I take this review with a huge boulder of salt. Friedman claims that the woods represents the "red states," and supports his theory by quoting the director as saying he made the movie with thoughts of the 9/11 disaster. Those are two very different metaphors that Friedman has thrown together. Perhaps if Friedman had equated the woods with Iraq, his anti-Bush claim about the movie might make more sense. My guess is that Friedman knew throwing Michael Moore's name and the name of his movie around a few times in his review was good red meat for the Fox audience. I haven't seen "The Village" yet, but I certainly will, to get my own take on it.
I completely agree with you. Friedman is trying to hitch his cart to the F911 buzz. Fear as defined by the 9/11 disaster is not the same as fear of fallout from Iraq.
From article: It's almost as if Shyamalan is saying that the woods — called the "Coventry Woods" here — are the red states.
Friedman seems contradictory here. The woods are the red (Bush) states and the fear-monger elder played by William Hurt is supposedly a Bushie? Shouldn't the village represent the red states???