This evening, Sajan and I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 at the Cedar Lee. For those of you who have seen Michael Moore films in the past, you probably have some strong opinion about his most current work, be it good or bad. My feelings on America’s liberal analog to Rush Limbaugh are somewhat more complex.
First off, I think that he’s absolutely down-right immoral. There is a side of me which believes that artists have responsibilites along with their artistic rights, and that Moore violates many of the responsibilites delegated to a documentarist by presenting misleading, misconstrued, and sometimes flat out false information as being factual. The sad part of his fabrications are the sheer number of individuals who are completely taken in by them. Check out http://www.bowlingfortruth.com/ if you’d like to see a little of what I’m talking about.
Secondly, I think he is a bloody brilliant film-maker. The artistic side of me says that responsibility has no bearing in true art; true art should be a reflection of character, observation, or fantasy, and the the creation of art is one of the only forums that allows for complete expression as a truly free individual. The downside to this is that you’ve got to understand the impact your art will have on other people. If that impact is seemingly negative to you, then perhaps you should reconsider your expression. Or perhaps that fact that you can express yourself makes the consequences worth it?
Either way, people will be and are fooled by Michael Moore’s documentary, Farenheit 9/11, as characterized by the like-minded, robotic liberals in the audience at tonight’s showing. The audience was thick, and there were people everywhere. I have never seen the Cedar Lee quite so busy. On top of this, they were charismatic. There were at least four distinct times when a majority of the probably 300-seater broke out into applause. What’s truly disheartening is the context of their approval. Moore brings up some very well thought-out ideas in this film, as he did in Bowling for Columbine. America is a nation governed by commercialism and fear. It’s true, there’s really no escaping that. It was very interesting to see how he fit the nation’s terror alert level into his fear concept. Near the end of the film, he recites an excerpt from George Orwell about the on-going nature of war, and that all hierarchical societies are based on precepts of competitive commercialism. However the audience did not recognize these parts of the film as being important enough to hoot-and-hollar. They did, however, clap at two old women sitting around in a retirement home, talking about the pointlessness of the war in Iraq. They clapped at a corporal who would have rather been imprisoned than gone off to fight in Iraq. They clapped at a mamed veteran who had converted from being a lifetime republican, to being an involved democrate. Guess what follks? You are missing the point. Moore himself admits in the film that the democrats in congress did little to oppose the action taken on the Saudis shortly after 9/11. They did not oppose the USA PATRIOT act. There was not a democratic senator who would stand in opposition to the seemingly shady events in Florida during the 2000 election.
In my opinion, partisanship gets you nowhere. Stand on your own and think for yourselves. Gain a sense of awareness, especially of how unaware you are of most things. Often, people who have learned one lesson in life seem to forget that lessons will keep on coming. Understanding that war can be and is sometimes unjustified is not the end of the story. Understand that at the heart of every issue is a trade-off. Gaining one ideal, will most certainly result in the loss of another. Things are not simple and clear-cut. George W. Bush is (probably) not at the heart of a conspiracy, while gofing with the Bin Ladens and vacationing in Texas. He’s also probably not the most innocent business-man to take the office of US President.
On Moore’s brilliance, I have the following to say: He makes excellent use of many, many cinematic devices to wrap up a tight, powerful, and rhetorical documentary. The things he’s trying to say cannot be proven. However, Moore does a darn-good job of making them seem provable. Saj made note of the film’s score, and I think it is one of the devices used to sway the audience into the momentum of Moore’s film. It would be interesting to hear the soundtrack of the film on it’s own, as you could probably have the same feelings you experience in the theater without any of the visuals. Moore is also a very entertaining fellow (which is how I justified contributing to his cause and forking over the $8.00 to catch an evening showing). Riding around capitol hill reciting the PATRIOT act from an ice cream truck is hilarious. Often he will use his humor and sarcasm to bring the audience around to his point-of-view. The interesting thing about sarcasm in this film is that it enables a mutually beneficial relationship between Moore and the audience. The audience feels like they are sharing in a “smart-moment” with the director. The two realise something that the on-screen 3rd party does not. In essence, Moore sways the audience by making them feel smart. I won’t touch too much on editing, except to say that the juxtaposition of shots in Moore’s films imply a great-deal more than what he would be willing to confess from his mouth, and he says a great deal of misleading things right out.
Overall, the film is hilarious and greatly entertaining. Very much worth a viewing for it’s artistic strengths and it’s controversial nature. But please folks, those of you who have had such a hard time suspending disbelief for films like The Matrix or The Lord of the Rings, continue having a hard time for Fahrenheit 9/11. It’s little more than a tightly scripted and altogether enjoyable popcorn flick.