Lines wrapped around theaters, shows sold out, and peopleregistered to vote in the parking lot. Whatever your politicalaffiliation, you must admit -- this is impact.
Fahrenheit 9/11 grossed $21.9 million last weekend alone,beating the No. 2 opening movie, White Chicks, despite the factthat Fahrenheit 9/11 was shown in a third the number of theaters asthe Wayans brothers' White Chicks. In Memphis Sunday, the 9/11shows were still selling out.
The documentary begins at the 2000 election, where filmmakerMichael Moore debates the legitimacy of the election and draws tiesbetween George W. Bush and his brother Jeb's influence on theoutcome of the election. From there, the film asserts that Bushspent 42 percent of his time between inauguration and September11th on vacation. Moore uses statements from the 9/11 Commission toshow that there was good intelligence on the fact that al-Quaedawas planning to strike the United States and that Bush simply didnot read the reports.
There is damaging footage of Bush continuing to read My Pet Goatwith elementary school children for seven minutes after being toldthe United States was under attack.
Moore's main focus, however, is the ties between Bush and theSaudi bin Laden family, members of which have been in business withthe Bush family for more than 30 years and are largely invested inBush businesses. The U.S. government picked up members of the binLaden family on Sept. 13, and flew them outside the United Statesfor their safety.
Moore takes the audience through a condensed chronology of thebait and switch of Afghanistan and Iraq, then to the front lines ofthe war and what it is like to fight an unclear enemy. Moorereturns to his hometown of Flint, Mich., to show the recruitmentefforts of the U.S. Army and the pain one family goes throughhaving a son at war in Iraq.
Controversy over the film has seemed to center on whether or notthe film is objective or subjective, gospel or propaganda.Documentaries are, by nature, not objective and try to get theaudience to see a particular point of view, and Moore does a greatjob at this. You will laugh a lot and probably cry.
Fahrenheit 9/11 is not a journalistic piece, and it does notclaim to be. It is not fair and balanced. However, its facts havebeen checked by some of the best fact-checkers in the country,including some from The New Yorker.
Occasionally, the film grates against me as a journalist to hearMoore leading his interviewees to give particular answers. But whatcannot be denied and is the most persuasive material of the filmare the uncut segments of Bush and members of his administrationmaking tasteless comments. Bush admits he is not concerned withcatching bin Laden and says on camera in 2001 that there was no wayIraq had nuclear weapons or the means to develop them.
By putting together news clips spread over time, you can see howthe president slowly pushes focus from Afghanistan to Iraq, and youare left feeling like we were all duped into war.
You see medical records in black and white that tie Bush to theinvestor of the bin Ladens. You also see the emotion of a womangrieving in Flint and her trip to Washington D.C.
A pivotal moment in the film is when a woman steps in tointerfere with the grieving mother to snidely say that her son'sdeath in Iraq should be blamed on al-Quaeda, not realizing thatthere is no connection between the two. It is this raw recognitionof ignorance and callousness that seems to shake the audience tothe core. You see, on a personal level, how ugly politicalmis-education or apathy can be.
I recommend Fahrenheit 9/11, whatever your political persuasion.If nothing else, you will question what the truth really is.
