When I reviewed PASSION OF THE CHRIST, I said God bless Mel Gibson for making a movie that spurred people to talk about religion. So in turn I say God bless Michael Moore for making FAHRENHEIT 9/11, spurring people to talk about the other topic you don't bring up in polite conversation – politics.
Moore is a liberal and makes no bones about it. The controversy surrounding this film and Moore is pretty much unwarranted due to the fact that there is nothing in the film that hasn't been covered in the mainstream media before. Moore just highlights the things that in his opinion are damning evidence that president George W. Bush is beholden to Saudi money, leading the U.S. in the wrong direction and otherwise a complete moron. The movie is quite convincing. Moore makes his argument clear and backs up what he says. This isn't a "fair and balanced" documentary; it's a 2-hour op-ed piece. It will make you laugh, cry and angry (what makes you angry may depend on what your political leanings are). I urge everyone to see this film with an open mind, especially if you are even thinking for a slight moment to vote for GW. I would love to see the other side counter the points that are brought up in the film. Moore has an army of lawyers ready for any charge. If this film doesn't make you want to run GW out of the White House then nothing will.
Moore uses the same dry sardonic wit that he used in ROGER & ME and BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, however the point isn't as profound and thought provoking. Because I'm a newsmonger, I knew every fact that was in the film before hand. Moore collects these facts and, unlike his other films, spends a lot of time off screen letting images speak for themselves. Our president does a wonderful job of looking like a fool without any sarcastic remarks from rabble-rouser Moore. There where a few facts and moments however that really did stick out.
First, due to federal budget cuts, there is a lack of patrolmen watching the coastline in Oregon. So what is this wonderful Homeland Security office doing? Second, Saudi Arabia has so much money invested in U.S. corporations that it makes up nearly 7% of our gross national product. The film shows multiple moments where the Bush administration hides facts about Saudi Arabia's involvement in 9/11. The Bush family and his cabinet are up to their eyeballs in the oil business to the tune of $1.4 billion over the last three decades. Common sense says that you don't shoot yourself in the foot. So what are they hiding? Thirdly, why wouldn't Bush testify under oath at the 9/11 commission, which he didn't want to have in the first place? No WMDs. No links to Al Quaeda. We knew for a fact that the Taliban was involved with Al Quaeda and we sent less troupes into Afghanistan than there are cops in New York City. What is wrong with this picture folks? If you don't believe me, go see the movie, then try to find the proof that counters all of this that isn't some silly black and white summation of complex issues.
The other striking thing about the film is that it brings a real tragic human connection to the war. The segment with Lila Lipscomb, a long-time military supporter, who reads a letter, from her son who died in Iraq, calling for Bush to be defeated, is heartbreaking. The idiot who yells at her during her visit to the White House is infuriating. The clip of the Iraqi woman who has had to go through five funerals in her family because of U.S. "mistakes" had me in tears. The war between the Democrats and the Republications has become like the Hatfields and the McCoys. Ugly, pointless and no one knows where it all started.
I love my country for all the brilliant ideas that it was founded on. And that's what Moore argues in this film. America was formed so that we the people wouldn't be beholden to kings who had all the money in the world to squash our rights -- or just us. Democrats and Republicans passed the Patriot Act without reading it. It allows the government to look at your medical files. How does knowing if someone had their wisdom teeth out make us safer from attack? It's time that we take back this country from the new kings of commerce. The ones that got into Yale with a C average because the family name Bush is on some building. And remember kings like Henry VIII used the name of God to justify the things they did. If we are blind to history, we are doomed to repeat it. So I say with a true heart -- God -- please -- bless America!
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
