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are shown as the sycophantic corporate daisy-chainers they really are- not once calling the Bush Administration on its, now proven, bevy of lies about the war. & from where I sit, that ain't pretty. On the + side, the film is at its best when it takes on its own- exposing the utter fallacy of the `liberal media' during the lead up to & during the war. As admirable as this may be in real life, it does not suffice in reel life. Bush comes not from the humanzee grins of our leader- especially in the 7 minutes of paralysis after being told of the attacks, nor the oafish military recruiters he follows about poor urban malls, nor even the distorted ethics of exploiting a grieving mother whose son has died in Iraq or trying to paint the Saddam-era Iraq as a place where carefree children flew kites & all was well- despite over a million bodies in mass graves over the 3 decades of his American-backed rule, but by NOT showing us a replay of the horrific fall of the Twin Towers on 9/11. Sadly, despite all the wisdom MM wishes to impart to the American people he fails to heed 1 of the oldest nostrums in the book: choose your enemies well, because that's who you'll most likely resemble.
A similar phenomenon occurred earlier this year when it was the Conservatives' turn to rail against what & who they hate with The Passion Of The Christ. Instead of being a detailed journalistic `true documentary' Fahrenheit 9/11 is a disorganized mess of a film, however occasionally brilliant, that has only 1 unifying theme- a hatred for George W. Of course, given the recent death & apotheosis of über-moronic ex-President Ronald Reagan by the media, it's a shame many need MM to state the obvious. Rather, Brokaw, Jennings, & co. He understands that the viewers memory of the event will be far more powerful than seeing it, again, for the umpteenth time.
There is no doubt that MM has few peers in agitprop, but he has become a magnificent filmmaker, as well. Evidence of this comes from the fact that the most bravura moment of his latest filmic screed against President George W. Bush. I suspect, though, that reel life is where MM prefers to reside, for their he can solipsistically sneer at the American public he repeatedly (& not wrongly, mind you) derides as being stupid, yet Sisyphanly attempts to sway, even though few of those who should see the film will, & those who do already agree with its tenets. He understands how to truly manipulate an audience without resorting to the cheese of a Steven Spielberg.
Fahrenheit 9/11, by Michael Moore, is yet another example of a potentially talented artist taking the easy way out. Another highpoint is the connection between the fact that it is Bush's American poor & uneducated fighting the Arab world's poor & uneducated- a fact of wars since their start.
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