This controversial Michael Moore documentary is about Moore's views about the post 9/11 days. He claims in this film that the Bush administration used 9/11 as an excuse to go to war with the Middle East. Fahrenheit 9/11 is the highest grossing documentary of all time and keeps it's number one position even though it was released in 2004. That in itself shows how important this war in the Middle East is to so many Americans.
What does this film say about our country? It says we're willing to take what the avant-garde Michael Moore is feeding us. We value opinions that may be coming from a questionable source. He's raising debates we would have never thought of. Is he questioning the Bush administration because he really thinks they have ulterior motives? Maybe, but maybe not. He's planting the seed in every American's mind that watches this documentary. He's making America think. We can't blindly follow an administration without saying, "Hey, are you doing what's right for our country?". But on the other hand, he could be creating a powerful monster that he's not ready to control. As a country, should we be banding together during a war or questioning our governments motives? I like to think the latter. Senda-Cook comments, "Moore embraces these controversies because he believe that if people knew the truth, or his version of truth anyway, they would take the first steps toward solving the world's problems" (Senda-Cook 1). Unfortunately, Moore's "truth" didn't quite sink in because Bush was reelected.
Also, when Moore dives into whether or not our media is being accurate, he's questioning the only source we have to knowing more about the war we're in on a different continent. By doing this, yes he's making us think, but he could also be creating distrust in America. He's making us think we shouldn't trust the government we have and that it can somehow be better or different.
Eric Rauchway's Blessed Among Nations: How the World Made America uses a similar technique in that it begs the question, "How did America get to be such a giant super power?" Rauchway points to globalization and not to our own government being the sole reason America pulled itself up by it's boot straps after slavery, world wars, and The Great Depression. This is similar to what Moore is doing because they both questioning our internal government in it's competency.
Additional Links:
What does this film say about our country? It says we're willing to take what the avant-garde Michael Moore is feeding us. We value opinions that may be coming from a questionable source. He's raising debates we would have never thought of. Is he questioning the Bush administration because he really thinks they have ulterior motives? Maybe, but maybe not. He's planting the seed in every American's mind that watches this documentary. He's making America think. We can't blindly follow an administration without saying, "Hey, are you doing what's right for our country?". But on the other hand, he could be creating a powerful monster that he's not ready to control. As a country, should we be banding together during a war or questioning our governments motives? I like to think the latter. Senda-Cook comments, "Moore embraces these controversies because he believe that if people knew the truth, or his version of truth anyway, they would take the first steps toward solving the world's problems" (Senda-Cook 1). Unfortunately, Moore's "truth" didn't quite sink in because Bush was reelected.
Also, when Moore dives into whether or not our media is being accurate, he's questioning the only source we have to knowing more about the war we're in on a different continent. By doing this, yes he's making us think, but he could also be creating distrust in America. He's making us think we shouldn't trust the government we have and that it can somehow be better or different.
Eric Rauchway's Blessed Among Nations: How the World Made America uses a similar technique in that it begs the question, "How did America get to be such a giant super power?" Rauchway points to globalization and not to our own government being the sole reason America pulled itself up by it's boot straps after slavery, world wars, and The Great Depression. This is similar to what Moore is doing because they both questioning our internal government in it's competency.
Additional Links:
- http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2333349.Blessed_Among_Nations
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361596/