We went to see "Fahrenheit 9/11":http://www.fahrenheit911.com at the "Fenway 13":http://www.nu-news.com/news/2003/05/28/Style/Best-Movie.Theater.Amc.Fenway.13-437198.shtml on Saturday night, and I became uneasy before the movie, because there were rent-a-cops milling about and checking bags. Were they expecting violence? Like a modern day _Outsiders_, with "MoveOn.org":http://moveon.org members clashing with the Young Republicans?
There has been "much":http://www.slate.com/id/2102723 made of Michael Moore, and the controversy surrounding whether he can correctly claim the title of _documentarian_. On the "Today":http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3032633/?ta=y show, pseudo-journalist Matt Lauer nitpicked and argued with Moore as if he were host of "Fox and Friends":www.foxnews.com/foxfriends/. Truth is, the journalists who think Moore is utterly ruinous, ("Gwen Ifill":http://atrios.blogspot.com/2004_06_27_atrios_archive.html#108845977472633882 comes to mind), are making this judgment from a pretty skewed, "elite" frame of reference.
It is, after all, a _movie_, which intends to bring important information to the masses, wrapped in an entertaining package. It is _not_ journalism, and I am fine with not calling the film a "documentary". Let's call it Op/Ed.
Moore is shameless, manipulative, and yes, he has an opinion. But I simply refuse to hold him to a higher standard than I do Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Ann Coulter. He makes me laugh, he makes me sick, and he presents a point of view that is totally _american_.
Other reactions:
* "Slate's David Edelstein":http://slate.msn.com/id/2102859
* "Slate's Christopher Hitchens":http://slate.msn.com/id/2102723
* "Gothamist":http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/06/28/fahrenheit_911_boils_box_office_and_conservatives.php
* "Kottke":http://www.kottke.org/04/06/fahrenheit-911
* "Boston Common":http://www.boston-online.com/common/002685.html
* "Defamer":http://www.defamer.com/topic/monday-morning-box-office-michael-moore-is-our-new-master-016891.php
* "Bossanova":http://bloodymortyvane.typepad.com/bossanova/2004/06/f911.html
Fahrenheit 9/11 & the year of the angry Liberal
We went to see "Fahrenheit 9/11":http://www.fahrenheit911.com at the "Fenway 13":http://www.nu-news.com/news/2003/05/28/Style/Best-Movie.Theater.Amc.Fenway.13-437198.shtml on Saturday night, and I became uneasy before the movie, because there were rent-a-cops milling about and checking bags. Were they expecting violence? Like a modern day _Outsiders_, with "MoveOn.org":http://moveon.org members clashing with the Young Republicans?
There has been "much":http://www.slate.com/id/2102723 made of Michael Moore, and the controversy surrounding whether he can correctly claim the title of _documentarian_. On the "Today":http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3032633/?ta=y show, pseudo-journalist Matt Lauer nitpicked and argued with Moore as if he were host of "Fox and Friends":www.foxnews.com/foxfriends/. Truth is, the journalists who think Moore is utterly ruinous, ("Gwen Ifill":http://atrios.blogspot.com/2004_06_27_atrios_archive.html#108845977472633882 comes to mind), are making this judgment from a pretty skewed, "elite" frame of reference.
It is, after all, a _movie_, which intends to bring important information to the masses, wrapped in an entertaining package. It is _not_ journalism, and I am fine with not calling the film a "documentary". Let's call it Op/Ed.
Moore is shameless, manipulative, and yes, he has an opinion. But I simply refuse to hold him to a higher standard than I do Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Ann Coulter. He makes me laugh, he makes me sick, and he presents a point of view that is totally _american_.
Other reactions:
* "Slate's David Edelstein":http://slate.msn.com/id/2102859
* "Slate's Christopher Hitchens":http://slate.msn.com/id/2102723
* "Gothamist":http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/06/28/fahrenheit_911_boils_box_office_and_conservatives.php
* "Kottke":http://www.kottke.org/04/06/fahrenheit-911
* "Boston Common":http://www.boston-online.com/common/002685.html
* "Defamer":http://www.defamer.com/topic/monday-morning-box-office-michael-moore-is-our-new-master-016891.php
* "Bossanova":http://bloodymortyvane.typepad.com/bossanova/2004/06/f911.html
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