Like most people who have any political views, I admit that I went into this movie with some preconceived notions about its content, and fully ready to administer a spanking to Michael Moore and company by way of a scathing review. (If you haven’t already guessed, I consider myself a Republican and Bush-supporter.) Sadly though, I discovered that Fahrenheit 9/11 doesn’t fully deserve a complete critical bashing. Being as impartial as I can, I can say that Moore does raise some interesting points, but Moore seems to be happy to just point and laugh at a President who mixes his metaphors.
Fahrenheit 9/11 is Michael Moore’s follow-up to the extremely successful Bowling for Columbine. This time Moore is after President Bush and the war in Iraq instead of Charlton Heston and gun-control. He takes on everything from the US Patriot Act to the Terror Alert System and the recruiting practices of the US military. And if there is anything we learn from this movie, it is this: Michael Moore really hates Republicans; Michael Moore REALLY hates President Bush; and Michael Moore loathes with all his heart the war in terror and the war in Iraq. It is this blind rage though that prevents Moore from really making a impact. Instead of trying to convince his audience of what he considers inept leadership on the part of our current executive administration, Moore prefers to take the childish low-road and use petty name-calling to get his point across, which does entertain (from all the laughter in the theater, one might suspect that this is a comedy), but only hurts his arguments in the long run. This rage is also reflected in the content of his piece by his complete lack of focus. He jumps around topics faster than a kangaroo on speed!
Sometimes, Moore seems to be contradicting himself in his own movie. For example during one segment, he portrays American soldiers as blood-thirsty killing machines (who listen to “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor” as they roll through Iraq in their tanks), then later they are portrayed as innocent pawns being subjected to the wrath of President Bush and his personal vendettas (as one soldier “conveniently” adds: “When I get home, I am going to become very active in the Democratic party”) . Moore even attempts to mock those who support our troops in a montage of journalists (including Katie Couric) saying things such as “Navy Seals rock!” and “You’re damned right I am impartial!,” and victimizing those who speak negatively about the war; but of course this blows-up in his face. What I believe Moore fails to realize is that if it is a person’s right to speak out against something, it is also their right to speak in favor of it. Other times, Moore seems content to just spin the truth. My favorite spin: Baghdad before the war is portrayed as an idyllic paradise -- Saddam Land, if you will (thanks, Scott) -- complete with children on a Ferris wheel and a young boy frolicking in a meadow while flying a kite. Furthermore, Michael Moore even tries to pass off Saddam Hussein as sympathetic man, saying that “he did not kill one American soldier.” No, he just prefers to kill his own people. And of course there is no commentary on the celebrations that occurred after American occupation and the fall of Saddam.
Michael Moore does touch on a few interesting arguments, one of the savviest being the seeming randomness of the Terror Alert System. Unfortunately Moore doesn’t spend nearly enough time on this, and would rather pull silly pranks like running around the steps of congress and asking members of congress to sign up their children for war or ride around the Capitol in an ice-cream truck reading the Patriot Act on a loud-speaker to prove nothing more than how controversial he can be. A powerful segment occurs when Moore interviews a mother before and after he son is killed in Iraq, and her subsequent journey to the White House as some form of closure. Although this isn’t what it could have been, as my brain was filled mostly with skepticism instead of emotion due to Moore’s past of staging aspects of his “documentaries.” After all, what are the chances that he just happened to interview a mother of a US soldier on the off-chance that he would be one of those killed in Iraq? Sadly these are the only two bright spots (if you can all them that) in a “documentary” which equates to little more than juvenile and repetitive Bush-bashing (which I can get for free on SNL).
I am sure that much of what I say in this review has been fueled by my pre-standing political beliefs, but perhaps that is a good thing. Who better to critique a movie than one who isn’t caught up in the rah-rah liberal mob-mentality that surrounds this movie (see: the Cannes Film Festival jury)? I also realize that much of my review is simply an a contrary argument to what Moore splashed on movie screens, but when you siphon all of the controversy and politics out, the only thing that is left is unorganized, unfocused, and poorly executed propaganda. I now leave you with one piece of advice: Michael Moore has the right to freedom of speech. And we have the right not to listen.
Grade: D
© 2004 Jacob Sproul
June 2004 Archive
2004 Archive
Main Archive