A Very Late Review of FAHRENHEIT 9/11

[dotinthesky]

I'm a sucker for documentaries on America. The latest one I fell in love with was Brat Camp, about 6 British teenagers who are sent to hell Utah and get two months worth of torture discipline on the hands of soft-spoken "counsellors". Yesterday promised more funtastic times as Sissy Jennifer and I made some tea and sat in the living room to watch FAHRENHEIT 9/11.

You can't go wrong with a documentary on Bush Jr. Even Andy Warhol, if still alive, would have tried to film George W. Bush - only in his case, I bet he'd have a camera following the president's every move, every breath. It's obvious that Mr. Bush Junior is a fascinating subject, an idiot savant shaped like the dark side of Warhol's own personality. Sadly, for Michael Moore, he has proved a tougher adversary than previously expected. Moore tried every punch in the book to belittle, bemoan and decry the Texan arriviste. But Moore's mistake was to lampoon and cartoon a guy that should be taken seriously. The kind of dumb, belligerent business mentality that Bush represents is not an exception in America, but the norm. I wanted to learn more about those shady connections, or at least what really drives Bush and his horsemen of the apocalypse. Like Bowling for Columbine, the documentary seemed to raise question after question but never really pursued anything in depth.

I like Michael Moore. I think he's funny, irritating and annoying in the right times, and to the right people. There were some good laughs through out the documentary, like the midwest town which thinks it's a target for terrorists. Moore chews the news like a big bear before feeding the mouths of his hungry cubs (us). But the documentary didn't teach me anything new - perhaps because I live in Britain and the media isn't as heavily biast and censored over here (though why the hell is Tony Blair still Prime Minister??!?)

I remember when the documentary came out in America and how I wondered what was the general public's reaction. Were they shocked? Or perhaps they saw Moore as behaving like a traitor? Moore's documentaries fall nicely into the grand tradition of yellow journalism/whistle blower exposes (the kind of stuff that's just up my alley.) On the other hand, there was a certain hypocrisy in the documentary that didn't sit well with me. The camera, for example, goes black for the destruction of the twin towers - out of respect and mourning. But, when the soldier's mother breaksdown, the camera is there, lowering to the ground with her, shoved into her face, collecting every tear that runs down her face. Why didn't the camera turn away from her as well, out of respect? The point that was made with the twin towers' destruction seems lost by the end.

I'm sure Moore will go on making documentaries that push everyone off the fence. That is, until a right-wing nutter puts a bullet in his gullet (Ann Coulter perhaps?)

Next stop: Brat Camp 2, starting on Channel 4 next Tuesday. Can't wait!!!

Comments

[stickblackdress.livejournal.com]

lolol I have a reminder on my fridge about brat camp

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

For sure. Looks like they are going Wild West this time.

[stickblackdress.livejournal.com]

Oh . I want

[steer.livejournal.com]

Moore chews the news like a big bear before feeding the mouths of his hungry cubs

Oh, but it is so true -- he does have that appearance.

I suppose it's very difficult to do what Moore is trying to do because he is trying to change people's minds while also trying to keep it interesting and entertaining while also trying to throw in new insights for those who are already in his camp.

[stickblackdress.livejournal.com]

your icon looks like my icon only the other way around

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

It's very difficult. The only people who do as good a job as him are some of the people in America's far right - which is why I think he uses this tactic, because he's seen how effective it is.

[greenteablack.livejournal.com]

Although I did enjoy this documentary I thought that really it was just blind wonderings. It was full of assumptions of what could have happened. Like listening to a room full of geeks spouting out theories on who killed Kennedy. I didn't walk out of the theatre thinking I was more informed or intriqued, like I did with Columbine. I thought it felt rushed and I think had he not given himself such a tight deadline it would have come out a lot better.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Perhaps because he wanted to affect the presidential election, he released it a bit too soon. I certainly agree that it felt rushed.

[greenteablack.livejournal.com]

Yeah he wanted to get it done before the primaries started which I think was a good concept but a bad idea. I mean I see where he was going with it but I don't think he was nearly as effective as he could have been but then again I guess it wasn't really a film to watch after the man was elected.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I'm sure he must have taken that into account now. I wonder what he is working on next?

[4q.livejournal.com]

I think with that there was a lot of mistakes and he could have done things a lot smarter. I have this whole long thought process about what should have been done. would you like to hear it?

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Of course I would!

[4q.livejournal.com]

okie, well basically I think that instead of reading the patriot act out of an ice cream truck, which I thought shot a lot of his credibility, he should have went into the offices of the people that approved the bills and asked them, would you approve a bill that said blank..(read them one of the more ridiculous clauses in the bill such as the police can enter your home, search it, remove things without telling you, and then hold you without bail or telling you the charges for any length of time etc) and then ask them if they would approve such a bill. Hopefully said people would be appalled and say no we would never approve anything like that, and then say. Well actually you did, what i read you is part of the patriot act, and then catch their reactions on camera. Sort of like what he did with that one guy, but yeah, that's what I would have done.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

It's a very good point. He got so caught up in making fun of the politicians that he lost track of how little effect his actions were having. But I think he chose the ice-cream van because it looked "funnier" than him simply talking to some suit. It's that old dilema: teach the masses or amuse them?

