Tonight, while the rest of North America was watching Spider-Man 2 (going tomorrow), Sharon and I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11. It was definitely an interesting and thought provoking movie, but what can you expect from Moore? Anyway, here is my take on the movie and the issues it presents:
Criticism #1
Total screen time for Tony Blair: about 5 seconds. Total time for the British Government? Zip. How the hell can you have a movie focusing on the Bush administration’s addiction to war and not mention Blair and his government? I mean hello! The only reason the rest of the world didn’t attack the US was because of Blair. I recognize that the movie is intended for the voting American public, but I think that ignoring Blair is a horrible omission. No wonder there are rebuttal films in the works.
Commendation #1
I think Moore did a good job capturing a number of different audiences. He didn’t simply focus on the money aspect of things, nor did he focus solely on the human side of things. Instead, I think the film was well balanced between the lives lost (and taken) in Iraq and the financial reasons behind the war.
Criticism #2
Towards the end of the movie, Moore talks of a conference to which government officals were invited. The hosts? Well all the footage shows Halliburton employees. Yet when he introduced it, Moore said “DHL, Microsoft, and others”. If you have issues with these companies Moore, save it for the proper documentary. The last time I checked, oil was not shipped through the mail, and machine guns do not run on Windows. Furthermore, if these companies were really responsible for the conference, why was there absolutely no footage of them?
Commendation #2
Another thing Moore did well was to point out the facts that might have been missed by other documentaries focused on the Bush agenda. He took the time to find out and tell us that only one Congressman has a child serving in Iraq. Only one. You also see some other interesting things, like how Bush authorized a flight to take members of the Bin Laden family out of the United States AFTER the FAA had grounded all flights.
Criticism #3
When he starts talking about the war in Iraq, Moore states that Bush attacked a country that had not harmed America, had not threatened America, and had not killed any Americans. When it was said, it was quite powerful, and I overlooked it until after the movie. Then I thought, what about the Gulf War of 1991? No Americans killed? No violence against America? I mean that is hardly justification, but just goes to show that if you watch this movie, keep in mind that Moore is a sensationalist (albeit a damn good one).
Yes I have more criticisms than I do commendations. Another would be that Moore only showed footage in Iraq that served his purpose – no toppling the statue and cheering that Saddam is gone in this movie. For me at least, the movie just confirmed a lot of the things I already knew or believed I knew: that the best thing that could have happened to Bush was 9/11 to unite the country, that the war in Iraq was for oil (though nice to be rid of Saddam) and the money that goes along with it, and that Bush doesn’t really know what the hell he is doing.
Proof enough for me that the war in Iraq was about oil is North Korea. Here we have a country that has made threats against the United States, that does have a nuclear weapons program and flaunts it, and which does perform crimes against humanity, and yet there are no plans to “liberate” the North Koreans or protect us from the threatened nuclear attacks.
Bush has done a great job of making the world hate America, driving the American economy into the ground, and making money for himself. I have always said that Kerry is nothing spectacular either, but really, can he be as bad as Bush? The one thing I have always liked about Bush is that he is not afraid to take action. Unfortunately, he should have struck Saudi Arabia instead of Iraq. There is something to be said for thinking first.
After watching the movie I can’t help but be grateful that I live in Canada. Adscam really pales in comparison to the Bush scandal presented in the movie. Yet we cannot forget that we are greatly impacted by the United States. As a Canadian, I would really like to see Kerry get into office in the upcoming election. And even then, I don’t think things will be all that great. Until Bill is allowed to take office once again, or Hilary decides to run, or the next excellent Democrat comes along, I guess we just hope for the best.
All in all, an interesting movie, but not as ground breaking as it was made out to be.
MasterMaq's Blog 
can’t remember who said it, but apparently, Canadians and Canadian governments on the average get along better with democratics than republicans, and I agree with that.
the problem with the States is simple, their people are blind, they’re blinded by patriotism and "faith" that their government. It’s almost like a religion, or a cult, their blind devotion to the institution is so warped that they allow anything and everything to go on without consequence, sure there are protestors, like 1 million compared to the entire US…
Yep I’m glad I live in Canada, because I don’t care about Sweden or Switzerland, we’ll start climbing up the UN’s best countries to live in list again with Paul Martin (we were in DIRE shape when Brian Mulroney was around…) and if those quebeckers still want out of the best country in the world, I’d be glad to be rid of them, there’s so many immigrants waiting to come to Canada, why should we let people who dont’ wanna be here stay here? Canada’s not a jail, and maybe, just maybe, if they went to another country, they’d realize just how awesome this country is…BIOTCH!!!
ah fuck, first line was supposed to be: "Canadians get along better American governments with a democrat in power"
The only bad thing about Kerry being elected is his protectionist trade policies. It’ll kill Canada’s export market. It’s a trade off…you either get Bush, who doesn’t make the best foreign policy or budget decisions, or you get Kerry, who might repeal NAFTA or impose tariffs on a lot of our good. He’s too cushy with all the trade unions in the states. And if there’s anything I hate, it’s a commie or a union.
Good point Brock. I think the best case scenario is that Kerry gets in with Hillary Clinton as his running mate.
yea…good points made.
I haven’t seen it yet, but I think that something needs to be done about the way we’re so reliant on the US. I mean, we export more power to them than we use ourselves, they get our gas cheaper than we do (stupid fucking taxes). Maybe Kerry repealing NAFTA won’t be so bad. Instead of our lumber wholesalers paying upwards of 30% to export to the states, they just won’t. And then the housebuilding industry down there will crumble as a result of using sub-standard materials, forcing Kerry to do what we want him too. It wouldn’t be bad at all. (And unions are good to a point. Mine makes sure I get paid more than minimum wage, and the representation we get is pretty good if we need it).
werd
I watched the movie last night. I think not mentioning Blair was a decision Moore has made since this movie wasn’t really about him, it’s about Bush. Also, you said that Moore didn’t show footage of people cheering. I think the purpose of this movie was to show what the public hasn’t seen. The media splashed all over the screens on how "happy" the Iraqis were after the statue toppling. But you never get to see the other side, the women and children dying, and that’s what Moore is trying to show. Sure it is totally one-sided, but why show something that’s been all over the news as the poster of Iraqi freedom that Bush has shown? I don’t think anyone who goes into this movie expects to see a well balanced view of the issues.
All in all, I myself enjoyed "Bowling For Columbine" better than this movie. I think that while it is an eye-opener, audience outside of the United States will never perceieve the movie the way that the Americans would. Like Andrew said, I can never get their sense of patriotism and blind faith at their government. I was quite shocked when I saw a survey that shows most Americans believe Iraq had a hand behind the 9/11 attacks.
One last thing, I have to disagree with you for liking Bush because he takes action. He only takes action when the situation benefits him or he is required to do it. Look at Sudan and North Korea, he has done nothing there becasue nothing will be beneficial for him. And the one place he did take action on, Iraq? It is a mess. He went in without planning or even thinking. How can you be a leader of a country to take such rash actions without thinking of the consequences?
Granted he needs better direction Jeanie, so that he could take action in North Korea or Sudan. All I am saying is that after 9/11, the decision was made pretty quickly to lash out. I think the democrats would have hummed and hawed a bit, and people would have been antsy. Granted, they would have picked a proper target.
And with regards to the movie being onesided…I know he simply wants to sway people to vote for Kerry. Yet Bush is only three quarters of the administration that Moore despises, Blair is the other quarter. I think he could have shown Blair in a way that benefited his movie.