The Movie Everyone’s Talking About

So, I finally saw Garfield and I…just kidding. It seems kinda pointless to write a post about Fahrenheit 911 since everybody has already chimed in with their two cents. I’ve read a ton of reviews and blog posts in my attempt to wrap my head around the film and I can’t say that I’m much closer to articulating my feelings about it that when I first left the theater. My favorite reviews of the film so far have been from Tom Tomorrow, Roger Ebert, David Edelstein and Fox News.

One of the complaints I’ve heard the most about this film is that it takes a lot of “cheap shots”, one of which is pointed out in this mixed review from Kevin Drum :

Finally, the last half hour of the film includes a piece of street theater in which Moore accosts congressmen on Capitol Hill and asks if they’ll try to get their sons and daughters to enlist in the military. It’s a brutally unfair question, but one that echoes a standard debating point of Hitchens and others: “Would you prefer that Saddam Hussein was still in power?” It’s a question that’s unanswerable in 10 words or less, and about as meaningful as Moore’s ambush interviews with congressmen.

So is Fahrenheit 9/11 unfair, full of innuendo and cheap shots, and guilty of specious arguments? Sure. But that just makes it the perfect complement to the arguments of many in the pro-war crowd itself. Perhaps the reason they’re so mad is that they see more than a little of themselves in it.

If anything, I think the tone of this movie was so different from his earlier work that the two “gonzo” style scenes felt out of place. Personally, I don’t see Moore’s “ambush” as any more cheap than the earlier scene of him reading the Patriot Act from an ice cream truck. He wasn’t really expecting Congressmen to sign up their kids anymore than he was expecting them to sit on the curb and listen to the text of a bill they’d passed without reading. This was just one of those “make powerful people look like buffoons” scenes that’s been a staple of motion picture comedies since Chaplin’s tramp kicked a cop in the butt.

Upon reflection, one scene from the film did rub me the wrong way a little. In the scene with Lila Lipscombe and her family sitting around the living room, when she cries “Why did this happen?” (or something like that), Moore immediately cuts to a Haliburton montage. That edit didn’t sit well with me at all. Maybe it’s because I find the whole argument that the war was about nothing but oil and money to be a bit simplistic.

Yeah, I think the fact that Iraq sits on such a huge oil reserve was one of the primary motivations for the war, but I think an equally strong motivation was the neoconservative obsession with getting rid of Saddam despite the evidence that he wasn’t a threat to us. Either way, I think generating profits for Haliburton was a secondary concern at best.

That aside (and it really is just a minor complaint), I think Fahrenheit 911 is one of the most patriotic films I’ve ever seen. By keeping himself out of the spotlight this time around, Moore has focused more on the lives of our soldiers, their families, and the Iraqi people than we’ve seen in the last year and a half’s worth of cable news puff pieces. In the end, regardless of which side of the aisle you sit on, this movie should provide something to piss you off and make you cry. Considering how crucial this upcoming election is, that’s exactly what moviegoers need right now. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re missing out on one of the most rewarding moviegoing experiences that’s come along in a long while. If you have already seen it, reccomend it to your conservative friends and relatives.


posted by greg on June 29, 2004 @ 3:52 pm

7 comments

  1. I agree with you about the “Classic Moore” sequences being out of place. I went in expecting to be rubbed the wrong way. I wasn’t. Only occassionally did I feel a little irked (yay, Mike, you made fun of the President’s public speaking! You’re so clever!), but on the whole, I’m glad I saw the movie. As I wrote on my site, I don’t agree with what I see as Moore’s proposition, but that doesn’t mean that the movie isn’t worth watching. It’s like Bowling For Columbine. Whether Moore was untruthful or not, whether you agree with him or not, the movie raises questions that the public should be debating. Right now, we should be wondering whether we should remain on this path or not, and I don’t think the answer is clear cut.

