great films year-round, including 25 cent matinees of old movies, and It’s a Wonderful Life (among others) every Christmas. I have many many happy memories at The State. My dog loves the State Theatre. Every day on his walk downtown, he waits impatiently in line at the box office and is rewarded with a treat at the ticket window. Here’s the problem with these delightful scenes of small-town bliss: many of the State Theatre’s workers are unpaid. As it says on their website “great volunteers make the year-round operation of the State Theatre possible. As a volunteer-based, charitable non-profit organization, we depend on the generosity of our volunteers.” Pardon me? Surely such a paragon of workers’ rights wouldn’t ask people to work for free. Shouldn’t they be paid well above minimum wage and have solid gold healthcare?
It’s not his political beliefs that I find so distasteful (well, yes, that too), but the hypocrisy of it all. Why classify the State Theatre as a 501(c)3, which allows for tax breaks? Moore votes for and vocally supports programs that mean higher taxes, so I’d like to invite him to join me in paying them. It would even create a few jobs along the way. After all, he is a wealthy man, and wealthy men should be forced to share. Isn’t that his vision for the American dream? At least, that’s what he keeps telling us. Too bad actions speak louder than words.
The Traverse City Film Festival takes place August 26-31 2011
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