Just as the lights dim a big man walks on stage. He’s tall, around 6’2” and wide. Very wide. He approaches the chair in more of a waddle than a walk, his hands in the pockets of his black zip-up hoody. His light blue Levi jeans are almost as much of a trademark as his low hanging baseball cap.

Inside the 92^nd Street Y on New York’s Upper East Side, Michael Moore sits down with actor, playwright and long time friend Wally Shawn. Although Moore is promoting his new memoir, Here Comes Trouble, the pair provides meaningful, yet accessible conversation on Moore’s life and work as a whole.

Moore’s physical presence perfectly embodies middle class Americana. And though his roots run deep in that tradition, his ideas excel that of the status quo. His films and his literature challenge the “progress” of America. A deep examination of his upbringing and his body of work reveal that Michael Moore is not the treasonous radical he has been portrayed as. He’s an average guy that knows how broken this country is and he’s one of the few left who’s willing to piss people off if it begets repairs.

This persona is illuminated as the pair recounts small vignettes of Moore’s life that defined his social and political standpoints he assumes today. Moore details these experiences, as Shawn appears to be just another audience member to Michael’s captivating stories. Moore tells of his experience at Boys State, a mock government function for high school boys in which he delivered an emphatic speech detailing the segregationist policies set forth by a sponsor of the program, the Elks Club. This rash act had elicited a same day phone interview by Johnny Carson (though the self described “pimple ridden, scared shitless, seventeen year old,” Moore ultimately cowered away).

Moore tells of his upbringing – public school years in Flint, Michigan interspersed with summer trips to New York. He is aware of his comfortable middle class life and the erosion of that lifestyle our country is enduring. He somberly tells of his fathers’ departure from Flint, the last member of his family to vacate the degraded suburban area. This working class foundation not only gives Moore credibility, it induces empathy. He understand the enormity of the problems this country faces because he has seen them firsthand, in his own community.

In conversation, Moore isn’t yelling his opinions and he isn’t belittling Shawn when he offers an opposing viewpoint. Though fearless when fighting for the true story, he is calm and composed while conveying that information. His voice is honest when he tells the audience that the 18-29 age demographic was the only Caucasian group Obama won in 2008. He slouches back in his chair with sheer disappointment when he states that the U.S. is actually fighting six wars, not two, as is portrayed by major media networks.           A lot of Moore’s thoughts are expressed in just that regard; disappointment. It’s hard to know if his work is informed more by his resiliency or stubbornness. While discussing the recklessly speculative practices of Wall Street in his latest documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story Moore states, “I refuse to live in a country that embraces these corrupt institutions. And I’m not leaving.”

Despite his fame (or infamy) and fortune, Moore exhibits none of the elitism that so many in his position do. He is a true egalitarian with an empathetic side. It’s his accessibility that allows a packed auditorium in an upper class neighborhood to still erupt in laughter when Moore comments on the weak rallying power of the Democratic Party. He’s not a hardliner. He accepts his faults and he even sheds light on the faults of those he supports like Obama and the Dems. Though he comes from an ideological standpoint, his views are backed by concrete statistics, of which he delivers in a professional, almost platonic manner.

After two hours of conversation it is apparent that Michael Moore wants a better United States of America and concessions are not an option. Though he engages in as much self-promotion as any other artist (exemplified by the $30 hardcover books available for signing) the audience understands that his publicity and his financial gains are not his rewards, they are the rewards of the country, our country.

Michael Moore has been referred to as a gentle giant. Although he is large, his physicality is not that imposing and though calm in his demeanor, his form is anything but docile. Still, he doesn’t come off as an ideologue nor an aggressor. He lets his audience know that in some ways he still is the “scared shitless” seventeen year old that just wanted to voice an opinion. His language is not verbose and his ideas are straightforward. By the end of the night Moore induces the feeling that you had just sat at the kitchen table discussing politics, equality, and childhood and hadn’t actually been lectured on it. Though a liberal at heart, there’s no reason anyone with a drive to do social good couldn’t associate with Michael Moore. He feels he has a deep stake in this country. Moreover, he makes every individual exposed to him feel their stake as well.