Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Review du Jour -- Fahrenheit 9/11
So, I watched Fahrenheit 9/11 at long last. I dont know if the movie can be classified as a documentary in the sense that some people define documetaries as documenting fact. It's pure propaganda. On the other hand, is there a rule that states that a documentary cannot be propaganda? Are Leni Reifenstahl's movies documentaries or propaganda or both? For my own part, I dont see why a documentary cannot be biased. After all, even a purely journalistic piece is injected with the bias of the reporter, however subtle it may be. Every day, the editor of a newspaper exercises his/her discretion in deciding what news stories to carry. And that process is certain to have an element of bias involved. And to Mike Moore's credit, he calls it an op-ed piece, not a news story.
I digress. Mike Moore does go over the top with this movie and takes excessive liberties with known facts. In the process, some very useful information that Joe Public really ought to know about loses its credibility. For example, he tries very hard to suggest that the Bush family is in the employ of the house of Saud without actually saying so, by means of some clever editing (which is very similar to the way Team Bush sold the Iraq war to the public). In the process, a lot of valuable information that I believe the American public deserves to know (and I have posted about on this blog several times) gets drowned out in the angry noise and rhetoric.
Then again, as a muck-raking movie and as an exercise in outraged self-expression, its a brilliant movie. Trouble is that the biases will probably make it difficult for anyone but the choir to appreciate it, which is a real pity. For what its worth, if this movie makes a dent even among 1% of the swing voters, Moore would be a happy (not to mention rich) man.
PS: I watched it in a Manhattan theater and it was like watching a Bollywood movie in Bombay. Catcalls, loud laughter and tremendous applause right through the movie.
I digress. Mike Moore does go over the top with this movie and takes excessive liberties with known facts. In the process, some very useful information that Joe Public really ought to know about loses its credibility. For example, he tries very hard to suggest that the Bush family is in the employ of the house of Saud without actually saying so, by means of some clever editing (which is very similar to the way Team Bush sold the Iraq war to the public). In the process, a lot of valuable information that I believe the American public deserves to know (and I have posted about on this blog several times) gets drowned out in the angry noise and rhetoric.
Then again, as a muck-raking movie and as an exercise in outraged self-expression, its a brilliant movie. Trouble is that the biases will probably make it difficult for anyone but the choir to appreciate it, which is a real pity. For what its worth, if this movie makes a dent even among 1% of the swing voters, Moore would be a happy (not to mention rich) man.
PS: I watched it in a Manhattan theater and it was like watching a Bollywood movie in Bombay. Catcalls, loud laughter and tremendous applause right through the movie.
