Filmmaker Moore talks politics via video link
by Byron Kho
The Summer Pennsylvanian
July 1, 2004
The mood at the First Unitarian Church on Monday night was intense as over 400 people gathered in the hot, crowded room to celebrate the widespread success of the controversial film Fahrenheit 9/11, and to hear from its creator, Michael Moore, over a videoconference link.
They were not alone. An additional 55,000 people nationwide were able to see and hear what Moore had to share concerning the movie and his vision. The videoconference was organized by grass-roots liberal political organization MoveOn and its connected Political Action Committee.
"I would like to thank everyone who saw the movie," Moore said onscreen. "We have all participated in something historic."
Fahrenheit 9/11 broke box office records for a documentary feature in its first week of release, earning almost $22 million in revenue from 868 theaters. The film takes a critical look at the actions of President George W. Bush leading up to and during the war in Iraq and of the war on terror.
At different points, Moore emphasized that he was trying to reach a diverse audience, responding to criticism that his movie was "preaching to the choir." He pointed out that Fahrenheit 9/11 had sold out theaters in army towns across America and was the number one movie in every "red" state -- those whose residents had voted for Bush in the 2000 election.
"It wasn't just a liberal, democratic crowd coming out of the theater, shaking and affected," he added.
Moore also stressed that he was trying to reach the non-voter population. "I believe there are two choirs: the choir of the left and the choir of the left-out," he said.
In the latter category, Moore included the almost 50 percent of the population that didn't vote in the last election. "If you can't get the base to vote, what's the point?" he asked.
He urged his largely liberal audience to persuade their non-voter friends to vote in November.
Eastern Pennsylvania Field Organizer for MoveOn PAC Raymond Murphy echoed Moore's comments. "The real work is much larger than just this election. We want to multiply this energy to people who aren't voting, who aren't engaged in the political process."
Moore later enunciated his vision for the next administration, suggesting that the next president should remove U.S. troops from Iraq and replace them with an international force that would be acceptable to the Iraqi people. He added said that the United States healthcare system should be addressed as well.
Len Ashford, a Mount Airy resident present at the discussion, said that he "loved the movie."
"Moore did a great job. People could just see the things that were happening" in the movie. "You just couldn't deny it," he said.
But while most of the crowd viewed the movie positively, some were willing to admit that the film did have its faults.
"It definitely didn't provide a foil for its arguments, or acknowledge any of the arguments that the right did make," said William Bole, a Philadelphia resident and administrative staff member at Penn.
Linked via U-Wire
Reader Comments (unedited, from DailyPennsylvanian.com):
Note: I include these because the responses are amusing. I hope I wrote a fair and balanced story, and also hope that these sometimes out-of-nowhere responses are really from out-of-nowhere. Also, I really disagree with some of these guys. Wisely, I will keep my trap shut.
Whether you love him or loathe him, the real message is get out and vote. Here at Nammer and Hail we have been researching Voter Apathy and have been astounded by the results so far. We will include the November election in our final release. I hope Mike Moore's film inspires, agitates, even annoys people off their couch and out to the booth!
- Bob
Actually, there were over 700 attendees at the Unitarian Church's Turn Up the Heat meeting, not 400+ as your article states, but thanks for the positive attention anyway!
-ABBA
Author's comment: Capacity for the hall was 500. Brief head count was 400 - 700 would have overflowed the hall beyond what it was and created an immense fire hazard.
Documentary? Do y'all really go to Penn? After watching "Bowling for Columbine", my respect for Moore dropped to nothing. He revels in twisting facts and pictures into a convoluted conspiracy theory that suits his particular political views. (he really lost me when he said that Iraq invaded Kuwait with U.S. arms, but the video showed a Russian-made vehicle - kinda has the opposite impact as he intended.) Did you know one of the congressman ambushed about having a family member enlist actually did talk with Moore about a nephew who was just called up to Iraq? That was edited out of the movie because it didn't serve Moore's view that the war in Iraq is being fought by "other people's kids". Did you know that the widely quoted statistic about "During the first 8 months of his presidency, Bush spent 43% of the time on vacation?" counted time spent at Camp David as vacation, where lots of work does get done by presidents? In a democratic society, Information is the cornerstone of making informed electoral decisions. People who create media have a responsibility in regards to the integrity of the information in their content - deliberate deception and lies go against that. Otherwise, it poisons the spring that feeds our democratic process. Whatever.
- John
I agree:" People who create media have a responsibility in regards to the integrity of the information in their content - deliberate deception and lies go against that. Otherwise, it poisons the spring that feeds our democratic process. " A huge creator of media content is the executive branch of our government: thus "5 billion dollars for the total reconstruction of Iraq" from Rumsfeld, the administration's constant conflating Iraq and 9/11 through the smirky use of the code word "terrorism", WMD in Iraq largely based on their buddy Achmed Chalabi (such a neutral source since he lusted for some one, Iran or us, to give him the Iraqi throne) and $600 billion dollar federal deficits are good for us from sec Snow who mere months before was screaming how evil they were. So since information matters and the current administration appears to not be able to identify a truth if it bites them on the ass I'm voting Democratic and firing the entire incompetent, lying lot of them. God bless the American Constitution and every fourth year in November. Oh Moore? Lying bottom feeder who dresses propaganda up as a 'documentary". It's entertaining propaganda but infomertials can't be viewed as anything but biased. Though all the sqealing seems to mean it's hitting too close to home.
- Bob
This is an example of the type of hypocrisy that is used when critiquing Michael Moore. This attack itself is full of "twisting facts and pictures" in order to suit his political views. John likely hasn't seen "Fahrenheit 9/11" and has to refer to "Bowling for Columbine" to make any points. And what points? Because "Columbine" included a picture of a Russian-made vehicle, this is proof that Iraqis didn't use American-made weapons? In the decade prior to the first Gulf War, Iraq was an ally in the war against Iran (then considered the great enemy of America). The U.S. not only provided weapons to Iraq, but Iran also (as we found out during the Iran-Contra scandal). Michael Moore was asking Congressmen to sign up their children, not just any "family member" as John says. A nephew does not qualify, and he had no obligation to show that. The statistic that he used about Bush's vacation time was taken from print source (the Washington Post, I believe), so John is twisting facts to make it seem as if Moore is responsible for that figure. And just because Camp David was a location where other Presidents did accomplish things doesn't mean Bush did anything significant there. I have found that those who accuse Moore of inaccuracy, extremism, bias or manipulation are themselves far more guilty of those charges. The fact is that the movie is an eye-opener and even if you don't agree with his views, you will learn about events that the media have to often ignored.
- David
John and Bob make extremely important points. Moore's "documentaries" are aggrandized infomercials and should only be viewed for their entertainment value. Moore consistently distorts reality by removing video, print and sound clips from their original context and editing them to communicate his own agenda. John�s reference to �Bowling for Columbine� is particularly important, as many people have taken the time to fact-check Moore and have found that very little material in that movie is presented in a straight-forward way from its reality. A useful site for learning about Moore�s deception is www.bowlingfortruth.com. Based on Moore�s history of deceiving his audience, I will not be seeing Fahrenheit 9/11. The only thing it�s good for is laughing at Bush make those stupid comments. You see, even though I am not a Bush supporter, I will not subject myself to Moore�s personal and dishonest propaganda.
- Penn Senior
I am looking forward to John '92's post on the movie Hoop Dreams, and how it is not a documentary because it glorifies BASKETBALL. DAMN LIBERALS AND THEIR BASKETBALL!!!
- Allen Iverson