July 19, 2004
Fahrenheit 9/11
I have been a fan of Michael Moore movies, and yet I knew that this one was to be different. I decided to see this movie because I've liked his creativity and because of the hype... I also wanted to see if it would bring up anything that would make me truly THINK or re-think anything...
I was surprised to find that all the hype was about a relatively boring movie. This latest project of Moore's isn't as creative as his past efforts. It lacked the charm, lacked the deep thought, and sometimes simply lacked credibility.
Did it make me re-think anything? Yes. Now I might like to look into the facts behind the statements made before 9/11 from people like Rice and Powell who said, "Sadam doesn't have the capability or resources to have weapons of mass destruction in his possession."
Otherwise, I thought the rest of the points in the movie pretty much fell flat. There is point A and there is point B. In between are a lot of ideas and facts (if I can believe anything Moore says), but they don't all seem to correlate as perfectly as he would suggest.
He edits out subtitles from a translator in Iraq . He edits out comments from people in D.C. in his efforts to get members of Congress to get their children to sign up for the armed forces (which no parent can force on his/her child). He focuses on those who are "forced" into military by circumstances without recognizing great people like our own Justin or my nephew, who come from relatively affluent backgrounds, who volunteered themselves into duty. He exploits a crying mother who has lost her son and is trying to find a person upon whom she can unload her anger. He makes comparisons with the amount of troops (if I remember correctly) in Manhattan vs. Afghanistan without recognizing the difference in terrain and population in each of those areas. Basically, he shows the audience what he wants to show them. I think that's fine, but this shouldn't be categorized as a documentary so that people like Ric's co-workers can go and see it and believe Moore's word is the gospel truth.
And he drags everything out as long as possible. Regardless of where political standpoints, I thought this movie was boring. I don't want the comments section to this post to turn into anything political. I'm not a Bush worshiper, but I'm not a Moore believer either. Overall, I thought the hype was just that - hype, and that the movie was just a mildly interesting editorial piece, but nothing very special.
Posted by wendytime at July 19, 2004 01:14 PM | TrackBack