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Michael Moore's northern affection

Broadcast Date: Sept. 13, 1995

"Literally on our border is an example of how life could be a little bit better," says American filmmaker Michael Moore. Moore's latest project is the comedy Canadian Bacon in which he eschews his documentary sensibility in order to take a playful poke at his fellow Americans' ignorance of their northern neighbours. In this 1995 clip from CBC-TV's Pamela Wallin Live Moore is asked to define a typical Canadian. "I think actually a Canadian is somebody who has a sense of humour," he begins. "Certainly Canadians get satire and irony and all those things a lot better than Americans do ... they have a tendency to not want to kill each other, and I think here people are much more politically aware of what's going on."

Michael Moore's northern affection

• As Moore states in this clip, he has a Canadian background because his grandfather grew up "between Sarnia and London" in Ontario.

• Moore studied journalism at the University of Michigan-Flint and began his journalistic career writing for the school newspaper The Michigan Times.

• In order to earn the money to finance his breakthrough first film Roger & Me, Moore ran neighbourhood bingo games in his house.

• Moore's 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11, an assault on the American government's handling of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., is the highest grossing documentary film of all time, according to IMDB.com.

• Moore is reportedly a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association. As he told journalist Tim Russert, he wanted to be elected its president so he could dismantle the organization.

• Moore is the author of the non-fiction bestseller "Stupid White Men ... and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation." The book reached the number one position of the New York Times non-fiction list in 2002.

• Canadian Bacon was such a commercial flop that Moore grew depressed and contemplated early retirement. He was re-inspired by filmmaker Kevin Smith and producer representative John Pierson. Smith had recently experienced box office failure of his own with 1995's Mallrats.

• In his 2003 Oscar acceptance speech Moore famously attacked President George Bush and the Iraq war. The next day attendance for his winning film Bowling for Columbine skyrocketed 110 per cent. The following weekend it was up 73 per cent.

• Moore was scheduled to appear at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival to promote his film Capitalism: A Love Story, a documentary about the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans. Moore wrote and directed the movie.

Michael Moore's northern affection

Medium: Television

Program: Pamela Wallin Live

Broadcast Date: Sept. 13, 1995

Guest(s): Michael Moore

Host: Pamela Wallin

Duration: 21:59

Canadian Bacon, produced by Dog Eat Dog Films, Gramercy Pictures, Maverick Picture Company, Polygram Filmed Entertainment, and Propaganda Films.

Last updated:
May 26, 2010