Slacker Uprising
Michael Moore made history again with his latest film, Slacker Uprising. He released it as a free download on the web and iTunes. Which is pretty cool. A completely free Michael Moore movie. But is it worth the bandwith, or is this just a gimmick to pass off a lackluster documentary?
A little of both, actually. Slacker Uprising tells Moore’s campaign in 2004 to encourage the youth vote. He tours colleges in battleground states, resulting in an historicly high number of youth voters that November. This film is unabashidly for the fans, Moore’s not going to win over any haters. But that’s the point, this is an optimistic movie, trying to rebuild everyone’s faith in the election, democracy, and America.
Slacker Uprising is not a fair and balanced look at the 2004 election. Bush is clearly villified and Republicans aren’t treated as the most intelligent people. On the other hand, democrats are noble and patriotic. Plus they have Steve Earle, Eddie Vedder, Tom Morello, REM, Joan Baez, Viggo Mortensen, and Roseanne Barr on their side.
This film could easily have been depressing, but as Moore says, they don’t win until we give up. Through the nationalism of college students, celebrities and Moore himself, viewers are left enthusiatic about the posibility of change. And with the election mere weeks away, its important to keep that hope alive.