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June 25, 2004
Crapumentary

In dishonor of Michael Moore’s continued assault on the documentary, I present you with a crap load of quotes about his new film, Fahrenheit 9/11.

Jeff Jarvis "I don't buy Moore's Bush. To say that he's the dark force of the universe only leads to simple-minded over-generalizations and bilious caricatures."

Christopher Hitchen, Slate "To describe this film as dishonest and demagogic would almost be to promote those terms to the level of respectability. To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never again rise above the excremental. To describe it as an exercise in facile crowd-pleasing would be too obvious. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sinister exercise in moral frivolity, crudely disguised as an exercise in seriousness. It is also a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of "dissenting" bravery. "

A. O. Scott, NY Times "Mixing sober outrage with mischievous humor and blithely trampling the boundary between documentary and demagoguery."

Jason Kottke "Fahrenheit 9/11 is so much about Michael Moore's opinion that it's difficult to go through that process of finding the truth. The frustrating thing is that Moore has a point, but he's unable to get himself out of the way enough to tell us the story so we can make up our own minds about it"

Ty Burr, Boston Globe ""Fahrenheit 9/11" is many things, but for pity's sake let's not call it a documentary. To do so abuses the word and shames the good and balanced work done by filmmakers"

Andrew Sullivan "I will generally go see anything. I even sat through "The Passion of the Christ." But I cannot bring myself to go to this piece of vile, hateful propaganda."

Jay Reding "Moore’s film clearly is the basest of propaganda, a shamefully manipulative piece that presents only one side of the story. The way in which Moore portrays pre-war Baghdad as being some kind of idyllic setting - no mass graves, no tortures, no rapes, is simply disgusting. Moore isn’t anti-war he’s cheerleading for the other side."

Byron York, National Review "Fahrenheit 9/11 devotes a significant amount of time to a fantastical theory that the war in Afghanistan was not part of a wide-ranging U.S. retaliation for the terrorist attacks of September 11, but was in fact undertaken for the financial benefit of Texas oil interests"

Kevin Mori "I just can’t support a movie that passes itself off as documentary while deliberately spreads falsehoods and lies, no matter how good the cause or how much I agree with a filmmaker’s personal politics."

I could go on, but what's the point?

As a general rule, I'm willing hear out anybody's opinion, but I absolutely will not pay to see this movie. I fear that Moore will point to his box office numbers and gloat about how great a documentarian he is. I fear he'll make public proclamation about how many people support his point of view because they went to see his movie. I won't do it because I will, in no way shape or form, give even the slightest illusion of support to such a man.

Give me a bootleg copy off the internet, invite me over to your house for a Michael Moore rental film fest that your friends are throwing. I'll watch, but I won't pay.

Posted by Kyle at 04:14 PM | Category: Political Sundries


Comments

Okay, playing devil's advocate here, as I always do.

First off, I recognize a couple of the quotes as coming from known conservatives. Of course they're going to ditch on the film. That's just as expected as Moore's opinion on Bush.

Second, you haven't seen the film, so I don't believe that you can make a fair judgement call on it. I haven't seen it either, so I don't presume to make a judgement call on it either.

Third, a documentary is, by definition, a film "consisting of, concerning, or based on documents". Moore may have been biased in his selection of which documents (including electronic media) he selected, but he still selected true documents. He has as much right to refer to his work as a documentary as someone who would make a documentary stating the positive points of the Bush regime.

Posted by: juby at July 4, 2004 02:56 AM