So I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 earlier this evening.
First off, I must state that I used to be a big Michael Moore fan. Roger & Me was one of the first independent films I ever saw (and still stand as one of the finest American films from the 20th century, IMHO), and played a large part in getting me interested in independent cinema, as well as documentaries (well, that along with Ken Burns’ work). Subsequently, I was a big fan of Moore’s first show, TV Nation, and became a strong believer in what he stood for.
Yet as time passed, I became somewhat tired of his antics, with the real turning point being when he accepted that Oscar for Bowling for Columbine. I didn’t have a problem with his message (I believed it wholeheartedly) it was just totally unnecessary to drag those other nominees into some self-serving stunt; there’s still plenty of debate regarding if those other nominees were properly informed on exactly what he was going to say. From that point on, Moore began to develop a penchant for twisting the truth (or even outright making stuff up), and making himself look like an angry bitter jackass in the process.
Though I figured it anything, with such topics as 9/11 and the war in Iraq, Moore would have plenty to work with, without the need to produce any outlandish (and often unfunny) gimmicks to get the message across, and I was pretty much right on the money. Fahrenheit 9/11 is Michael Moore at his best. When he’s good, Moore is an absolute master of presenting just the right juxtapositions to get the desired reaction or emotion. Moore had a very clearly defined point of view and did an excellent job of supporting it.
At times, the film was actually humorous. Going in, I was mostly afraid that Moore would try too hard to be funny, and thankfully, this wasn’t the case. And at other times, the movie got me really pissed, such as seeing the administration (along with our wonderful news bureaus) manipulate the public with fear. Mainly because, and as much as I’m ashamed to admit it, I was also one of those who was freaking out over nothing. Granted, I’d like to think living near where it all went down had a little to do with that, and it wasn’t like I went out and bought pounds and pounds of duck tape or was afraid to open envelopes. But as a certain point, and the same could be said for many of my friends, I was hating a certain group, plus supporting aggression towards them, and for no real justification, other than blind faith (and despite that a mockery of an election that had just taken place!) and a need for revenge. That and the copious amounts of misinformation.
But the parts of the movie which spoke to me the most were the ones that dealt with people in the military and their families. I grew up in a military community, near Fort Lewis in Washington State, and I can’t tell you how many times I was stopped in a store, or even on the street, by some army recruiter who feed me false promises of what I could see or do or even become if I joined the forces. And witnessing the angry reactions of those who have family serving in a time of war towards those who are against it is all too familiar; when the Gulf War broke out in ’91, I voiced my opposition towards it, since I saw it as a battle over oil, and became the most hated person in my junior high school. Not only friends, but my teachers, made me feel truly bad for voicing my opinion. Even though I felt I was clear in voicing my support for the troops…. because I knew some of them, they were my friends and loved ones too… I was still branded as un-American, and it really left a mark on me. And of course, most disturbing was witnessing American troops enjoy themselves as they treated the Iraqis, both dead and alive, inhumanely. Once again, from seeing how the military works from a bit on the inside (not just by my family, but those around me) and knowing how it manipulates people to do their bidding, I can see why such behavior exists. Not to say I condone it of course, it’s just sad to see conditions exist to see to allow it to happen.
And the most gruesome parts were seeing innocent Iraqis maimed and killed due to the senseless fighting. Many argue that such imagery is excessive, that war is not supposed to be pretty to look at, and that if Americans really saw what were on those battlefields in the middle of World War 2, that perhaps even that fight would have lost public support, and is therefore an inappropriate, as well as unfair, means of suppressing support for the war. Though the difference between WWII and the Iraqi war is that at least back then, we had just cause to get involved in bloodshed.
But still, is Moore being manipulative by showing such footage? Of course he is, because that’s his job. He’s a filmmaker and it’s his duty to build an argument with whatever he can use to his aid. I used to hate Steven Spielberg because of Saving Private Ryan, since I found it to be an overly-manipulative piece of trash that plays into people’s sense of patriotism and sentimentality. But I later realized that he’s just really good when it comes to using the viewers’ emotion responses to his advantage; can’t fault a man for his skills. But I can blame him for fucking up potentially good films like AI, but that’s for another time…
Then again, just because Moore was saying which I wanted to hear (by shedding light on facts which I had either found too confusing or simply suspected) didn’t mean I was going to soak it all in wholeheartedly. Like I said before, he’s a master of this craft, and has a reputation of twisting things a bit too much. This may seem like a very minor thing to point out, but in the very beginning of the film, during the title sequence, there’s a montage depicting the President and all the various figure heads in our country getting ready to be on television. Basically, it’s all of them getting their noses powdered and acting all nonchalantly just before they go on the air to address the incidents that had just taken place that morning on September 11th. Bush in particular looks like a confused dolt, but the footage was actually before a speech made much later down the road. Not sure if anyone else picked on this, and it is pretty minor, but still….
Anyways, for those who are opposed to Bush and everything his administration has done, this film is sure to shed new light and clarify some things. And for those who support the President and his endeavor, perhaps this film will change their minds, but it’s a highly doubtful. Guess it depends if they’re willing to believe some angry, smart-mouthed liberal.
