More Polemical Slops, Please!

Cathy scored some free tickets for showing of Fahrenheit 9/11 last night. Working for Ritchie has its perks! The film has the big buzz right now, with all sorts of press being generated from a variety of angles. The best review of Moore’s documentary I’ve read over the past few days is Ray Pride’s. I also enjoyed, as I usually do, Jonathan Rosenbaum’s review. He writes:

Of course, objectivity in a documentary (or a film review) is not only impossible but undesirable. The merit of Fahrenheit 9/11 lies in its ability to enrage you- or conversely, to clarify some of the rage you already feel- without abandoning the capacity to entertain that has always been Moore’s trump card. As a popular entertainment, it provides the kind of emotional and conceptual counter-myth we sorely need to replace the Bush administration’s crumbling version of reality.

Right on, my man.

Does Moore undermine himself? Yes, a number of times. Do you take it with a grain of salt? Of course you do. The opening half hour and its inquiry into Bush family/House of Saud relations is a sprawling mess. There's truth there, no doubt, but the manipulative mechanisms of Moore's bias are never more transparent then here. Does his sense of righteousness grate? Yeah, but I figure that’s mostly ‘cause it’s such a reflection of my own. We/I, and it seems large swaths of the rest of the world, know we’re right. This administration is a creepy as fuck disaster. Does the film have more then a few poignant moments? Sure does. Do we get to see things our mainstream media have all but refused to show, write or talk about? Yes, and it’s heartbreaking. Is it a masterpiece? Not even close, Moore is still a sloppy documentary maker. Is the outrage valid? Damn straight. It’s the best piece of agitprop Moore has accomplished yet. Why not go see it and judge for yourself.