Written by Linda
February 07, 2009
Released just pre-2004 election in an attempt to debunk Michael Moore's blockbuster documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, Alan Peterson's FahrenHYPE 9/11 picks apart Moore's film bit by bit to attempt to cast doubt on his arguments. It is an interesting and professionally made film (much more polished than quickie documentaries like MoveOn.Org's Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism). Will it change your mind about Bush and his policies? In these polarizing days, probably not.
FahrenHYPE is at its most effective when it features a different twist on scenes straight from Moore's own film. Fahrenheit famously used footage of Dubya sitting in an elementary school classroom, right when he hears the news whispered in his ear of the World Trade Center attacks. FahrenHYPE interviews the principal who was there, sitting beside him, reading to the children. She is bright and articulate, and you don't doubt that she believes that his initially controlled response was the right thing to do in the face of chaos.
The film also follows up with one of the wounded U.S. soldiers featured in Moore's film; the one that spoke of "phantom limbs," where his arms (blown off in Iraq) once were. Apparently the soldier appeared in Fahrenheit 9/11 without his knowledge, and found out when his friends jokingly said, "Hey, movie star!" His interview sequence was taken from NBC footage and molded into the context of Moore's arguments.
FahrenHYPE relies on a handful of Republican and/or right wing spokespeople to make its points. Dick Morris, former political advisor to Bill Clinton, is probably the most interesting, as is Frank Gaffney, Reagan's Assistant Secretary of Defense. These men point out that political hand-shaking with Saudi oil barons was nothing new with the Bushes (which I'm sure is true), and that lapses in security planning during the Clinton years probably played a big part in the "success" of the 9/11 attacks.
Other featured speakers are less interesting. Former New York City mayor Ed Koch has always seemed to me like he should be one of those crazy basketball coaches waving his arms around theatrically and throwing chairs on the sidelines. Democrat Senator Zell Miller, who spoke at the 2004 Republican convention, is simply a good ol' boy in the wrong party. Ann Coulter, right-wing poster-girl, has the most annoying, patronizing, sneering, eyeball rolling, "liberal is a bad word" persona that she can simply kiss my ass. And actor Ron Silver's political opinions? Who cares?
But isn't it nice that we live in a country where a critical film like Fahrenheit 9/11 can make $100 million dollars in the theater? And isn't it nice that a film can be made in rebuttal and sell tons of copies by word of mouth alone, on the internet? You don't have to agree with either or both, but the fact that a heated discussion about politics is being had in the first place, is an excellent thing.
