Whether you agree with Michael Moore or not, he's certainly created conversations. Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about Farenheit 9/11, and it's undeniably a good thing that people are discussing these issues. There are elements of Moore's film that I agree with and there are other sections that go a little overboard.
At his best, Moore is a brilliant activist. The scene where he reads the Patriot Act to members of Congress from an ice cream truck is hilarious and raises an excellent point about the ignorance of our elected officials. Moore has always had a knack for using humor to get serious points across, and Farenheit is no exception. There the clip of the Bush team as the cast of bonanza, an info-graphic about our coalition of the willing, and those priceless Bush video clips ("I call upon all nations...now watch me hit this drive."). In another clip, Moore uses a single guitar riff from Eric Clapton's song Cocaine behind a graphic of Bush's censored National Guard record. About half the people in the theater I was in caught the reference.
At his worst, Moore is a liberal equivalent to Rush Limbuagh, egotistical and obnoxious. Many of his ideas are far-fetched and poorly supported, like the section on the Afghani natural gas pipeline. Fuel is certainly not the only reason that America has gone to war twice in the last three years, though it is more of a factor than the right would have us believe. It's hard to imagine Bush and his cronies caring about Iraq if it wasn't situated above an ocean of black gold. However, I would reject that the failed natural gas pipeline in Afghanistan had anything to do with the decision to go to war. Another poorly executed point is Moore's attempt to discredit Bush's initial reaction to the second plane hitting the trade center. Bush can hardly be blamed for having a blank expression on his face for 7 minutes. I was a little confused that morning, too.
Another point that Moore could've explored further is the Saudi connection. Saudi Arabia seems to be the home to most of these Al Qaida operatives, yet we give their government a free pass. What happened to going after "countries that harbor terrorists?" The official US stance on Saudi Arabia is that they are a friendly government that simply cannot control the terrorists within their own borders. Since when is this an excuse? We refuse to recognize Palestine for that exact reason! I was shocked to see that the Saudi embassy is protected by Bush's secret service.
American ignorance and blind support of Israel in the Israel-Palestine conflict is largely at the root of Muslim anger toward us, yet Bush has NEVER mentioned this as a motive. The current Israeli government is as frighteningly right wing and war-mongering as our own, but the American right will blindly support Israel no matter how many innocent people they slaughter because the religious right has a psychotic Christian Zionist end-of-the-world fantasy. This is perhaps too complex (and too controversial) a topic for Moore to tackle, but it is definitely an important link that MUST be discussed. Our military bases in Saudi Arabia were also a motive for the hijackers, but Bush has never mentioned those either. Instead, he claims that we were attacked on 9/11 only because the terrorists "hate freedom." Think rationally for a minute. When has any human ever killed another human for "hating freedom?" It just doesn't make sense. Al Qaida is fighting a Jihad against us. Nowhere in the Quran does it direct Jihadists to "attack free people."
Another point that Moore never makes is the inherent absurdity of the phrase "War on Terror." We are about as likely to defeat terror as we are to defeat "fear" or "jealousy." The correct move would have been to specifically declare war against Al Qaida back in September of 2001. We were attacked by Al Qaida. They are the enemy, and it's too bad that BOTH presidential candidates insist on fighting a broader, unwinnable battle against "terror." I don't believe that anyone in Washington even knows the correct definition of "terrorist" anymore. The insurgents in Iraq, for instance, are not terrorists; they are guerrillas. Big difference. Unfortunately, Bush insists on painting his war with broad strokes, because that way he can fit just about anyone under the banner of "terrorist." They might as well just call it the "War on Bad Guys."
Go see Farenheit 9/11. Laugh. Cry. Get p***ed. Argue about it afterwords. It's healthy for Americans to be engaging in political discussion.
I give Moore a 10/10 just for having the guts to make this movie. Despite what other viewers are writing, he definitely doesn't hate America; his hate is reserved for the Bush administration, and criticizing the president is quite different from hating America. Despite what right-wingers say about Moore, he is passionate about bringing change to his country. It is both ignorant and stupid to suggest that anyone who dislikes the president hates his country. On the contrary, we're showing how much we love America by exercising free speech and trying to cure the neoconservative Mad Cowboy Disease that has infected Washington.
