I attended Fahrenheit 9/11 in the liberal Chevy Chase section of Washington, DC last night. A group called Mothers Opposing Bush formed a gauntlet outside the theater's entrance selling anti-Bush shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers. "Know Your Power: Vote for Change 2004," read their banner. Inside the theater, the proceeds of tickets to the show previous to mine went to anti-Bush causes. All this delayed things quite a bit. Fahrenheit 9/11, though, wasn't worth the wait.
Fahrenheit 9/11 screens as a crude campaign commercial against George W. Bush. Two things stand out. First, the movie relies on very little original material. Instead, grainy news footage spliced together pervades. Second, Fahrenheit 9/11 is short on facts and heavy on suggestion.
Aristotle mocked Melissus and Parmenides by humorously noting, "their premises are false, and their conclusions do not follow." One could make the same observation regarding Michael Moore.
For instance, Fahrenheit 9/11 suggests that Bush went to war in Afghanistan to protect Unocal's planned oil pipeline through the country. But Unocal announced in 1998 that it had withdrawn plans to build an oil pipeline in Afghanistan. The mythic pipeline that Moore discusses in the film exists in his imagination, but not in actual world. If it did exist, would a pipeline or the terrorist attacks of 9/11 be the cause of the war? Rather than some Marxist interpretation of the war that attributes the Bush Administration's motives to greed, the real reason America invaded Afghanistan was to go after the 9/11 conspirators and the state that gave them safe haven.
A second example of unfounded conclusions following false premises is Moore's suggestion that the Bush family looks out for the Saudis more than the Americans because of money derived from the Arab kingdom. Moore's evidence of this seems to consist of the copious amounts of B-roll footage showing the Bushes shaking hands with unidentified Arab men. Fahrenheit 9/11 compares "$1.4 billion" that Bush business interests got from the Saudis with the $400,000 George W. Bush earns as president, leaving the filmaker to ask: "Who's your daddy?" Bush, however, never received anything like $1.4 billion from the Saudis. Bush's father does sit on the advisory board of the Carlyle Group. And a one-time subsidiary of that group, BDM, did receive about $1.2 billion in contracts from the Saudis. BDM, however, is no longer part of the Carlyle Group, and Bush the elder didn't join Carlyle's advisory board until after BDM had been sold off.
Other aspects of Fahrenheit 9/11 stand out as propaganda. Moore complains that Bush waited more than a month before going after bin Laden. Moore, though, would never have invaded Afghanistan in the first place. Moore villifies American soldiers throughout the film, only casting them in a positive light when they serve his political ends--like when they're dead or urging viewers to vote Democrat. In pre-war Iraq, Moore shows smiling children riding ferris wheels, flying kites, and riding bicycles. Then Moore cuts to the war and shows pictures of burned, wounded, and dead children. Couldn't proponents of the war just as easily have juxtaposed Saddam's pre-war brutalities with post-war happiness?
Until last night, I've never experienced a delay in an advertised showtime because of a political fundraiser in the theater. In the future, I will take this to be what's called in police terminology a "clue"--a clue suggesting "don't see this film."
Aristotle mocked Melissus and Parmenides by humorously noting, "their premises are false, and their conclusions do not follow."
Who do you think you are? Dennis "friggin" Miller
Didn't Aristotle own a submarine shop in Arlington Heights?
"Who do you think you are? Dennis 'friggin' Miller?"
In other words, don't use intellectual allusions, they make my head hurt.
Dan, I anyone makes fun of you I got your back! Love, Blue
aristotle did own a subshop in the heights i believe? it was the one right next to Kalivas's Baccalava stand!
BLUE! YOUR MY BOY BLUE!!!!
Way to go Dan i completly agree the film was trash.
"BLUE! YOUR MY BOY BLUE!!!!"
Classic! WTG Bubba!
Way to go Dan! Too bad Michael Moore didn't have the intelligence to have the proceeds donated to the victims (families) of 9/11. Maybe then (and i'm really stretching it) some accusations might hold a bit of water. (snicker) Who am I kidding, Michael Moore's accusations hold about as much water as a brand spanking new sieve.
Luckily we can all watch the movie "Micheal Moore Hates America"! Now there's a movie I will want to see!
I have had a number of libs telling me to see this film including a student of mine. What I don't understand about those promoting the film is this, they are very often willing to freely admit that Moore is manipulative, lies outright, makes some silly assertions, is generally repugnant and propagandistic . . . but . . . the film "makes some good points" or "is important for showing and saying things that need to be said and shown." How can one hold both opinions logically at the same time? If his filmmaking is completely irresponsible and untrustworthy then he should be as easily rejected out of hand as Jayson Blair was.
Or maybe that is just it, Blair wasn't at all rejected by his liberal promoters or handlers until he became such an embarassment that they finally had no choice but to dump him. The same holds true for Moore. Since the left cares little for truth but only for power (boy was Nietzsche ever prescient or what?) they have no compelling reason to distance themselves from those who promise to fight for them no matter how dirty that person fights.
Great point, Brian.
The ends justify the means, of course.
Once again, truth takes a back seat. Michael Moore doesn't give a crap about truth, he cares about his side winning. Many on the far right don't care about truth anymore either.
Like Mike said in the last post, the ends justify the means.
Right now I am ready to vote for Jesse Ventura. At least you know he won't lie to you. Screw things up maybe, but he will be honest about it, lol.
