wednesday's child: Fahrenheit 9/11

June 27, 2004

Fahrenheit 9/11

Late entry... though I did begin it on time, my internet service decided to freak out, then my Mac went completely bananas. Further proof of the vast right-wing conspiracy in action ;-)

OK, Sparky and I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 opening night. Very minimal line, but we saw it way out in the burbs, but by the time the film began the theater was completely full, which is pretty impressive for the biggest screen in a 24 screen megaplex. The stunning pre-credit sequence rolled and then the credits began. The audience is too quiet... Michael Moore's name came up on the screen (a pin dropped..). Dammit, I started clapping from the top row, and got a tentative wave of applause going around the house.

And, also from the top row, some boos? Wow, why are here? Do you enjoy spending money on films by people you don't like, or did you sneak in after the first showing of "White Chicks" let out? Of course, Sparky yelled back at them, that's all I need (sigh). But the cheers and applause (and gasps and tears) superceded the boos for the rest of the film, it would be hard not to watch little Arab children being blown up (and US soldiers also) and not feel a little remorse and respect. There was so much ground to cover, the Bush connections were just mind-blowing, the editing on this film must have been the hardest part.

Sparky and I differed on his representation of 9/11, he thought they should have shown the footage of the buildings, but I honestly think the darkness and screaming, swirls of papers raining down non-stop and the reactions of the observers were more moving. Because everyone has their own memories of that day running through their heads, I think it was more effective to let people use their own imaginations.

I think it should have gotten a PG-13, though from what I've seen a lot of theater owners are enforcing their own rating system (remember the "Passion of the Christ", anyone see South Park's take on that?) and letting more teens in. It was the number one film this weekend and the top-grossing documentary ever, yeah, I'd say it's an important film.

Back in the 80's, I remember going to a local college to see a film on Bush Sr. and such things as how he deliberately delayed the release of the hostages so that they would be free as soon as Reagan came into office, and thinking "Why isn't anyone paying attention to this information?". So let the teens come and watch and form their own opinions, let's encourage thinking in the next generation, that would be a nice change... Maybe it will be "cool" to question authority again.

Definition of Liberal as a noun from my 1980 edition of Webster's dictionary:

One who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional or established forms or ways. An advocate of liberalism, esp. in individual rights. Posted by Morticia at June 27, 2004 04:27 AM | TrackBack

Comments

A startling, if not sad, comment: A couple of weeks ago, my children (5 and 7) were playing as usual with their assorted dolls, figurines and action figures, setting up various "scenes," when my daughter said to my son, "and this is Homeland Security."

While she may not have known what it meant, exactly, seeing that she treated it as a physical place, this scenario demonstrates how the term has worked its way into the conciousness of even the youngest of citizens.

Posted by: CP on July 1, 2004 09:41 AM

That really is scary... During the 90's I worked with a lot of young people coming in as interns and such from college and they just seemed to have a whole different mindset than us "older" folks. Very conservative, very materialistic and very shallow & self-centered. And no patience at all for things like work... But this was the era of get rich quick day traders and Enron scale corruption, it's one of the reasons I left the corporate world, it was getting kind of creepy.

I'm hoping the kids that are growing up now haven't been too messed up by the last four years, Reagan and friends had a lot longer to work on the youngsters of that era. Maybe if we can turn all this around in fall we can end up with some well-balanced young people for the next generation (who'll be taking care of us ;-)

Posted by: Tish on July 4, 2004 04:12 AM