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Unpatriotic & inappropriate
Michael Moore, Stupid White Men... and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation! (Regan Books, 2002. ISBN 0060392452, 304pp)
Reviewed by: LAUREN KELLEY
Bush-backers beware! Michael Moore, filmmaker, author and ruthless critic of North American culture and politics, is back with his caustic new book, Stupid White Men.
Stupid White Men is brimming with satirical wit and cunning condemnation. Moore knocks every dubious character in the US's political cast, from the "Thief-in-Chief", George W Bush, to Bill Clinton, "one of the best Republican Presidents [the US has] ever had".
But Moore doesn't just rail politicians. Some of his most insightful (and controversial) tirades concern North American society. Moore links the disintegration of the US school system to the selling of its soul to greedy corporations and targets the white male populatione - specially money-hungry CEOs and bureaucratic fat cats - as the source of most of North America's ills.
Unafraid of sounding like a "sore loser", Moore laments the stolen 2000 US presidential elections and offers ample evidence that Bush did not win! He also tackles issues such as global warming, the US prison system, students' rights, racism and sexism, proposing absurd and humorous solutions to many of these problems. His tone may seem facetious, but Moore presents a great deal of solid research and often-damning facts and statistics that prove he is both serious and knowledgeable about the issues he addresses.
Stupid White Men, which was temporarily shelved in the wake of 11 September for being "unpatriotic" and "inappropriate", is an important book that was written at a crucial time for North Americans. Even though it was written pre-"9/11", Moore's book contains timely, indeed eerily, appropriate themes for those living in the stifling atmosphere of post-"9/11" USA.
Moore picked up on what North Americans have been craving: an alternative to the homogenous, biased viewpoints crammed down their throats by the conservative agenda-driven US media.
The response to Moore's book has been overwhelming; Stupid White Men spent its first five weeks at the top of The New York Times Best-Seller List, proving that Americans are fed up with having the wool pulled over their eyes. Finally, there is an objective and honest voice. Thank goodness for Michael Moore.