Michael Moore talks 'Capitalism' and how Irish background shapes his views

Because his films are vigorously researched, for years now Moore’s critics have sought to make him their target, rather than his films. He’s aware of this tactic and has developed a strategy to counter it.

“My critics are afraid of the films,” says Moore. “They’re afraid to debate me on the issues in the film. The films point out things they would rather probably not know about or discuss, so if they can distract people and put the focus on me instead of the issues that’s usually their method.”

But making things personal, an approach Moore has avoided in the past, has suddenly appeared to him to be a strength. In “Capitalism: A Love Story,” Moore has made his most personally revealing film ever, even going so far as to interview his father, a former General Motors worker, on camera.

“I thought maybe I’ve done a disservice to myself and the things I believe in by not sharing with people who I am and what my background is, you know, and why I believe the things I believe,” says Moore.

“This film is the sum total of everything I’ve been talking about over the last 20 years. I have never put any of my family into my films before for all the obvious reasons -- privacy issues -- and I’ve never discussed religion before because I think that’s a very personal matter and you shouldn’t discuss it, and I’m not a proselytizer. But I got tired of the Fox News Channel and Rush Limbaugh defining to the public -- or their public at least -- who I am.”

Moore acknowledges that for months now Fox News anchors have been lamenting “the direction of the nation.” Some of that is a cynical political power play, he says, but some of that is genuine.

Are many conservatives worried about the objectives of the Obama administration? “Oh yeah, they’re alarmed and I think they’re stoking a lot of hatred. There’s a reason why ammo sales are at an all time high,” he feels.

One of the most important parts of Moore’s background is his Irish American heritage, which he explores in the film.

“My Irish American background has a lot to do with my work, both in terms of the values that I was raised with -- that we’ll be judged by how we treat the least among us -- and that the rich man is basically up to no good,” he says.

“I think that we as Irish Americans have a fairly dark view of the world in general and that accounts for a dark sense of humor, and in fact it accounts for the need for a sense of humor because we sense that the human condition in all of its manifestations and that rotten core that exists in so much of what we have to go through necessitates a good sense of humor, or another pint, or both.”

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Nster.com