Michael & Me (documentary)

Infobox Film
name = Michael & Me


image_size =
caption = DVD cover
director = Larry Elder
producer = Larry Elder
writer = Larry Elder
narrator =
starring = Larry Elder Michael Moore
music = David Siebels
cinematography = Carl Bartels
editing = Sal Martino
distributor =
released = 2004
runtime = 90 mins
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0476677

"Michael & Me" is an independent, self-financed 2005 DVD documentary created by Los Angeles-based Libertarian radio and television talk show host Larry Elder. His documentary attempts to disprove statements made by filmmaker Michael Moore in his 2002 documentary "Bowling for Columbine". about the relationship between American culture, gun ownership and increased violence. The documentary mirrors Moore's landmark 1989 documentary, "Roger & Me," in tone and interview style.

Documentary content

In Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore states that while he has no easy answers explaining the higher level of violence in the United States, major causes probably include easy access to guns and a focus in American culture and media on violence. Larry Elder asks: "If there's too many guns in America, why is it that where guns are more available to people and gun laws are less restrictive, violent crime is usually lower?" Elder states that gun owners are among America's most responsible, law-abiding citizens.

In "Michael & Me", Larry Elder interviews people who have used guns to prevent becoming a victim of crime to provide evidence that an armed society is a safer society. For example, Elder interviews a woman identified as "Jane Doe," a real estate agent who was raped by a client and he states that would not have happened if she was armed.

Larry Elder also uses Moore's humorous style of journalism by trying to track Moore down for an interview, which spans about eighteen months.

The DVD includes responses to Michael Moore's commentary in his films, such as an animation of a fictional Elder/Moore interview, which Elder included as a response to the "A Brief History of the United States of America" segment in "Bowling for Columbine", which, among other things, implies that the Ku Klux Klan members and founders of the National Rifle Association were allies, and that the latter, established in 1871, was created in response to the former being outlawed by the federal government the same year.

To finance the documentary's estimated $350,000 budget, Larry Elder states that he took out an equity loan on his home ("Hannity & Colmes", Fox News Channel, August 26, 2005.)

External links

* [http://www.larryelder.com/michaelandme.html "Michael & Me" page]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0476677/ Michael & Me] at the Internet Movie Database