It looks like Michael Moore -- of Fahrenheit 9/11 fame -- is all the rage these days. While I admit I haven't seen his new flick yet, the buzz over Fahrenheit 9/11 bothers me. Not because I doubt the movie is entertaining; I'm sure it's a fun watch, at least for a documentary. And I suppose that deep inside I'm not bothered by the clearly partisan tenor of the film. (I am, however, bothered by those individuals who, consciously or unconsciously, accept his statements as gospel truth -- and I expect that after a couple of hours of brainwashing in the darkened theater, a large percentage of viewers will come out with exactly that belief). When it comes down to it, I suspect that I'm really sort of jealous of Mikey-boy. I mean, if life had been slightly different and I had chosen a career in the telling of stories rather than in the writing of rules, I'd like to think that I too could take images and quotations out of context and weave a persuasive yet misleading tale out of them. That I too could preach a fantastic sermon that would leave the members of the choir clapping their hands and stomping their feet -- and ready for regime change.
I don't think it's a stretch to say that Michael Moore is a huckster. A hundred years ago he'd be on the forefront of yellow journalism and a 50 years before that he'd be selling snake oil -- as he is now. Just look at the brouhaha he made over Disney's refusal to distribute the film. While he suggests that Disney suddenly dropped its plan to distribute the movie in an attempt to censor the flick, the reality is that Disney told Miramax more than a year ago that it couldn't distribute the film, giving Moore, the Weinstein brothers, and anyone else involved ample time to find other distributors. In any event, the movie certainly doesn't lack for a distribution network now.
As for Fahrenheit 9/11 itself, I will probably see it eventually, although I am not eager to give Mr. Moore any of my money in the near future. For a more balanced perspective on the facts presented in the film, I found this commentary on Slate to be rather interesting. At the end of the day, Mr. Moore may succeed in his goal of regime change here in the U.S. He has certainly succeeded in his goal of becoming the celebrity of the moment. But he is not promoting well-reasoned discourse about what we're currently doing in the Middle East. And in the course of winning his personal battle, he may have contributed to losing the larger war for the future of the people of America and the people of Iraq.
