Fahrenheit 9/11
So I'm sitting in the workshop at my mom's place (hey, an earwig just ran up one of the computer cables!), where the PC has been temporarily relocated whilst renovations occur inside. Tonight K., Mom and I went into town and saw Fahrenheit 9/11, which was better in some ways (i.e. mostly not as exploitative as Bowling For Columbine) than I expected, but mostly about par for the course.
What I like about the film is that is rescues all sorts of interesting facts from the memory hole that is the contemporary American press; seriously, words cannot express the contempt that the past few years have inculcated in me towards Fox as a network. As a piece of persuasive filmmaking (and yes, that is as distinct from propaganda) it's extremely well made and affecting. It's not going to convince the hardliners, and there were a few off moments: Most importantly, when the mother of a dead American solider serving in Iraq is told to "Blame Al-Qaeda", no-one, not even Moore, points out that it is not Al-Qaeda who is currently fighting troops in Iraq. Given how confused the American public is about the distinction between various Arab groups/countries/etc, this is a point we should be emphasizing more.
In any case, I still don't like Moore as a person that much (and he really needs to stop squabbling with rock stars), but he's made quite a good film, and one I can actually see Cannes awarding for artistic merit rather than just political (persuasive art is still art). Most of the debate around the film is pretty meaningless - see it for yourself and do some research. Both Mom and K. were surprised by a good 80% of the facts (and I do mean facts, not opinions presented as such, which were also thick on the ground). And neither of them are particularly unengaged with the world today.
What I like about the film is that is rescues all sorts of interesting facts from the memory hole that is the contemporary American press; seriously, words cannot express the contempt that the past few years have inculcated in me towards Fox as a network. As a piece of persuasive filmmaking (and yes, that is as distinct from propaganda) it's extremely well made and affecting. It's not going to convince the hardliners, and there were a few off moments: Most importantly, when the mother of a dead American solider serving in Iraq is told to "Blame Al-Qaeda", no-one, not even Moore, points out that it is not Al-Qaeda who is currently fighting troops in Iraq. Given how confused the American public is about the distinction between various Arab groups/countries/etc, this is a point we should be emphasizing more.
In any case, I still don't like Moore as a person that much (and he really needs to stop squabbling with rock stars), but he's made quite a good film, and one I can actually see Cannes awarding for artistic merit rather than just political (persuasive art is still art). Most of the debate around the film is pretty meaningless - see it for yourself and do some research. Both Mom and K. were surprised by a good 80% of the facts (and I do mean facts, not opinions presented as such, which were also thick on the ground). And neither of them are particularly unengaged with the world today.
