Hollywood abuzz about 'Fahrenheit 9/11'

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-12-2003
Hollywood abuzz about 'Fahrenheit 9/11'
712
Sun, 06-13-2004 - 2:23pm

"...and this country is really in the mood for somebody to tell ’em what they should think, what to do.”


That's exactly what democrats want--to tell the American people what we should think and what we should do. Unbelievable, he just gave away their secret! I'm glad I can think for myself, thank you.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5050832/


And how about the celebrity turnout for the premiere? Not a real shocker to see Martin Sheen, Demi Moore, Drew Barrymoore, et al excited to be there. And how about Camryn Manheim who was also there, quoted, "A lot of us look to Michael Moore to uncover the real truth." ROFL.


*sigh* These people...

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-28-2004
Thu, 07-01-2004 - 9:54pm
"Un-American? Who said the US is the only country in the Americas? There is a north and south America, in case you haven't noticed."

I must say something I learn something new everyday -- Today is the first day that I have ever heard a Canadian call themselves American and I lived near the Canadian border for 13 years.

Comparing communism to what is happening today is irresponsible and inaccurate. Why don't you brush up on McCarthism and US history in the 1950's. That whole scandal amounted to one Senator trying to get attention and make a name for himself. In the process he ruined the lives of hundreds of Americans in the business, government and entertainment sectors. Once people realized what he was doing his career was essentially ruined and he died a broken man. He hoped his place in history would be that of a great man exposing the evils of communism within American society. Instead he has gone down in history as a man who did nothing but bluff and is forever remembered as a fool. That is just a brief summary but if you want to discuss it further I will go into much more detail:) You see American History is my passion. Just because I feel that solidarity for the troops is a good thing does not mean I am going to follow a leader blindly. (As I have been occused of so many times on this board as well as others) There are many things that I have disagreed with not only with the current administration but former ones also. I have never just followed someone blindly. My choice has always been that I may not agree with all policies that a certain administration has but once elected they are the President and I whole heartidly believe in giving someone a chance and in accepting that he/she(someday) is our leader and there is nothing I can do about that until the next election. So if the person I have initially voted for does things that I do not agree with then at the next election is it my Constitutional right to cast my vote and get that particular person out of office.

I am not bad mouthing the movie only stating that I am not interested in seeing the type of propaganda that is sprewing from Micheal Moore's mouth. I will say this that had he not called what the troops were doing in Iraq a "ficticious war" at the Oscars (and got booed by some of his fellow entertainers/filmakers in the process)I might see it. But being a Marine I was pretty insulted at that statement, my fellow military men/women are not fighting and dying for a "ficticious war."

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-19-2004
Fri, 07-02-2004 - 12:25am
All i can say is this is America everybody has the right to express their opinion.But i will tell you something i dont believe everything the media tells me.That tragedy affected me in two fronts.First im a new york city resident and i lost people in the tragedy,secondly i see the discrimination that muslim people suffer today.What people fail to realize is that a lot of muslims died in that tragedy.It was everyday people, believe me is easy to blame people for this tragedy. I do believe michael moore might be exaggerating,but it does balance the view a little more.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2004
Fri, 07-02-2004 - 2:49am
If your country is not a democracy, then your President can't be elected democratically... And as someone not living in America, having him as your does nothing for your credability as a nation.
Avatar for papparic
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 07-02-2004 - 3:06am
Canadians usually don't refer to themselves as American. Why state the obvious? But we do think it presumptuous of US citizens to declare themselves as "Americans" to exclusion of all others. Furthermore, in a conversation with a Chiléan just this Sunday past, she referred to herself as a latin American. So I know that it isn't just Canadians that are irritated with the US label as America.

My reference to McCarthy was directed to your choice of words, where you corrected another poster for saying anti-american when you thought it was more appropriate to say un-american. I'm old enough to remember McCarthyism. I sat as a young boy and followed the proceedings on TV. My dad, a proud socialist, feared the ignorance of McCarthy and his influence. The communist scare sent its tentacles even in to Canada.

I wasn't making any references between McCarthyism and the current US war under Bush but now that you bring it up, I do see similarities. Bush's homeland security rings about as true as McCarthy. "Lock your doors and look under your beds! Buy duct tape and plastic and don't trust anyone who looks like a "terrorist".

Since you study history you know that current events eventually turn into history. I don't think history will look kindly on Bush and his war.

Avatar for car_al
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Fri, 07-02-2004 - 3:58am
ITA!

C

Avatar for car_al
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Fri, 07-02-2004 - 4:06am
Moore's Public Service

By Paul Krugman

July 2, 2004

Since it opened, "Fahrenheit 9/11" has been a hit in both blue and red America, even at theaters close to military bases. Last Saturday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took his Nascar crew to see it. The film's appeal to working-class Americans, who are the true victims of George Bush's policies, should give pause to its critics, especially the nervous liberals rushing to disassociate themselves from Michael Moore.

There has been much tut-tutting by pundits who complain that the movie, though it has yet to be caught in any major factual errors, uses association and innuendo to create false impressions. Many of these same pundits consider it bad form to make a big fuss about the Bush administration's use of association and innuendo to link the Iraq war to 9/11. Why hold a self-proclaimed polemicist to a higher standard than you hold the president of the United States?

And for all its flaws, "Fahrenheit 9/11" performs an essential service. It would be a better movie if it didn't promote a few unproven conspiracy theories, but those theories aren't the reason why millions of people who aren't die-hard Bush-haters are flocking to see it. These people see the film to learn true stories they should have heard elsewhere, but didn't. Mr. Moore may not be considered respectable, but his film is a hit because the respectable media haven't been doing their job.

