The Awful Truth

Being a newer Michael Moore fan I was only recently tuned in to this show. Danish television who usually shows all kinds of reality crap these days somehow steered clear of this show - kinda typical, as I said, they only show fullblown tastewaster shows anyway, so I guess it isn't very strange..

Anyways, I totally enjoyed this. It's kind of a talkshow but not really. Michael Moore raving on in the same fashion as we know him from Bowling for Columbine, but about other issues - in short, taking a lot of society's fundamental problems and turned them around with a humours blink the eye....

I know a lot of Americans dislike Moore, but being an European I can only say that Moore's way of looking at his fellow Americans is a lot like how we europeans see the united states. This not being said to be hypocritical (sure we have our own problems..) nor racist or however you wanna turn it, but with a president like W., who can blame us.. BUT - that's a totally other review to be given once Fahrenheist 9/11 is released here in Denmark in August ;-)

8/10

Big-time Republican here. My friends all hate Moore. I like him.

THE AWFUL TRUTH, while not a consistently funny show, does have lots of laughs. I admire Moore for his ballsy approach to people. You see plenty of it in this series.

He makes his points (usually) and even though I don't agree with 90% of his tripe, I like the show.

My favorite show was when he put a Fica plant in an election. That's typical of something Moore would do; his sarcasm is over-the-top and it usually works well. Sometimes, there is way too much of it - but I'll take the bad with the good.

I'd like to watch another series like this by Moore. I hope he does another one day.

Michael Moore is definitely one of the best communicators in this country comparable to the Dalai Lama, though in a different genre. Or perhaps not so different, after all. Isn't what he shows us all about compassion, share, justice, fairness, solidarity, tolerance, awareness, etc? And with the same soft and amused smile?

What strikes me most is his absence of belligerence and the sense of grotesque with which he can bring the most unjust, painful, violent or tragic issues to our consciousness. Including the consciousness of some of those responsible for thriving on people's misery.

In a country where freedom of speech is apparently granted to all, it is surprising how few people seem to have anything to say. Thanks to Michael Moore for having the courage to use and make good use of such a precious liberty. And let's hope that there are going to be more Michael Moores in the future. Great work. Bravo!

When I was about 15 years old or so, I happened to come across a show on television called "TV Nation." I was completely enthralled by every episode I saw before my local station decided not to continue carrying the show, no doubt in favor of such quality shows as "Friends" or "Touched By An Angel." I thought that "TV Nation" was the best thing to ever happen to television, and I went out and watched as much Michael Moore as I possibly could.

So when the complete first season of "The Awful Truth" came out on video, I knew I had to watch every episode, probably more than twice. I was completely confident that Moore would once again delight and inform me as he did eight years ago.

I quite enjoyed the first episode, how to run a Witch Hunt and the invitation to the funeral. I think my favorite episode so far is the Beat The Rich/Soddomobile one-two knockout. Moore has always been brilliant at staging stunts to shock and embarrass.

But the more I watched the show, the more I noticed: that's all he does. He doesn't really try to change anything, bring any new information to light, or challenge anyone's viewpoints. His documentaries seem to serve as either efforts to upset industrial and capitalist giants or slaps on the back to people of like mindset. "Oh, I'm so glad we're middle class/Liberal/gay-positive, because upper class/Republican/fundamentalist people are so dumb!"

Being a middle class gay-positive liberal, I enjoyed every single episode of "The Awful Truth"s first season. I just wish it had a little more bite and merit as opposed to being a series of mostly impotent guerilla attacks on people and ideas that deserve more focused attention.

Many of the segments are difficult to watch, such as the voice-box choir or Moore's awkward conversation with Lucianne Goldberg, and that gives the show merit. If it was a comfortable show to watch all the time, it'd be a Liberal "60 Minutes." Moore gets to focus our attention on the bad points in America, and hints at the possibilities behind our cold impersonal modernity. At this he succeeds: the shock value of correspondents such as Crackers The Crime Fighting Chicken force eyes to focus on problems that everyone knows about but ignores whenever possible. I congratulate the man on a mostly successful effort and hope that he continues his crusade proudly and does not become a caricature of himself in later years. Rating: 8/10.

The just released "Complete First Season of The Awful Truth" a wonderful collection of mini-documentaries not unlike Michael Moore's earlier films "Roger and Me" and "The Big One" and his old show "TV Nation."

Highlights include a man inviting his HMO to his funeral, and a bunch of caroling tracheotomy victims. Moore's very funny, very smart, and very willing to make jokes in bad tastes in order to make his point. And very often, he succeeds.

This show is at once hysterical, shocking, and very important. A must watch for fans of Michael Moore and social activism.