At his best, Moore is a brilliant activist. The scene where he reads the Patriot Act to members of Congress from an ice cream truck is hilarious and raises an excellent point about the ignorance of our elected officials. Moore has always had a knack for using humor to get serious points across, and Farenheit is no exception. There the clip of the Bush team as the cast of bonanza, an info-graphic about our coalition of the willing, and those priceless Bush video clips ("I call upon all nations...now watch me hit this drive."). In another clip, Moore uses a single guitar riff from Eric Clapton's song Cocaine behind a graphic of Bush's censored National Guard record. About half the people in the theater I was in caught the reference.
At his worst, Moore is a liberal equivalent to Rush Limbuagh, egotistical and obnoxious. Many of his ideas are far-fetched and poorly supported, like the section on the Afghani natural gas pipeline. Fuel is certainly not the only reason that America has gone to war twice in the last three years, though it is more of a factor than the right would have us believe. It's hard to imagine Bush and his cronies caring about Iraq if it wasn't situated above an ocean of black gold. However, I would reject that the failed natural gas pipeline in Afghanistan had anything to do with the decision to go to war. Another poorly executed point is Moore's attempt to discredit Bush's initial reaction to the second plane hitting the trade center. Bush can hardly be blamed for having a blank expression on his face for 7 minutes. I was a little confused that morning, too.
Another point that Moore could've explored further is the Saudi connection. Saudi Arabia seems to be the home to most of these Al Qaida operatives, yet we give their government a free pass. What happened to going after "countries that harbor terrorists?" The official US stance on Saudi Arabia is that they are a friendly government that simply cannot control the terrorists within their own borders. Since when is this an excuse? We refuse to recognize Palestine for that exact reason! I was shocked to see that the Saudi embassy is protected by Bush's secret service.
American ignorance and blind support of Israel in the Israel-Palestine conflict is largely at the root of Muslim anger toward us, yet Bush has NEVER mentioned this as a motive. The current Israeli government is as frighteningly right wing and war-mongering as our own, but the American right will blindly support Israel no matter how many innocent people they slaughter because the religious right has a psychotic Christian Zionist end-of-the-world fantasy. This is perhaps too complex (and too controversial) a topic for Moore to tackle, but it is definitely an important link that MUST be discussed. Our military bases in Saudi Arabia were also a motive for the hijackers, but Bush has never mentioned those either. Instead, he claims that we were attacked on 9/11 only because the terrorists "hate freedom." Think rationally for a minute. When has any human ever killed another human for "hating freedom?" It just doesn't make sense. Al Qaida is fighting a Jihad against us. Nowhere in the Quran does it direct Jihadists to "attack free people."
Another point that Moore never makes is the inherent absurdity of the phrase "War on Terror." We are about as likely to defeat terror as we are to defeat "fear" or "jealousy." The correct move would have been to specifically declare war against Al Qaida back in September of 2001. We were attacked by Al Qaida. They are the enemy, and it's too bad that BOTH presidential candidates insist on fighting a broader, unwinnable battle against "terror." I don't believe that anyone in Washington even knows the correct definition of "terrorist" anymore. The insurgents in Iraq, for instance, are not terrorists; they are guerrillas. Big difference. Unfortunately, Bush insists on painting his war with broad strokes, because that way he can fit just about anyone under the banner of "terrorist." They might as well just call it the "War on Bad Guys."
Go see Farenheit 9/11. Laugh. Cry. Get p***ed. Argue about it afterwords. It's healthy for Americans to be engaging in political discussion.
I give Moore a 10/10 just for having the guts to make this movie. Despite what other viewers are writing, he definitely doesn't hate America; his hate is reserved for the Bush administration, and criticizing the president is quite different from hating America. Despite what right-wingers say about Moore, he is passionate about bringing change to his country. It is both ignorant and stupid to suggest that anyone who dislikes the president hates his country. On the contrary, we're showing how much we love America by exercising free speech and trying to cure the neoconservative Mad Cowboy Disease that has infected Washington.