    Comment by E-Rock — June 29, 2004 @ 4:42 pm

  2. The part about the Marines recruiting the kids really hit home for me! The Marine recruiters were hitting on the local public high school here on Long Island. My son’s best friend fell for it and joined the Marines. He left exactly one year ago today. They completely brainwashed him leading up to his departure. It was very hard for me because I knew this family for the boys whole life as they live 4 houses down from me.
    We live in a very Republican neighborhood. I walk with the boys mom everyday. It was hard last summer to keep my mouth shut when we walked because I was terrified for her son and my heart was broken. Eventually I got through to her and her husband that we cannot elect Bush and that the war is wrong.
    We prayed and prayed that her son wouldn’t go to Iraq. It was very strange that her son for some reason throughout his training would screw up somehow and be left back and have to retrain and join another platoon while the platoon he left would deploy to Iraq… so for the past year, he fortunately kept missing out on going to Iraq!
    We just got word that he has asthma and is being honorably discharged. Apparently they have no deskjob for him. If you can’t fight in a war, they have no use for you. Weird. I wonder if they are going to give him the college money they promised? The recruiters gave him such a hard sell. Why didn’t the Marines test him for asthma a year ago?

    Well whaever.. I am so fucking happy that he is coming home. He is disappointed that his dream was squashed. I kind of don’t blame him for that.. but I don’t care. He is coming home. He is coming home. He was like a son to me.

    That Michael Moore segment was very true though. Very true. I was near my son once when the Marine approached him. I ran up to them and made the sign of the cross with the fingers and told them to go away. heh. I even hissed at them. The recruiters are the used car salesmen of the military. They will say anything to steal your children.

    Enough said.

    Comment by BlondeSense — June 30, 2004 @ 5:43 am

  3. I have a hard time not coming away with the impression that all these liberal/left attacks on Michael Moore are just so much ass covering. So far, no one’s been able to truly land a punch. The closest is his strange inarticulateness on the bin Ladens’ getaway. The point is that private flights ferrying bin Ladens were able to travel accross the country when all other private aircraft were grounded and that, while the FBI was able to so some questioning of the bin Ladens, it was exceedingly skimpy in view of the enormity of the crime being investigated. That got lost in the film.

    Moore is outrageous. The real question is is he unfair? So far no one’s really made that case yet the left continues to treat him as a near tar baby, if you’ll forgive the expression.

    Is that fair or are we just being cowards?

    Comment by Hieronymus Braintree — June 30, 2004 @ 7:28 am

  4. The Bin Laden flights didn’t fly in closed airspace. Even Moore doesn’t make that allegation. The Bin Laden flights were put first in line when the flight ban was lifted, with special influence from the White House, which originated with a request from Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar.

    Fahrenheit 9/11 is a deeply flawed but worthwhile film. I think I land a few legitimate punches in my review, but I invite you to read it and decide for yourself.

    Comment by Jonathan Scott Chinn — June 30, 2004 @ 11:55 am

  5. To respect and honor my readers’ time, my review thoughtfully COMBINES both Garfield and F9/11.

    Comment by oyster — June 30, 2004 @ 2:05 pm

  6. Johnathan, you are wrong. The bin Ladens DID fly in closed airspace ? to collect them all together for flying out of the country. Snopes went along with your line and wound up eating crow.

    http://www.snopes.com/rumors/flight.htm

    And here’s a link to the St. Petersburg Times article: http://www.saintpetersburgtimes.com/2004/06/09/Tampabay/TIA_now_verifies_flig.shtml

    Not that there’s anything wrong with eating crow. Eating crow is something everyone ought to try now and then. Mmmm. Crow.

    Comment by Hieronymus Braintree — June 30, 2004 @ 2:43 pm

  7. A few thoughts on Fahrenheit 9/11

    I haven’t seen the movie yet (I’ll probably go tonight), but the read I’m getting on Fahrenheit 9/11 is “flawed but worth a look.” Spinsanity takes us through some of the flaws.

    Trackback by Stumax.com — July 3, 2004 @ 11:41 am

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