[yasr_overall_rating]
To learn what the USA can learn from other nations, Michael Moore playfully “invades” them to see what they have to offer.
Michael Moore’s career is built on his strength as an agitator. He ostensibly operates as an agent of change, but his reputation precedes him now to the point where he can’t help but preach to the choir, because they’re often the only ones who show up. His work can still reliably draw conservative ire, and he still provokes public conversation; our current political lines may be too clearly drawn for him to win many new hearts and minds, but if nothing else, he can be counted on to provide ammunition to his brothers and sisters in (rhetorical) arms.
“Where to Invade Next” sees an optimistic Moore use the progressive social policies of Europe to illustrate how America could benefit from rules and regulations that prioritize the needs of workers and common citizens. It’s funny, and it’s entertaining, but as a political piece, it lacks substance. The film is the start of a compelling argument, but it takes a haphazard approach to data, and its sense of self-assurance can make it feel superficial.
Moore takes a mock-imperialist tone here, marching across Europe to “claim” the most ambitious and successful public policies he finds in particular countries. We learn that workers in Italy enjoy the most enviable vacation benefits; we salivate over public school lunches in France that look like they’re contending for a Michelin rating; we marvel at Iceland’s commitment to punishing their bankers – and reining in their banking system – during their attempts to recover from their financial meltdown during the global crisis from 2007-2008. It’s hard not to feel twinges of jealousy as citizens and government officials in different European countries highlight the ways in which economically inclusive socialist ideas have improved their lives.
In its best moments, the film feels buoyed by an infectious optimism. These aren’t just abstract ideas we’re playing with – Moore is taking us to places that have embraced socialism, and we’re witnessing how these ideas have improved the lives of real people. Why wonder how much better things would be with tuition-free college when you can just go to Slovenia, where the country charges nothing for its higher education? By the end of the film, Europe begins to feel downright utopian. The lack of numbers and figures offered to support the effectiveness of these policies is disconcerting; this is a movie, not a doctoral thesis, but it would be easier to push for the ideas being championed if we had more concrete information. “Where to Invade Next” can’t help you in a debate, but as an emotional pitch, it’s hard to resist.
Moore’s enthusiasm for his subject makes his disposition a little too sunny for his own good. There’s no denying that many Europeans have benefited from these socialist practices, but it’s unfair to depict their societies as unblemished. There’s no talk of Europe’s struggles with Islamaphobia, or any mention of the radical far-right political groups that have grown in influence. Maybe Moore is so enamored of Europe’s positive developments that he doesn’t believe the negatives can sustain themselves, but it’s disingenuous to act as though Europe is without its own troubles.
The aim of “Where to Invade Next” is to make socialism feel like a less radical proposition here in America by showing how effectively it’s being used to improve the lives of our allies. Moore even delights in explaining how many of the ideas enacted in Europe today were actually conceived in the US, making them seem all the more reasonable. A blueprint for returning these ideas to American soil is mostly lacking – the prevalence of powerful women in Iceland prompts Moore to contemplate the role feminism could play in reintroducing progressive values to America, but it comes late in the film, and feels disconnected from everything that’s come before. It’s a good idea, and deserves a more vigorous defense than it gets.
“Where to Invade Next” works as an emotional appeal, and as entertainment, but it’s too slight to succeed as a polemic. It’s a fun traipse through a continent that seems to take great pride in attending to the needs of its common people, and it grants real plausibility to “radical” ideas. It’s enlightening and engaging, but too sure of itself to put in the work to make its positions watertight.
In theaters February 12th
