Monday, July 05, 2004
My Sister Doesn't Want to See Fahrenheit 9/11
Well, Kay: I, too, did not want to give Michael Moore any more money, but I had to be a good sport, and Denise and Dad were planning to see 9/11 on Saturday, July 3rd. Besides, Dad was treating.
Actually, it was a fun movie. Very humorous. Unfortunately, some people think it is a documentary. I am such an advocate of truth in entertainment-disguised-as-news I can’t help demand truth in docu-drama-disguised-as-documentary.
Moore is intentionally misleading and inflammatory -- but then who would go see a boring movie at today’s prices?
Right from the first scene after the credits, he uses the "poor me I'm black" race card. He spends a lot of time focusing on black people who enlist as full time or reserve military in exchange for money and college and great benefits, as if all white people get to go to college for free or have great jobs with benefits handed to them!
The same is true of his "poor me I’m black" race card played for the Florida vote. Who says because they are black they would never have voted Republican? Not all black people think voting Democratic equals getting ahead by getting more welfare and free rides. Lots and lots of black people (actually all the ones I have ever known) believe in working for a living.
That is why I turned more Republican then Democratic in the first place -– when I realized how racist some Democrats can be. I can't help recalling (and agreeing with) the old stereotypes: Democrats sit on porch swings overlooking their plantation darkies and figure out ways to keep us on the plantation while they sponge off the fruits of our labors. The mentality exists even today: they try to scare us with threats to take away food stamps if we don’t vote for them. Intentionally or not, they help perpetuate a dependent class.
However, I think Michael Moore’s most outrageous scenes are the Bush and Cheney pictures next to Arab-dressed dignitaries. Our teachers spent a lot of time teaching logic (if P then Q) and about sets (overlapping circles). One of my assignments was to visit a John Birch Society Meeting back in the late 1960's. John Birch Society was like a well-dressed, more formal version of the Michigan Militia or KKK, I’m not sure which. At this meeting, the lecturer spent almost a full hour demonstrating how a man sitting next to a known Communist was also a Communist. The Man had been to Germany at the same time a Russian was in Germany, and the Man knew someone who knew someone. The speaker went on and on until the audience was willing to concede the Man must also be a Communist. Sitting on the other side of the known Communist was the then President LB Johnson. Never once does Moore admit that all national dignitaries have meetings with Arabs dressed in their robes. Even Clinton (Hilary and Bill). Even Kerry. Even Kennedy (John and Ted). Meeting with and having pictures taken with foreign leaders is the job and duty of all national, state, and even major municipal politicians.
It is sort of like: I have a paper bag with a dozen red round objects. Apples are red and round. Therefore, I have a bag of apples. Here. Give them to your favorite toddler.
And while we’re picturing dead babies, add sobbing mothers and smirking Bushes -- total and deliberate distortion! Superimposing a photo of someone laughing onto a picture of dead babies. That is cheap and insulting.
There are some good bits, like when he tries to get our elected officials to encourage their own children to enlist in the military and go over to Iraq to join the good fight.
All and all, it echoes my feelings on The Passion of the Christ. It is just a movie, and Michael's is no more a "documentary" than Mel's.
Well, Kay: I, too, did not want to give Michael Moore any more money, but I had to be a good sport, and Denise and Dad were planning to see 9/11 on Saturday, July 3rd. Besides, Dad was treating.
Actually, it was a fun movie. Very humorous. Unfortunately, some people think it is a documentary. I am such an advocate of truth in entertainment-disguised-as-news I can’t help demand truth in docu-drama-disguised-as-documentary.
Moore is intentionally misleading and inflammatory -- but then who would go see a boring movie at today’s prices?
Right from the first scene after the credits, he uses the "poor me I'm black" race card. He spends a lot of time focusing on black people who enlist as full time or reserve military in exchange for money and college and great benefits, as if all white people get to go to college for free or have great jobs with benefits handed to them!
The same is true of his "poor me I’m black" race card played for the Florida vote. Who says because they are black they would never have voted Republican? Not all black people think voting Democratic equals getting ahead by getting more welfare and free rides. Lots and lots of black people (actually all the ones I have ever known) believe in working for a living.
That is why I turned more Republican then Democratic in the first place -– when I realized how racist some Democrats can be. I can't help recalling (and agreeing with) the old stereotypes: Democrats sit on porch swings overlooking their plantation darkies and figure out ways to keep us on the plantation while they sponge off the fruits of our labors. The mentality exists even today: they try to scare us with threats to take away food stamps if we don’t vote for them. Intentionally or not, they help perpetuate a dependent class.
However, I think Michael Moore’s most outrageous scenes are the Bush and Cheney pictures next to Arab-dressed dignitaries. Our teachers spent a lot of time teaching logic (if P then Q) and about sets (overlapping circles). One of my assignments was to visit a John Birch Society Meeting back in the late 1960's. John Birch Society was like a well-dressed, more formal version of the Michigan Militia or KKK, I’m not sure which. At this meeting, the lecturer spent almost a full hour demonstrating how a man sitting next to a known Communist was also a Communist. The Man had been to Germany at the same time a Russian was in Germany, and the Man knew someone who knew someone. The speaker went on and on until the audience was willing to concede the Man must also be a Communist. Sitting on the other side of the known Communist was the then President LB Johnson. Never once does Moore admit that all national dignitaries have meetings with Arabs dressed in their robes. Even Clinton (Hilary and Bill). Even Kerry. Even Kennedy (John and Ted). Meeting with and having pictures taken with foreign leaders is the job and duty of all national, state, and even major municipal politicians.
It is sort of like: I have a paper bag with a dozen red round objects. Apples are red and round. Therefore, I have a bag of apples. Here. Give them to your favorite toddler.
And while we’re picturing dead babies, add sobbing mothers and smirking Bushes -- total and deliberate distortion! Superimposing a photo of someone laughing onto a picture of dead babies. That is cheap and insulting.
There are some good bits, like when he tries to get our elected officials to encourage their own children to enlist in the military and go over to Iraq to join the good fight.
All and all, it echoes my feelings on The Passion of the Christ. It is just a movie, and Michael's is no more a "documentary" than Mel's.
