Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Centigrade 480 or so

Been a few days since we rushed over to the movie house to catch Fahrenheit 9/11.  Plenty has been said about it--from folks inviting the president to view it, to Letterman's top ten, to Kenneth Turan's NPR/L.A. Times review and Jenny and Chuck's insightful entries.  All of this means I'm going to keep it short, mention just two of the pieces that have been fomenting since we watched it early Sunday. 

Stark Juxtapositions: The humorous scenes weren't enough to soak up my sense of shame, horror, disappointment--the whole lot of nightmarish associations volleyed throughout the two hours, playing off the dreamscape opening.  Some of the juxtapositions were plainly crushing, and so I felt sad while watching the movie.  I wonder why there aren't more reviews on Moore's film as sad.  Propagandistic, unapologetic, scathing, and edgily documentary-like, but also sad.  And here we are.  When I left the theater, Bush was still Commander in Chief.

Election Impact:  The movie-viewing public isn't neatly partisan, nor would this movie have been a success if it played a milder line, with a gentler approach to the inquiries and associations.  Sure, it pushes hard issues, and it does so in a way that will reverberate across party lines, that will, perhaps, even redefine party lines.  Why?  It's compelling stuff, I think.  F911 reveals no less than a small bundle of res ipsa incriminations.  The torturous overplay of trailers, reviews, clips, etc. must have a relationship to the latest, and lowest-yet approval ratings (at 42%).  No telling if the hum will last through November, but it's unimaginable that the White House can muster enough damage control to restore Bush's image as a competent leader(!).  Then again, now that the sovereignty or whatever in Iraq has been turned over, Bush and company can refocus on the re-election campaign.

I really should have thrown this together right after watching the movie.  I'm sure I had more to say then. Certain! But there's just been so much F911-ing, and I feel a bit run down, blase.

Bookmark and Share Posted by at June 30, 2004 11:00 PM to Media
Comments

Derek,
The moth on my blog is this: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/moths/ky/998.htm
Alan at wondertouch ( http://www.wondertouch.com/default.asp ) figured it out. Take care,

Marie

Posted by: Marie at July 1, 2004 9:08 PM

Glad to see it was ID'ed, Marie. Of course, it was really terrific before we knew its name. If you ever get tired of hosting it over at your blog, I'd love to put its picture up here.

Posted by: Derek at July 1, 2004 10:47 PM