June 28, 2004

Fahrenheit 9/11 in Review

Standing in line in front of the Landmark Theatre in Berkeley, waiting to see Michael Moore's much publicized Fahrenheit 9/11, I couldn't help but wonder whether I wasn't really in Newport Beach. It might as well have been Orange County, for the lack of diversity in the crowd was almost as startling as the number of crazy, rich, liberal white folks that turned out from the hills to rowdily deride George W. Bush. Wasn't Michael Moore supposed to be all about minorities? Nevermind. Let's talk about the movie.

I found the film to be a radical turn from Moore's earlier films such as Roger & Me or Bowling for Columbine. It was less funny, more graphic, and much more critical. It also wasn't anything new, if you had read his latest book. Nevertheless, it was a powerful film that I think succeeded in pointing out some of the major and now obvious lies the current administration has perpetrated (WMD, what?) as well as the blatant failing of the so called American free press. Further, the graphic and often grotesque images from Iraq serve as a healthy reminder to oblivious suburbanites what collatoral damage translates to when a surgical airstrike fails (or even succeeds). Finally, the simultaneously humorous and disgusting, Cops-like sequence in which Marine Recruiters prey on poor youth at a Michigan mall as well as the ridiculously ditzy support for the president from Britney Spears provide rare comic relief during a film that is anything but funny.

Although Moore does a much better job during this movie of presenting the facts rather than himself, there are nonetheless some scenes that go over the top unnecessarily. For one, having a mother of a soldier killed in action read his last letter home for many torturous minutes was reminiscent of the Charlton Heston scene in Bowling for Columbine - overly melodramatic. Also, the opening and closing of the movie, which juxtaposes Bush and his senior staff getting makeup with funny sounding music seemed somewhat lame and pointless. The purpose appears to have been: Haha! Look at Bush making funny faces while getting makeup put on, but the effect was lost on me. Anyone would have looked funny with that music playing in the background.

Overall, I'd say Fahrenheit 9/11 is definitely worth watching, if for nothing else, than because everyone else is doing it (the movie grossed $22 million in it's opening weekend) and it makes for good conversation. In fact, given the amount of material that is presented, it wouldn't hurt to watch it more than once to get a handle on what's going on. Quality-wise, I'd say this documentary was better than Bowling, but more disquieting than enjoyable. As for the mudslinging, well, it's an election year and that's nothing new. It's just that someone finally found a bigger shovel than the GOP.