For example, audiences are shocked by the now-famous seven minutes, when George Bush knew the nation was under attack but continued reading "My Pet Goat" with a group of children. Nobody had told them that the tales of Mr. Bush's decisiveness and bravery on that day were pure fiction.

Or consider the Bush family's ties to the Saudis. The film suggests that Mr. Bush and his good friend Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the ambassador known to the family as Bandar Bush, have tried to cover up the extent of Saudi involvement in terrorism. This may or may not be true. But what shocks people, I think, is the fact that nobody told them about this side of Mr. Bush's life.

Mr. Bush's carefully constructed persona is that of an all-American regular guy — not like his suspiciously cosmopolitan opponent, with his patrician air. The news media have cheerfully gone along with the pretense. How many stories have you seen contrasting John Kerry's upper-crusty vacation on Nantucket with Mr. Bush's down-home time at the ranch?

But the reality, revealed by Mr. Moore, is that Mr. Bush has always lived in a bubble of privilege. And his family, far from consisting of regular folks with deep roots in the heartland, is deeply enmeshed, financially and personally, with foreign elites — with the Saudis in particular.

Mr. Moore's greatest strength is a real empathy with working-class Americans that most journalists lack. Having stripped away Mr. Bush's common-man mask, he uses his film to make the case, in a way statistics never could, that Mr. Bush's policies favor a narrow elite at the expense of less fortunate Americans — sometimes, indeed, at the cost of their lives.

In a nation where the affluent rarely serve in the military, Mr. Moore follows Marine recruiters as they trawl the malls of depressed communities, where enlistment is the only way for young men and women to escape poverty. He shows corporate executives at a lavish conference on Iraq, nibbling on canapés and exulting over the profit opportunities, then shows the terrible price paid by the soldiers creating those opportunities.

The movie's moral core is a harrowing portrait of a grieving mother who encouraged her children to join the military because it was the only way they could pay for their education, and who lost her son in a war whose justification she no longer understands.

Viewers may come away from Mr. Moore's movie believing some things that probably aren't true. For example, the film talks a lot about Unocal's plans for a pipeline across Afghanistan, which I doubt had much impact on the course of the Afghan war. Someday, when the crisis of American democracy is over, I'll probably find myself berating Mr. Moore, who supported Ralph Nader in 2000, for his simplistic antiglobalization views.

But not now. "Fahrenheit 9/11" is a tendentious, flawed movie, but it tells essential truths about leaders who exploited a national tragedy for political gain, and the ordinary Americans who paid the price.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/02/opinion/02KRUG.html

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-05-2003
Fri, 07-02-2004 - 8:08am

I will say this that had he not called what the troops were doing in Iraq a "ficticious war" at the Oscars (and got booed by some of his fellow entertainers/filmakers in the process)I might see it. But being a Marine I was pretty insulted at that statement, my fellow military men/women are not fighting and dying for a "ficticious war."


I have never thought that this war was the right thing to do, I firmly believe that Bush was never properly elected and NEEDS to be voted out of office in November, and I am a proud liberal democrat.

Avatar for papparic
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 07-02-2004 - 8:26am
Allowed to comment about Iraq without having been there? Good question (and I'm not being facetious). Of course, anyone can comment about anything but validity or pertinence may be a question.

Since most of us aren't going to traipse off to Iraq to get a first hand view, we must depend on others. Even if we were in Iraq our observations might be tainted by those we associate with, our inability to speak the language, not understanding the culture or just plain and simple, poor observation skills. Another factor would be length of stay.

I travelled to live in another country for the first time when I was 19. My first weeks of living there I thought I understood the place quite well. After living in that country for 20 years I realize I understood nothing. In fact, the longer I lived there, the less I knew.

I would expect the same to be true if I were to travel to Iraq. So I'll leave the observations to people I think i can trust and hope I'm not having the wool pulled over my eyes.

But as far as movies are concerned, that information doesn't need to go through as many filters. They are meant for immediate consumption, like McDonalds for the brain, (although some require some chewing). I didn't see the Passion either, but then I read the book, both old and new testament, so I know how it ends.

"Fahreheit 911" is more than brain candy, but was even easier to chew than "Day After Tomorrow". Go see it, you might like it. What can you lose (other than 20 bucks in popcorn and 2 1/2 hours of your life)?

Avatar for papparic
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 07-02-2004 - 8:32am
"I would not go see a move that is made up of a bunch of lies" Sorry to hear that! "Ice Age" was a hoot. So was "South Park -Uncut", even the part where they were going to invade Canada. And "Spiderman 2" is on my list of must sees....but it's all a bunch of lies!!!
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-01-2004
Fri, 07-02-2004 - 8:42am
"My husband - who was and is a Marine - always told me that the news back home afffected all of them in regards to protesting and such. He would never want that taken away obviously he spent many years in the USMC protecting those rights. But he did state that he felt and still does feel that they are spitting on the men & women who are protecting those same rights."

Unfortunately many will never understand that point, most likely because they have not served, or are not close to someone who is or has. While I have never been in the service, I am married to and surrounded by family and friends who proudly have military service on their docier. The military attitude and pride are of a breed all their own. I've never known more fiercely proud people as those who have served in the military. It's a sort of pride that most "civis" don't understand. It also boggles my mind that people don't see how standing in front of a tv camara talking about the "fictitious war" the U.S. is fighting would not affect our soldiers. The effects of statements such as that most assuredly creep into the minds of our service members. Good grief, it's proven that the support of friends and family makes it easier to do something like quit smoking...why would one think it would be any different fighting a war. Soldiers being concerned by the lack of support they will receive when returning home will most certainly not aid in keeping them alive.

Please tell your husband that there is one more person out there who is proud of and thankful for his service.

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