Academically speaking, I’m not the most insightful person in the world. I don’t see hidden references in texts and movies; it’s why the magic of “Taxi Driver” just flew right by me. However, I’d be a fool if I watched “Fahrenheit 9/11” and didn’t see that Michael Moore dislikes President Bush. Everything in the film, from references to pop culture, to the choice of music, to Moore’s own wit and sarcasm, drips with dislike for Bush. What’s amazing is that Moore manages to convey his dislike in an informative and entertaining way. Depending on the viewer, he even manages to reel you in and join him in his dislike for Bush. And it all begins with, “Was it all just a dream? … Look, there’s Ben Affleck”.
Moore must be a big fan of juxtaposition, because from the beginning of the film, he uses it to get his point across. The film begins with melancholy, thoughtful music playing. Al Gore is shown celebrating his win in Florida and Moore ironically points out Ben Affleck in the crowd. All of a sudden, the music and mood change. Country music starts playing and there is footage of reporters saying that Bush, not Gore, won the state of Florida in the election. Due to numerous voting complications, the contested election of 2000 was a hot political issue and Moore points out how “daddy’s friends” and Fox news helped Bush get elected. He then switches back to somber music as he reveals all the people who had complications with voting and hopelessly opposed Bush’s win. The music and the juxtaposition of shots, from Bush laughing like a fool to House members’ unheard protests against his win are meant to induce anger within the viewer. Moore also adds his wit, which reveals his own objection against Bush’s “victory”.
Moore also questions Bush’s competency as a president. He reveals that Bush spent almost half of his first months in office vacationing. We get that Moore does not see this as a wise move through the footage that Moore uses of Bush on vacation, golfing, hunting, and cruising around on a golf cart. Moore uses music as well, the bubbly pop song “Vacation” this time, as a humorous tool to attack Bush’s choice to vacation.
Moore questions Bush’s competency again when he shows Bush’s reaction to the attacks of 9/11. Bush had initially been schedule to read with a class of first-graders on the morning of 9/11. Moore reveals that upon hearing that the “nation is under attack”, Bush did not do anything and just continued on with his “photo opportunity”. Again, Moore’s choice of words reveal his bias against Bush and even plant a little bias within the viewer. However, it is important to remember that this film is structured to reveal only one side of the story. Moore does not use any footage or reveal any facts to show Bush in a positive light. Moore clearly reveals that Bush did not react appropriately to the news about the terrorist attacks. However, what he does not reveal is that the president was told by his Secret Service not to do anything. With the footage that shows Bush just sitting like a lame duck, however, one would think otherwise.
The film also confronts the way Bush handled the issue of terrorism before and after 9/11. Moore reveals that Bush cut spending on the war against terrorism when he first came into office. Bush also did not pay attention to reports which stated that terrorists were learning how to fly a plane and planned to attack the American nation. With his classic wit, Moore reveals that apparently Bush did not pay attention to these reports because their titles were not “specific” enough. Even after 9/11, however, the film shows us that Bush’s actions against terrorism did not improve. He let relatives of Osama bin Laden leave America after 9/11, something that bothers Moore greatly. Moore uses clips from old detective movies to show families of criminals being interrogated. He’s basically saying, “This is the way it’s supposed to be done and should have been done”.
Lastly, there is the issue of the war in Iraq. Moore shows us that the realities of the war in Iraq are gruesome and horrific. He juxtaposes images of Americans naively supporting the war to images of the bloody reality of the war. He shows footage of soldiers who have lost limbs and have nowhere to go, and footage of innocent civilians in Iraq who have gotten hurt in the middle of all the fighting and lost everything, including their homes. Moore even follows the story of a woman named Lila Lipscomb whose son was killed in Iraq. Right after showing footage of Lila breaking down and sobbing, he shows Britney Spears looking bored and popping bubblegum, saying that she supports the President. Michael Moore clearly get across his point that there is a brutal reality of the war in Iraq that Americans have no clue about and are blindly supporting.
