Seriously Michael, What's Your Point?

I'm all for advocate films. I want to see/hear someone's rational* point of view especially if it doesn't necessarily jive with my point of view. The reason? Because ultimately, until we actually listen to dissenting voices and then debate those points using coherent and logical reasoning, all we end up with are hissy fits promoting juvenile arguments that devolve into shouting matches akin to a five year old yelling "blah blah blah - i don't hear you"
(*rational being the operative word, btw)

Documentaries, especially political activism films such as Fahrenheit 9/11, typically reinforce the beliefs of the like-minded rather than convert dissenters (Documentary Film, pg 71). That said, F911 grossed $222 million worldwide (boxofficemojo.com); unheard of for a documentary, and hugely successful for an entertainment film. Put another way, F911 grossed 100 times the average political documentary's gross receipts. (boxofficemojo)
So who saw this movie and why?

According to Byron York of the National Review (nationalreview.com) "blue" states watched the movie MUCH more and more frequently than did "red" states. Which we probably knew already. That said, one of the social impacts of the film for "liberals" was notable; the movie fostered verbalization of the then Age of Democratic Discontent**. And for this, a gander at the political climate of 2003/4 is in order.
(** oh what a quaint and naive time it was back then)

Democrats were robbed of a president***, we went to war with Iraq for stuff plotted in Afghanistan/Saudi Arabia, we were told to shop like hell to help the troops****, and more often than not President Bush was speaking in malapropisms that were kind of baffling*****, meanwhile team Cheney/Rove/Ashcroft appeared to defy the underpinnings of the US government structure (that, when used as intended, is waaaaay cool) which they, in theory, held near and dear to their hearts.
(***ALLEGEDLY; **** for reals, remember those shopping bags in all the shop windows and Mayor Brown delighting that mantra?; ***** i'm petrified to speak in public, so i can't really hold my favorite "strategery" against him.)

Enter Michael Moore - pissed off film maker, liberal and damn proud of it.

I was one of those Facepalming Frustrateds when F911 came out. And I believe one of the movie's social impacts was its role as a discussion catalyst; it gave many disenfranchised folks sorely needed discussion points to yell in all directions. So as noted in Documentary Film (pg 78), context matters. In this case, the political climate for disenfranchised democrats was ripe for a rally cry.

So why the poopy title? Because I'm a simple girl from a big city. The first half of the film seemed to be a one-man crusade to ridicule and rid US citizens of President George W. Bush and Friends using lighthearted music (vacation montage), pithy commentary (7 minutes of the Goat Book, anyone?) and all-out image manipulation (Gore's Florida "victory" celebration was actually a political rally).
(caveat: I thought some of it was quite was funny)

The second half was a much more serious and critical tome of why we went to war (oil?, Bush Sr.?, WMDs?, tyranny? - I still don't know), how Congress was convinced to go to war (For the record: Iraq *Not Equal To* 9/11. I don't care what Condaleeza Rice said.), what impact the wars were/are having on soldiers (Do not squander finite precious resources without serious thought or at least an exit strategy.), and who was actually *winning* the wars (one word: Halliburton. (finance.yahoo.com and set the starting date at 12/31/2000)).

Part 1, one man's opinion served up as dark comedy. Part 2, advocacy bordering on propaganda... mostly in style since no government dollars were spent to promote a specific point of view but then again no alternative points of view were offered either. (Documentary Film, pg 77-78) So really, what should we call it? And did it do what it was supposed to do?

The reaction to F911 was fairly heated on both sides of the aisle. Inaccuracies were highlighted all over the place (moorewatch.com, spinsanity.org, counterpunch.org, - but hey, I'm up for a good debate and rational arguments like these - see above). Rebuttal films sprang up like spring wheat in fertile soil. (Celsius 41.11, Fahrenhype 9/11 - all *fine* and hey, even First Amendmenty - except from what I've seen and read of these movies, more so the former, it's a lot of fear and flag waving w/out much substantive debate).

But the real reason for my title is I think Michael Moore's F911 had one other major impact that we still feel today. The movie promoted patriotic soundbites and pictures but ultimately was, in my opinion, the start for the great political divide that we suffer with today (allacademic.com). There's serious blockage in Congress right now and it's really ugly. Nothing is getting done and compromise (hey another supposed underpinning of our government!) is seen as weakness not to mention that 60 is the new-math majority. Meanwhile cable television's best ratings are driven by extreme rants rather than quick-witted debates and folks win elections on pithy comments and inane endorsements (themudflats.net) rather than from the ability to make hard but good decisions. Yeah, let's all just listen to our own existing opinions and block everything else out. Sure that'll work. But be careful, if you eliminate diversity the gene pool gets really wacky really quickly.

Full disclosure: I'm borderline socialist. I believe in universal access to healthcare, public schools w/ great teachers, a RATIONAL immigration policy, fair taxes, infrastructure spending (potholes and MUNI anyone?), and meat processed in non-toxic ways. I believe in those things, and am willing to pay for those things (see taxes above), because I'm also a capitalist. I believe all these are wise and necessary long-term investments that should ensure the health and wealth of this country.
Oh, and I really liked that F911 brought to light some somewhat odd relationships (Carlyle Group) and I thought the primping-for-tv scenes were really cute (and let's be real - every Democrat in office does that too******).
(****** well maybe not spit on the comb, but that's just old school)
/full disclosure


ps. i fully expect the first comment to be "Too Long Didn't Read"

photo credits: http://williamm49.blogspot.com/2009/12/daily-poem_5116.html; http://www.lolblog.co.uk/2008/10/facepalm-2/