Took off work at a reasonable time to go see Fahrenheit 9/11 with colleagues. We were about to be let into the movie when the fire alarm goes off. No one moves. Clearly it can’t be a real fire as 1) no one smells smoke, 2) no one is screaming, and 3) no one is telling us to leave. Well, eventually, the staff does manage to evacuate the entire theater, and 25 minutes after the alarm went off, five fire trucks park themselves outside the building (go DC gov!). Well, perhaps there was indeed a fire since the fire fighters drag a hose inside and stay in there for a while. The theater is shut down for the evening and we’re all told to leave.
Not to be dissuaded by what is clearly a Bush administration plot to prevent me from seeing the movie, I hop over to Arlington and see it there. Overall, I have to say I did not like Fahrenheit as much as Moore’s first movie, Roger & Me. In Fahrenheit, Moore did not bring together all the small points he made into one over-arching thesis (as he did in Bowling for Columbine for instance). If I had to pick a one sentence thesis, it would be: “The men and women in the military devote a significant part of their lives to protecting us; anyone who needlessly puts them in harm’s way does not deserve reelection.” That’s my first take anyway; perhaps I’ll have more to say later.
Bookroll
- Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish: A Novel
- David Rakoff
- 3 wds: Rhythmic Raw Rakoff
- The Signal and the Noise
- Nate Silver
- 3 wds: accessible, insightful, broad
- The Casual Vacancy
- J.K. Rowling
- 3 wds: captivating, political, believable
- The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War against al-Qaeda
- Neil Shah
- 3 wds: Captivating, informative, redacted
- The Blank Slate
- Steven Pinker
- 3 wds: Rant, lengthy, correct
- The Trial
- Franz Kafka
- 3 wds: Disheartening, linear, skippable
More Books ยป
I liked Fahrenheit better than BfC. BfC seemed to have a lot of ideas, but didn’t really come to any conclusion. F-9/11, I thought at least, seemed pretty clear: The Bush administration has been misleading us and fulfilling their own agenda at the expense of our tax dollars and the lives of our family and friends in the military. There were a few tangents in there, but that’s what I took away from it.
I disagree with the “misleading us” part at least. Rarely did Moore present us with first a Bush statement and then hard eveidence to contradict that statement.
In general, if the overall point of the movie was to condemn the Bush Administration, why didn’t the movie build up to that? The second half seemed to concentrate on soldiers and their families. And that, to me, is why the overall point is hard to nail down.
haven’t seen it yet… will see it next week after my liscensing exam (USMLE)… anyways, all i want to say is Kerry 2004!!! i’m officially jumping on the Dem bandwagon. took me a few years, but i got around to it. :D
Fashiongrrl,
Good luck with the test!!! I know you’ll do well. And welcome to the good side of politics :) I hope you stay with us for many years to come.
thanks Mindless! I have a feeling I’ll be sticking around on the ‘good side’ of politics for years to come. It’s fun watching things unfold and finally making a decision on my own. I feel so grownup, hehe. :)