Before watching Fahrenheit 9/11, I actually
had some sort of admiration for Michael Moore. In his
previous, most popular, two movies, Bowling for
Columbine and Roger and Me, he was able to
hide the fact that he’s truly a sleaze-ball. Moore
could, somehow, convince you that he was right, even if
you didn’t agree with him, and never intended on doing
so. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a different experience
than his past two outings, though. In it, he lets the
filth fly, exposing his entirely evil heart, which is
offensive and vile through and through. No matter how
many quick cuts and slick moves he can make behind and
in front of the camera, there’s no disguising his
despicableness here. Fahrenheit 9/11 is comprised
of one percent truth, thirty-three percent staging,
sixteen percent bents of reality, and fifty percent
downright, inexcusable, lies. If I was a Democrat, I’d
be ashamed that such an obnoxious scum was representing
my political party, in film. If I was on the fence,
voting, I would steer towards George W. Bush’s side
because of the atrociousness Moore utilizes in this
film.
The so-called documentary,
which would be more appropriately called a shitty piece
of propaganda, is a downright attack on President Bush.
According to Michael Moore, Bush is an incapable man,
who snoozed during his first few months of presidency,
and lost in those that he has been active in. Even
though I don’t agree with any aspect of this argument, I
don’t really care that the filmmaker has made a picture
pertaining to current events, democratically. I do
expect it to be intelligent, however. What Moore does is
assemble multiple shots of our current president and his
cabinet posing like jackasses (most of which are
freeze-frames of exaggerated expressions) and, with
them, comes to one illogical conclusion after the next.
Most of these regard our current situation in Iraq.
The entire chain that Moore
leads is absolutely preposterous; it works just about as
well for the movie as a piece of dental floss would for
someone trying to descend to the ground, from the window
of a two-story building. Let’s just say he is
all-knowing, and every element of ignorance featured in
Fahrenheit 9/11 is somehow true. Even then, the
conclusions he ties would all still be pure
coincidences. But, what most of his liberal supporters
are not willing to acknowledge is that half of what he
says is entirely made up. It’s actually kind of ironic
that Michael Moore is blaming Bush of going to
war on false pretenses, when his entire theory behind
their validity represents an entire scandal, in and of
itself.
Moore, like so many of his
conglomerates, has to open the film, reaching back
nearly four years ago, in time. And, once again, we are
conventionally bombarded by the Democrats’ viewpoint
that Bush didn’t actually win room and board in the
White House for four years. If you want to discuss
current times, politically, does this have any
resonance, whatsoever? Gore isn’t the president right
now, and this isn’t just going to change magically, all
of a sudden. Why reflect on something that’s already
been decided? All it does is, essentially, make Moore
look like his only reason for making Fahrenheit 9/11
was to vent about his malice. Oh, wait, I’ve been
mistaken. It was.
Afterwards, of course, he’s
got to insignificantly explain the U.S.’s economic
situation with Saudi Arabia, making it sound like the
only reason for Bush’s prolonged actions on 9/11 was his
own greed. Is it just me, or hasn’t this been the exact
opposite of what this term, for him, has been centered
on? Hasn’t he taken great risks for this country, as any
righteous president should? Yes, and yet Moore pretends
the whole situation to be centered on profitability. He
pretends that all conservatives want is to stem every
“evil” corporation possible. Yet, the economy still
remains desperate, at the moment; only the few
businesses he talks about are actually making any money.
Why them? Because of the very type of business that they
are; the war is acting as a mere bump in the road in
their prolific conduction. But to say Bush ignored 9/11
because of his own business affiliations is simply
ludicrous. I think Moore knows this, and such is the
only logical explanation as to why, exactly, he allows
all of his conclusions regarding to the Saudis to rely
on a crossed-out name on a statement regarding Bush’s
militia records.
Maybe I’m even giving him too
much credit, still. Actually, I know so. In some
thoroughly offensive clips, Moore proves that he’s an
absolute dork. Who thought that Iraq was a happy,
fun-filled place before we invaded? Apparently he did,
and he’s got the footage to prove it! I was sickened as
he showed clips of children playing in the parks of
Baghdad to cheerful music, which supposedly was an
everyday occurrence before we came in. Only someone
brainwashed or mentally retarded could actually believe
Moore on this. I felt violated that he’d actually have
the nerve to make the government under Sadaam Hussein
seem peaceful. And, then, not to mention, refer to our
current one, as if it is a lesser to what Sadaam’s was.
He also betrays our soldiers, in a sketch that follows
this one, depicting them as violence-obsessed imbeciles.
He focuses on two who supposedly listen to profane music
as they drive tanks and shoot at people in combat. We
know what Moore would like us to think during this
scene: that Bush dements them to be this way. It would
take someone in serious denial to actually believe him
on this.
The negatively fueled
writer/director also asks congressmen to sign their kids
up for the war, after seeing that only one has offspring
in service. What he doesn’t tell you, though, is that
only a handful of them actually have kids that fit the
age billing to enter the Army, Navy, Marines, or Air
Force. Notice that he knows the names of the three
congressmen he confronts, during this exercise. It’s
obvious that he researched which ones he could target,
because of their kids’ ability to enter. He makes sure
to tell us that there are 565 people in congress, but
suspiciously ignores releasing the number of those who
have sons and daughters between the ages of eighteen and
thirty. It’s genuine Moore propaganda, which only exists
because society foolishly allows it to.
The most loathsome sequence,
however, does not come until near Fahrenheit 9/11’s
end. In it, Moore talks to Lila Lipscomb, a woman whose
son died in Iraq, when fighting. The segment sounds
suspiciously forced, as if it were partially acted. Lila
makes sure to indicate that, although she’s a Democrat,
before Bush, she used to be conservative. Could
it be more scripted? Not to mention, there’s crying at
exactly the right times, and a controllable force in her
voice, which makes it seem like she’s usually putting us
on. In the film’s finale of sorts, she travels to
Washington for work, and when on a break, looks at the
White House. As Moore films her, a woman warns her, on
the street, that he may be setting her up for something,
which could humiliate her. Lila then turns, looks her in
the eye, and shouts the date of her son’s death
repeatedly, and saying “That’s not staged,”
several times. Call me insensitive, but I think it was.
During Fahrenheit 9/11,
people in the audience gasped, and when it was over,
they applauded. I haven’t the faintest clue why, though.
The information Moore presents isn’t anything new, and
its presentation isn’t particularly shocking. Even if I
agreed with him, I probably would’ve been bored out of
my mind watching the movie, and called it a redundant,
preachy, and egotistical load of crap. The thing Moore
fails to do here, which would be worth everyone’s time,
is speak out about the planned solution to fix Bush’s
“train-wreck” he has. Because, frankly, I do not know
anything about it, and neither do his blatant
supporters. Does he even know what to do, himself?
As it stands, all
Fahrenheit 9/11 is, is a blunt, overbearing, and
nonsensical personal attack on our commander-in-chief.
The only reason I considered clapping as the credits
rolled, along with the liberals in attendance, is
because the wrath of terror the film put upon me had
finally been terminated. The single redeeming feature it
has to offer (other than the humiliation Moore will have
to endure from conservatives, after they watch it) is
the brisk, beautiful score by Jeff Gibbs. Right now,
though, all I can do is be thankful that I’ll never,
ever have to witness this awful creation again.
-Danny, Bucket Reviews (6.26.2004)