OMG, I don't like him 'cuz he fat...

It's actually kind of amazing to me that so few people seemed to take Fahrenheit 9/11 seriously. I know, there are blatant omissions and some obvious bends-of-the-truth, but like anything worth watching, it did make me think.

The amazing thing is that even when the anti-Bush sentiment was in full swing, even when American casualties were soaring in Iraq, even when most Americans should be conversing between each other about the war, most of the people I knew refused to watch this movie due to a few preconceived notions that 1) he is a "commie", 2) he is a liar, and 3) he is a FAT commie liar.

It is not hard to find blogs and articles on the atrocities that Mr. Moore has committed. Take a peek at this famous article written by Christopher Hitchens http://www.slate.com/id/2102723/ . Here, Hitchens points out every omission that Moore commits, and basically rants on about what a scum bag and evil doer Moore because he is not telling the whole story in Farhenheit. But what he fails to address is that this movie was not intended to be the be all end all of truth. It is the view of one man wanting to bring to light what he feels are important conversations that the American public should be talking about. In addition, what Hitchens neglects to see is that his whole profession is based on the same principal of Moore's film: find an angle and try to sell some papers with it. What I do like though is he continues the conversation that Moore starts, and to me this is the main importance of his article.

On the other hand, to call Moore a communist or a propagandist is a gross exaggeration. If anything, Moore capitalizes on current world events by making advocacy films that challenge the way we were taught to think. Whether he is right or wrong is up to the viewer--Moore allows you to believe what you want to believe, and to further look into what you doubt. Whether it is his intention or not, he is asking us to get off our couches, put the video game controller down, and find out something for ourselves. If he was a propagandist, he would be backed by the government and would be reinforcing the governments beliefs--not challenging them. That point aside, I think throwing out the word communist has become an absolute joke. It has been misused in so many ways that the word doesn't even have a definition anymore.

Furthermore, I actually know someone who told me they could not sit through one of his movies because they couldn't stand how fat he is. Fair enough I thought. Maybe that person has dealt with fat issues before. To each their own, right? Nonetheless, I decided to take a look to see if there was any web gems regarding how fat he is. The first hit on the list was this gem: http://wikiality.wikia.com/Michael_Moore. Whoever took the time to publish this site really wanted to get the point that across Michael Moore is fat commie. This is where I start having problems. How does this promote democracy? How does this embrace American values?

I understand that Moore is not liked by certain groups of Americans. That I can accept. In fact, I don't buy into everything Moore presents, and I know just as much as the next man that he's trying to make a buck as well. But what I do know is that democracy is based on the simple notion that the citizens of a democracy must consort between each other in order for the system to properly work. The whole tenets of this system were worked out in a dimly lit tavern over a few sudsy ales. To purposefully neglect an important conversation because that person is fat, a so-called commie, or speaks of a subject you don't agree with is downright un-American and undemocratic. In this blog http://fahrenheit_fact.blogspot.com, at least the author took the time to watch the movies, formulate his own opinion, and start a dialogue with other Americans. To me that is noble, to me that is democratic. To neglect an important conversation due to some preconceived notions should be the new definition of communism.