Review: Fahrenheit 9/11
Jun. 26th, 2004 07:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jere7myMichael Moore's new documentary didn't tell me much that I didn't already know, though some things (like Bush, Cheney, and Condoleeza Rice assuring the country in early 2001 that Saddam had no WMDs) were new to me. But any loyal viewer of The Daily Show has already seen clips of Bush's "Now watch this drive" and "Fool me once, shame on you" gaffes; the election improprieties are already familiar to most of us; it's not really a surprise that Halliburton and other companies are rolling in new cash because of the Iraq war. Nevertheless, Fahrenheit 9/11 is relentless in its presentation, and ultimately makes all those things we already knew seem freshly outrageous. It's a catharsis and a call to arms for liberals.
Moore keeps himself off-camera for almost the entire movie; his two ambush-pranks seem almost like a necessary tip of the hat to his fans. Really, this movie is about letting soldiers and grandmothers and mothers tell their stories, and letting those in power dig themselves into deep deep holes with their own words. It's probably his most effective movie to date, for that reason. The quotes are often blissfully context-free, and Moore waves his bias flag proudly, but it's hard to imagine a positive context for "There will be plenty of money for all of you once that oil starts flowing." The most moving and irrefutable moments come from a military mom, whose personal journey with respect to the Iraq war could not have been planned by Moore, and who provides the single most funny, appalling, heartrending, moment-of-Zen scene in the film: three very different women meeting on the sidewalk outside the White House. I won't spoil it for you, but that one scene justifies the existence of the film, all on its own, both artistically and politically.
There are flaws: the movie very obviously started out being about one thing (the Bush - bin Laden connection) and, in its expansion, shifted its focus to Iraq, which gives it a schizophrenic feel. Sometimes it wanders off the point, like when it spends ten minutes on understaffed police in Oregon to demonstrate the questionable point that Bush doesn't really care about securing our borders. And it unabashedly uses ad hominem attacks, which played very well to the Ann Arbor crowd but made me a bit uncomfortable; do we need to superimpose Bush's and Cheney's faces on old Bonanza actors? Is Wolfowitz's personal hygiene really something Moore wants to start in on? On the whole, though, I spent about 80% less time cringing than I usually do during a Moore movie.
The movie is strongly patriotic and supportive of our troops, which (I hope) will finally drive home the point in some minds that patriotism and questioning the President are not mutually exclusive. It doesn't flinch from the horrors of war, and if the woman sitting beside me is any indication those images might be hard for some people to take, but in the end the message is: This is what's happening to our soldiers, who pledged their lives to protect us. This is the real reason Bush sent them over there. See any problems with that?
All together, now: Four fewer years! Four fewer years! Four fewer years!
Moore keeps himself off-camera for almost the entire movie; his two ambush-pranks seem almost like a necessary tip of the hat to his fans. Really, this movie is about letting soldiers and grandmothers and mothers tell their stories, and letting those in power dig themselves into deep deep holes with their own words. It's probably his most effective movie to date, for that reason. The quotes are often blissfully context-free, and Moore waves his bias flag proudly, but it's hard to imagine a positive context for "There will be plenty of money for all of you once that oil starts flowing." The most moving and irrefutable moments come from a military mom, whose personal journey with respect to the Iraq war could not have been planned by Moore, and who provides the single most funny, appalling, heartrending, moment-of-Zen scene in the film: three very different women meeting on the sidewalk outside the White House. I won't spoil it for you, but that one scene justifies the existence of the film, all on its own, both artistically and politically.
There are flaws: the movie very obviously started out being about one thing (the Bush - bin Laden connection) and, in its expansion, shifted its focus to Iraq, which gives it a schizophrenic feel. Sometimes it wanders off the point, like when it spends ten minutes on understaffed police in Oregon to demonstrate the questionable point that Bush doesn't really care about securing our borders. And it unabashedly uses ad hominem attacks, which played very well to the Ann Arbor crowd but made me a bit uncomfortable; do we need to superimpose Bush's and Cheney's faces on old Bonanza actors? Is Wolfowitz's personal hygiene really something Moore wants to start in on? On the whole, though, I spent about 80% less time cringing than I usually do during a Moore movie.
The movie is strongly patriotic and supportive of our troops, which (I hope) will finally drive home the point in some minds that patriotism and questioning the President are not mutually exclusive. It doesn't flinch from the horrors of war, and if the woman sitting beside me is any indication those images might be hard for some people to take, but in the end the message is: This is what's happening to our soldiers, who pledged their lives to protect us. This is the real reason Bush sent them over there. See any problems with that?
All together, now: Four fewer years! Four fewer years! Four fewer years!
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Date: 2004-06-27 04:55 pm (UTC)Basically, the movie is an extended anti-Bush campaign speech, and its purpose is to remind people, "This is what's going on, and, if it appalls you, you can get up on November the whatever-th and go out there and vote against this jerk." So, if it winds up running afoul of McCain-Feingold, well, i can't say that surprises me so much, but i can only hope that this movie will win some votes for Kerry, not so much among the fence-sitters (who probably won't go see the movie), but among those on the left who are thinking of staying home or voting for Nader or the Greens. (Are the Greens even running a candidate this time?)