if you'll allow me to be, for a second, what the kids call shmears

I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 this weekend. I laughed, I cried, I was skillfully manipulated by Michael Moore. We had a few boo-ers in the crowd, but the theatre was overwhelmingly anti-Bush. Much has been made of Moore's potential deceits in this film, or of Bush's attempts to block its advertising. In the end though, what I take from this movie is not minutiae, and not the scandal, but memories. An overall sense of what I felt post-election, post-9/11, post-Shock and Awe. What I was told, and how I was told it.

I majored in history in college. I will admit right now, I don't remember dates. I rarely know names. I'll attribute this only partly to a lack of interest in reading near 1000 pages a week in history texts. The rest I'll attribute to what I see as the larger scale, where history is really useful: In the trends, in the slow sea changes, and in the language...in the rhetoric, the debate, and in where the truth actually lies. Because even in a textbook, it's near impossible to find. Maybe it's because I was I was learning to successfully use it to mask my own knowledge gaps in paper writing, but on graduation day and beyond, I can say the greatest thing I took from college is knowing and respecting the power of language.

Perhaps not Bush himself, but people close to him understand this as well. And they have used it. They have, from the second those planes hit, been using it to the detriment of this country and its people. I can remember from the 13th or 14th of September telling people that I was worried about the rhetoric. I can remember seeing a candlelight vigil turn into a full-fledged rally on Ventura Blvd...a flag-waving, car-honking show of national pride. And I can remember being scared of what that could be turned into with just words.

I suppose we've been so inundated with this in the years since, with WMD's, prison abuse, and Halliburton. I think I've been numbed. I've forgotten about my concern and anger, and slid into the traps of cynicism and sarcasm. Seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 then, for me, is not about the specific. Conservatives could discredit nearly all of Moore's arguments, and it would not affect me, because the argument is already in the Bush administration's words. To me, the power of this film is in allowing the viewer to witness their own trend, their own slow sea change as this story has progressed. And hopefully, upon self-reflection, the viewer gets sad and angry all over again, abandons the sarcasm, and demands that something be done. The viewer remembers what they were told, how they were told it, and looks for what will be said in the future, with an increased vigilance towards the actions those words will become.

Comments

[Two Dishes]

My least favorite Moore 9-11 things:
Too long.
The president spending too much time "on vacation". Cheap shot / irrelevant / not true.

Favorite moments, all in the beginning:
The opening credits showing Bush's cabinet.
Silent coverage of the planes hitting the towers, almost 100% focused on the onlooker's faces.
The black US Reps in Congress.

[megan]

It was long, but on the other hand, I also wanted it to keep going, to include things that are still happening.

[Solomonster]

Hey, America is just getting what it deserves. For a country with deeply ingrained anti-monarchy principles and a belief that all people are equal, our votes surprisingly reflect a love of nepotism and entitlement. Just because someone's last name is Bush or Kennedy doesn't mean you have to vote for him. Hell, we should have learned our lesson in 1985 when we all rushed out to buy the Julian Lennon album.

[Thomas]

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