We went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 on Saturday night. The 10 PM showing packed two theaters, and it was obvious that not everyone there was either a dyed-in-the-wool Michael Moore fan or a wild-eyed liberal. There was a high percentage of those, to be sure, but most of the people I saw were trying to find out what all the hullabaloo was about.
I cannot say that it was the best documentary I've ever seen. Personally, I'd rather have Edward R. Murrow presenting the facts in a straightforward, relatively non-partisan manner. I think a far more damning case could be made that way, but I'm an old-fashioned kinda guy.
As it is, I think the film's mocking tone makes it easy for Bush supporters to dismiss it as just a political piece that will only appeal to those already anti-Bush or to the easily swayed fence-sitters. It is dangerous for the Bush camp to ignore the film on either of those counts. Anti-Bush folk will come out of the theater more determined than ever to remove this President from office. The rest are the swing voters that will re-hire or fire his ass. The Bush people might want to focus less on Michael Moore and more on the growing throng of people marching behind him.
To say that the film is strongly anti-Bush would be like saying the Pope is a "little bit" Catholic. There is nothing but disdain for the President displayed on the screen. Fox News is more fair and balanced than this movie. If you're already anti-Bush, you're not going to be transformed into a conservative Republican at the end of two hours. However, unless you're a complete Bush apologist (and there are plenty who will forgive him any transgression so long as we're at war), I don't see how anyone could come out of the theater with the sunny feeling that all is right with America and that we have the best people in charge. Just listening to Ashcroft sing will cure you of that notion real quick!
While I like a more measured, just-the-facts-ma'am documentary style, Moore's shotgun approach is good at making sure there's a little something for everyone to latch onto. He blasts away at every liberal rant of the past four years: the unfair 2000 elections, the oil money, the Saudi connection to 9/11, the mishandling of security post-9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, poverty in America, racism, the Abu Graib scandal, human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia... it's all there in kind of a K-tel Greatest Hits collection for the left.
One of the things that Moore has said is that he doesn't need to defend the facts, since it is a "work of art." I don't buy that, and I think it really blunts the salient points of the film. But with a few exceptions (most notably the piece by Christopher Hitchens), all I've heard from critics is "it's all lies."
Article comments
1 - Marc
"Despite that I hope he comes back because only he can end the security crisis."*
Forget about whether we should or should not have gone to Iraq in the first place. Are we comfortable re-electing the government that has messed up the situation so badly that Iraqis are wishing they had Saddam back?
excuse me but the is one Iraqi.
2 - Solonor
Not according to a poll done by the U.S.-backed government: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001957033_iraqpoll16.html
Or a more recent one by Oxford International: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3847023.stm
3 - Mike
Michael Moore is a big fat idiot
4 - Tony
Nice to see you've got something relevant to add to the discussion mike. Were you up all night thinking of that cheap shot?
5 - Eric Olsen
Is that woman appearing with him Michael Moore's wife? Did he marry Linda Tripp?
6 - aaron
that guy is an idiot he must have a small you know what and needs to get over the age of smokin pot and move on and find all his illigitiment children he had when he was stoned. Lay off bush and the funny grass
7 - paul
Movie directors and producers should know better than to make biased political films which serve no purpose.