Well, tonight I'm going to see Fahrenheit 9/11. I don't know much about it, but I am going to comment on it anyway. Our nation is bitterly divided right now, with each side attacking the other with fanatical fervor. This documentary is just another volley in an increasingly rancorous debate. In such a partisan and polarized climate, I have to wonder what Micheal Moore is trying to accomplish with an incendiary documentary about Daniel Fahrenheit, the creator of the thermometer. Surely Mr. Moore knows that, no matter how persuasive his movie is, the Celsius vs. Fahrenheit debate will never be resolved in our lifetimes; the differences are just too great between the positions. On an unrelated note, haven't we had enough meteorologist-related documentaries yet? I gave up on the genre after Dr. Doppler Returns: Barometers on Patrol.
Ha ha ha, aren't I quite the social satirist? Michael Moore came to Trinity right around September 11th, and Patrick, Will, and I went to see him. It was neat; he talked for a while, showed us some of his stuff, and answered a bunch of questions. Sadly, the program went awry at that part. The questions were intelligent enough at first, but after a while, people were just going up there to read haikus about their kitties. It was absurd, and it continued like that for hours.
Opening the mic to the public is always dangerous at a lecture. At another lecture I went to at Trinity (Desmond Tutu was speaking, if memory serves), this guy came in dressed in full Native American regalia. He had the head-dress, a fur jumpsuit, moccasins, the whole deal. He was a white guy. It was too weird not to notice, and I spent a great deal of the lecture just watching this guy, waiting for him to do something bizarre. And then, when Tutu finished speaking and the mics were opened for questions, the guy made his move. After waiting his turn in line, he took the mic in hand and proceeded to deliver a prayer/song thing, completely in gibberish. I was listening to the guy as closely as I could, and I recognized absolutely no words in his entire speech. Desmond was a little confused too. Well, not as much confused as terrified. Then, when the guy finally wrapped it up and stood there at the mic, waiting for his response, Desmond had to pull off a smile/shrug/"Woah, how about that?" gesture after it was done; it was truly high comedy.
And now, I come to my point. If Michael Moore stretches the truth a little bit in his latest movie, it's completely understandable; I'd be slightly deranged if I had to travel across the country and pretend as if I enjoyed kitty cat poetry and gibberish fake-Indian oratory. Let's keep that in mind before we get our panties in a bunch.
Posted by Cody at June 29, 2004 5:37 PM