Film review: A movie, not a manifesto
Reviewed by Liisa Schofield
Film: Fahrenheit 9/11 Produced and Directed by Michael Moore
In June, Michael Moore’s latest documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, opened to blockbuster audiences, hyped-up media, a Palme D’Or at Cannes and the predictable critique and backlash. I saw the film on the Saturday before June 30th, the supposed handover day of Iraq from occupying forces to its ‘independent’ authority. In Toronto, as in many other cities, we were preparing for demonstrations to mark the handover and to target corporations that have set up shop in Iraq.
THE BASIC SYNOPSIS
Moore begins Fahrenheit 9/11 with an overview of the American elections. He immediately paints George W. Bush as a fraudulent President, and shows the public outrage expressed at the disenfranchisment of African Americans of Florida, as well as the massive protests along Bush’s inauguration route to the White House. Bush’s excessive vacationing in Texas is documented next, along with his disregard of security briefings in the months leading up to September 11th, 2001.
Following a solemn overview of the events of September 11th, Moore proceeds to launch into an exposЋ of the Bush family’s corporate connections with the Bin Laden family and Saudi royals. He points out the interests of oil and capital in keeping those relations friendly.
While I found myself very annoyed at the manner by which he painted the ambiguous “Saudi’s”, I could see that he was trying to lay the groundwork for proving that the justifications for the “War on Terror” were unfounded. Moore’s arguments around US intervention in Afghanistan were also troubling: “not sending enough troops”, “doing a half-assed job”, etc. But again, in this we see Moore’s attempts to point out the contradictions in Bush’s plans by drawing upon the connections between Hamid Karzai, Unocal and Haliburton interests in natural gas pipelines through Afghanistan. He asks about the reasons for going to war (over footage of deals being signed): “Was this really about our safety…or about something else?”
The remainder of the film is dedicated to the war on Iraq. Moore presents us with a very strong class analysis, addressing the vast difference between the men who send the US to wars and the soldiers who fight them - for example, the recruitment strategy targeting poor and racialized communities. He introduces us to Lila Lipscomb, the mother of Michael Petterson, a young American soldier in Iraq. Lila reads Michael’s last letter home before he’s killed: “What is that idiot (Bush) doing Mama - why does he have us out here?” Lila, a mother who encouraged her children to join the military because she could not afford to send them to college, breaks down. She takes her anger at her son’s death to the White House - just as an Iraqi woman took her anger and pain out at the camera. These stories are poignant glimpses into how imperialist wars - waged by the ruling elite - brutally target poor people everywhere. Moore then presents us with some very powerful accounts from Iraq - of emotionally detached soldiers, midnight raids on Iraqi civilian homes, the victims of bombing, mothers screaming in front of burned out buildings and soldiers injured or dying. These are strong images, and images that were denied the public during the war. As war was being waged in Iraq, the American (and Canadian) public were given clean images of ‘precision bombing’ and celebrating Iraqis. These images break down the justifications for the war and the mainstream narrative that supported it. Again, he points out the dirty business deals going on behind the scenes with the “Rebuilding Iraq” conference where executives talk about the great “opportunities” opening up in Iraq post-invasion. The viewer is given a priceless moment where Bush, speaking to a room full of business folk, says: “This is an impressive crowd - the haves and the have mores. Some people call you the elite, I call you my base”.
Moore closes Fahrenheit 9/11 by bringing it back to the soldiers. Again, he shows us footage from poor neighborhoods in Flint, Michigan. Over top he takes a quote from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four: “A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance…In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia but to keep the very structure of society intact…”
My two CENTS
It must be said, there are some very suspect parts of this film that contain racist undertones. The film certainly does not help the fight against racial profiling and detentions. He in fact uses very problematic imagery and language. Moore rightly criticizes the “Coalition of the Willing” and ridicules claims that the coalition represented broad international support for the war. However, he does so with imagest that play on terribly orientalist views of “backward countries” with people rubbing rocks together and living in huts. And when Moore goes over the attack on civil liberties post 9/11, he fails to mention the thousands of Arab and Muslim people profiled and brutally detained. Instead, we are told stories of well-intentioned white folks being investigated for organizing Peace groups or speaking their minds in work-out gyms. Certainly these cases pale in comparison to what Arab and Muslim people have had to endure.
That being said, Moore works hard in Fahrenheit 9/11 to target a specific audience of people who may waver in their support for Bush and the War on Iraq/continuing occupation. Moore very successfully highlights the seriousness of Bush’s corporate connections and identifies the contradictions of their war on terrorism. He focuses on the human cost of war and how it is overwhelmingly the working class and those from racialized poor communities that bear the burden of war - for example, those serving in the military are predominantly poor black youth. By providing a window into the lives of ordinary Americans, Moore is able to expose the Bush administration as the ruling elite that it is. I believe that Moore chose his stories, his subjects, and even his nationalistic undercurrents, as a strategic method to target an audience of people who need to be convinced.
Fahrenheit 9/11 makes the point loud and clear: that people from perpetually poor communities (like Flint, Michigan) are being used to continue an endless and unjust war for the sake of the ruling class. These are the arguments that people will believe. Unfortunately, Moore does not take as politically clear a stance as many of us would like, and indeed, avoids mention of racism, colonialism, and even Israel’s involvement. These are vital matters to highlight that he unfortunately ignores. However, this is an “entry point” film. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a beginner’s manual for people who are wavering. It is for the voters of Bush, for the soldiers in Iraq - and for their families living in ghettos in the US. Is this film convincing? Yes, very much so. And I believe that it can be used as a very powerful tool for mobilizing people in a movement against war and occupation.
I will end with this: upon my first viewing of the film I was very shaken up - but had very strong criticisms against it. I hated the representation of Afghanistan, the nationalistic undertones, and especially the problematic portrayal of civil liberties. The second time I went to see this film was in a small town in eastern Ontario with my Mom and Step-dad. In that little theatre I turned my head around to look at the faces of the people watching the footage from Iraq. Their faces were blank as ghosts, many were crying, most looked shocked. My mom beside me was crying. In my mind I thought, this is who this film is for - not know-it-all urbanites and lefty academics like myself. It brought a humanity to the entire issue - it took it away from this abstract notion of Saddam/Osama, Bad; Retribution, Good. It showed a glimpse into what is behind war plans - both the business deals and the people who suffer. It is a stepping stone, a crack in the door. It is by no means everything - but it allows for much needed doubt and questions to enter peoples minds and for the flaws in this system to begin to be unraveled. Sometimes we forget that these steps are necessary - that faith in the system needs to first be challenged and broken bit by bit.
Then it is up to strong movements to help unravel the rest.