Kay Anderson, UVSC, and Free Speech

Journal 1-4

Last week I asked what Michael Moore thought of the movie Michael Moore Hates America. In the movie, when Wilson tried to get an interview with Moore, Moore attacked him and said his film was a joke. He thought  the title was slanderous and libelous, and told Wilson "Everything I do is because I love America, its people like you who hate America!" He immediately shut Wilson downed and ridiculed him, and was clearly not receptive to his film idea. I could not find any information on whether or not Wilson ever got the interview, but we know from the movie that Moore  was not willing to sit down with Wilson. We also know that Moore told the press, that Wilson's movie was a fraud and would never be released.

This week in class, we watched the documentary This Divided State, about the 2004 controversy at Utah Valley State College. Utah is the home of the Church of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) and is a very conservative, republican community. The student government at UVSC, which is in Orem, Utah (aka Family City, USA), made the decision to have two very different political activist come speak at the school, rightist Sean Hannity and leftist Michael Moore. What happened next was unprecedented. The community and many students were very upset that the school was paying Moore to come speak, when his political views are not looked upon kindly in the red state. There were petitions to cancel the event, lawsuits filed against the student body president and vice president, and many heated debates about whether is was right to have Moore come speak the the students. One outspoken community member, Kay Anderson, offered the school $25,000 to have the event canceled.

I really enjoyed the movie. The overall story was very interesting, and I had no idea that it had ever happened. I knew Utah was a conservative state, but I did not know the residents were so hostile, to say the least. Not to say all Mormons or Republicans are angry, outspoken people, but many represented in TDS were. Kay Anderson and other residents saw Orem as its own little bubble, and did not want it infected with other views, or real life in any way. He believed that Moore hated their way of life and was out to destroy them, and would corrupt the minds of the students. He believed this so strongly that he did not think Moore had the right to speak at UVSC, which violates the First Amendment. The people who made the decision to bring Moore however, thought just the opposite. Since his views were so different from their own, they believed his ideas should be heard, even if they didn't agree. One foreign student even brought up the point that free speech is not allowed everywhere, and that everyone should be able to exercise their rights.

Watching This Divided State reminded me of what is happening in North Korea. For many years N. Korea has been an isolationist country and is under strict rule by their dictator, Kim Jong Il. No one in the country knows about the outside world because the government think that if they learn about them, they will overthrow the tyrannical government in place. The citizens have also been taught that the outside world is a bad place, and that North Korea is a safe haven. Everything that is out stays out and everything that is in stays in. This reminded me of Kay Anderson's views about the safe haven that is Utah. He doesn't want his children to experience the outside world, because in his mind where they are now is the only good and safe place.

I wonder who made the documentary This Divided State and how they made it so objective. Out of all the documentaries we watched it is definitely the least biased one, because the filmmakers weren't trying to promote a personal agenda, they were just trying to show the facts.



Works Cited:
1. Wilson, M. Brian Cartmell & Michael Wilson. 2004. Michael Moore Hates America [Film]. HCW Films.
2. Greenstreet, S. Steven Greenstreet, Kristi Haycock, and Phil Gordon. 2005. This Divided State [Film].
3. North Korea. (n.d.). wikipedia.com. Retrieved October 29, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Koreahttp://
4. (2004, November 4). Retrieved October 29, 2011, from http://sensoryoverload.typepad.com/sensory_overload/2004/11/free_states_vs_.htmlhttp://