[4q.livejournal.com]

right and I mean politicians totally need to be made fun of, but in a smart way that makes them look stupid, and not stupid as in dumb, but stupid as in uninformed because I think that's what will wake people up. that's what will make people demand that the people voted for know what's going on.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

How are things in Canada, politically? I've heard that things are starting to shift to the right again.

[4q.livejournal.com]

bah. I don't know. Paul Martin is such a dork, that I wouldn't be surprised. The only reason things will shift to the right again is because they yell the loudest. I don't know. Canadian politics are frustrating. I have gotten really big into city politics lately, but it makes me so angry I can't stand it. lol

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

You need to SMASH IT UP... yeah yeah SMASH IT UP! ---> my dork moment.

[kenoster.livejournal.com]

I saw the movie in Kansas City. Some people were crying, others were discussing what "they" would have done better with the movie. I think the people who really like Bush (gulp) or are hardcore Republicans didn't even see it.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I've heard of that too: all the Moore haters decided before hand that they would boycott the movie. Isn't Kansas a big conservative state?

[kenoster.livejournal.com]

Kansas is probably the bluest state. Missouri is half blue I hear, but it came out Republican in this election too.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Why is Kansas blue? Is it because of a good Democrat governor?

[kenoster.livejournal.com]

Im sorry by blue i meant red, which means republican. Missouri has a republican governor as well as kansas. Actually there is a funny picture of the asshole of the world when you see the way each county voted in this election around this six state area. Ill look it up later.

[kenoster.livejournal.com]

You can see it here:

http://ruthlessreviews.com/cocksucker/november.html

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

You guys are fucked! Wait until they start craving braaaaains!

[kenoster.livejournal.com]

That's why you should take me to Brasil!!!

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I will... I just saw "The Day After Tomorrow" and it looks like I could make a buck from all the American refugees. ;-)

[irrealist.livejournal.com]

Maybe the screen blacked out when the twin towers were hit out of respect for the fact that Americans had those images shoved in their faces for weeks after the attacks. I don't know about you but I spent all of 9/11/01 in bed watching television for any updates, and those images were replayed over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over... we don't need to see them again.

What we do need to see, however, is the average person's reaction to the war, the reactions of people like Nick Berg's father, the parents and friends of people who have gone to war and not come back, or who have come back different people because of what they have seen and experienced.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I was outside of Ottawa on 9/11 and, like yourself, I also spent the whole day watching tv. We were at Kevin's parents and his father even thought that perhaps the terrorists had biological weapons, and that it could spread into Canada. That night, I had a nightmare that I was in one of the planes that hit the towers. I woke up crying.

A week after that we took a plane to England. They didn't replay the images that often in Canada, but I can imagine how horrible it must have been to see them over and over again. I think you are totally right - he must have blacked it out because people's memories were so strong of it that they needed only the sounds to remind them of it.

There has been some move in the British media to cover the soldiers' stories. Channel 4 did a good piece recently on a new figure that shows 1 out of 6 soldiers in Iraq suffering from some kind of trauma. Then, of course, there have been stories about the soldiers who went home and what happened to them. It would be really good if someone did a proper documentary on them, on life in the military, on who joins, their families, etc.

[tonight-we-fly.livejournal.com]

I thought it was an excellent film. You perhaps have to remember that the film was intended to fit on the lowest common denominator; a lot of the people who read and post in your journal are likely to be much more intelligent than the mean average.

Also, I'm not that surprised that he didn't delve further into the details and the shady areas, as it might then have turned more and more into an excercise of preaching to the converted. Perhaps this is why the film primarily raised questions rather than attempting to indoctrinate the audience with clear-cut answers? This film was aimed at the supporters, the opposition and the don't-knows. And perhaps there was just too much ground to cover to really dig that deep anyway.

On a tangential note, I think he's played an exceptional part in taking documentary cinema into the mainstream (in this country at least). Suddenly, people are no longer surprised and instantly turned-off when they see a documentary screening at their local UGC or Vue complex. As was extremely evident when Super Size Me came out. A couple of people at work told me that was only the second documentary they've ever seen at the cinema; with Farenheit 9/11 obviously having been the first.

Keep up the film reviews, I hope I'm not alone in saying that I love reading them...

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I haven't seen Super Size Me so if you ever feel like writing a review. ;-)

I wasn't completely disappointed with Moore's latest. To be honest, I mostly enjoyed it. As I said, I think he's a nice guy (to the likes of me, at least).