Posted on 05/30/2004 6:15:39 PM PDT by RightWingAtheist
Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" is designed to promote his personal political agenda. On CNN, he said he hoped the movie would get out the anti-Bush vote. Did Moore give even lip service to views opposite his own?
You reported on the reception his film received in Cannes. Given the location, France, and the crowd, journalists, Hollywood movie types and Frenchmen mostly, what did you expect? By praising an obviously politically motivated film, are you simply being a pawn of Moore's own political agenda?
Mark Pachankis, Shreveport, La.
A. Well of course it's a politically motivated film. That's allowed. President Bush's speeches are politically motivated, and he doesn't give lip service to views opposite his own. That's allowed, too.
I must decide if a movie is good or bad, despite whether I agree or disagree with its politics. I oppose the death penalty, but gave "The Life of David Gale" zero stars. "Birth of a Nation" is in my next book, The Great Movies II, even though it reeks of racism. Many film historians rank Leni Riefenstahl's "The Triumph of the Will" as a cinematic milestone, although it glorifies the Third Reich.
Q. In Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft is shown performing a song he composed, "Let the Eagle Soar." Does this mean Ashcroft will earning songwriting royalties and indirectly profit from the film?
Jonathan Young, Tampa, Fla.
A. Michael Moore tells the Answer Man: "Could be. Warner Records wants to release the soundtrack. I told the lawyers if he wants his fee, we should give it to him."
Q. Regarding your article about "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Bush's dawdling" in the classroom after the attacks, I'm sorry, but that just isn't right. I asked friends in the news business about Bush's actions that day. They said he didn't go anywhere after finding out about the first plane, because everybody thought it was just a horrible accident.
If he didn't get up immediately and run screaming from the room the way some people think he should have, Moore needs to remember Bush was in front of a bunch of little kids. How would it look to them if suddenly the president started panicking and running from the room?
Bush did exactly the right thing, but I wouldn't expect Moore to understand that. He makes it sound like Bush didn't care about what he had been told and had to be forced to react. Just look at Bush's face when Card whispers in his ear. You can almost see the blood drain from his face. It was quite obvious that the reading session was the last thing on Bush's mind at that point.
Daniel Young, Bensalem, Pa.
A. I can't find the phrase "Bush's dawdling" in my coverage from Cannes, but I'm sure the president could have managed a calm exit without "panicking and running from the room."
I asked Moore about your points. He replies: "It should have occurred to Bush after the first attack that it involved the same building where the only previous foreign attack on America occurred. He was told about the second attack, went ahead with his photo op, and reporters clocked him at 6 to 10 minutes reading My Pet Goat before leaving the classroom, posing for more photos, and going to another room for a meeting before holding a press conference and leaving the building. Since he should have considered himself a target, wasn't he endangering those children by staying in their school?"
Moore says he is considering streaming video of the classroom incident on the Web.
Q. Isn't it less than cricket for Cannes to award the Palme d'Or to a film financed by the company that has financed all of the films produced by the head of the jury? Of course, the other jury members had their say as well (and having met Tilda Swinton, I would bet on her in any verbal brawl with Tarantino), but isn't there a conflict of interest?
If anyone wanted to launch a conspiracy-based complaint, that would be the way to go. I'm a fan of Tarantino, I'm a fan of Michael Moore and hell, I even like the French. I ask only out of curiosity.
Peter Sobczynski, Chicago
A. It is assumed that a director distinguished enough to head the Cannes jury is above such conflicts. I attended the jury's press conference, heard all nine jurors praise the award, and got the unmistakable impression that Tarantino personally would have been equally content if the Korean revenge epic "Old Boy" had won.
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
Roger Ebert is ineducable.
I really, really hate these people.
The Blivet has useful idiot pals. What do you expect from folks who blindly follow the dogma of the left. At least Moore's big wish has come true; The Communist Party of the US officially announced that it will not run a candidate for president so that they can help the DNC unseat Bush.
Bush is always a target. Does this mean he should never be around children?
This is such wanking stupidity.
Who gives a rip about anything Ebert ejects? And why in the world take the time to write the idiot?
Sheesh
Prairie
Some day I'm gonna punch Mooore in his piehole.
His films are not excrement because fecal matter is useful. At least one can use fecal matter as a fertilizer. Moore's films are a pollutant - they cloud the brain and turn people into blithering morons faster than can be achieved by eating lead.
Careful about punching Moore in the mouth, you may end up missing a few fingers...or am arm.
A. I can't find the phrase "Bush's dawdling" in my coverage from Cannes, but I'm sure the president could have managed a calm exit without "panicking and running from the room."
Guess old Roger's got all the answers, huh? What an arrogant sob .. if this weren't on FR, I wouldn't know his opinion, and still don't care!
I listened to his commentary on the Casablanca DVD, and he actually equates being "a good guy" with being "left-oriented." And he says it offhandedly, as if it were completely noncontroversial, the way a particularly stupid and culturally tone-deaf Klansman might say, "Well, he ain't a Jew or nothin'; he's a good guy."
Ebert is nothing more than a fool on a fools errand. Nonetheless, he perfectly encapsulates the views of the Left, and in so doing proves that they should never be in charge of anything more significant than a movie theater.
ROTFLOL! Thanks! I needed that!
You mean they are giving up their entire 0.05% of the vote! The horror!
Did you really mean to say "I Hate, Hate, HATE these people"?
Sure, they are small, but the idea of the commies having no qualms supporting the DNC merely confirms some long-held suspicions.
Better do it soon. In another six months, Moore -- as in more prime rib, more fried chicken, more pie, more cake, etc. -- will be the size of "The Blob":
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.