Will Michael Moore's Facts Check Out?

[Longhorn]

By PHILIP SHENON

Published: June 20, 2004
HOLLYWOOD, Calif.

MICHAEL MOORE is not coy about his hopes for "Fahrenheit 9/11," his blistering documentary attack on President Bush and the war in Iraq. He wants it to be remembered as the first big-audience, election-year film that helped unseat a president.

"And it's not just a hope," the Oscar-winning filmmaker said in a phone interview last week, describing focus groups in Michigan in April at which, after seeing the movie, previously undecided voters expressed eagerness to defeat Mr. Bush. "We found that if you entered the theater on the fence, you fell off it somewhere during those two hours," he said. "It ignites a fire in people who had given up."

The movie's indictment of the president is nothing if not sprawling. Mr. Moore suggests that Mr. Bush and his administration jeopardized national security in an effort to placate Bush family cronies in Saudi Arabia, that the White House helped members of Mr. bin Laden's family to flee the United States after Sept. 11 and that the administration manipulated terrorism alert levels in order to scare Americans into supporting the invasion of Iraq.

Mr. Moore's previous films generated a cottage industry of conservative commentators eager to prove sloppiness and exaggeration in his films; a handful of mainstream critics have also found flaws. But if "Fahrenheit 9/11" attracts the audience Mr. Moore and his distributors are predicting, Mr. Moore may face an onslaught of fact-checking unlike anything he — or any other documentary filmmaker — has ever experienced. After all, White House officials and the Bush family began impugning the film even before any of them had seen it.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/movies/20SHEN.html?hp

[eaprez]

1. Its so hypocritical....

...hearing the media accuse Michael Moore of having 'an agenda' when they themselves have been pushing a pro-Bush agenda since the last presidential campaign season.

[FloridaPat]

2. It's free advertising. The more they scream the more people

will want to see it. Of course, that could go so far too.

The RW has spent decades lying. That's all they do. I understand he really check all his facts before they were put in the movie.

[Demeter]

3. There's Something About Videotape

That doesn't come off a staged event that convinces like no propaganda can.

Moore is the "Anti-Imbedded" reporter, just as books are taking the place of Investigative journalism (think Deep Throat), the WWW is taking over for the 4th Estate, and Harry Potter is replacing Jesus (the corporate, corrupted version).

[still_one]

4. let them do fact-checking, it is about time they did

1. Fact, 100 plus Saudiis and people from the bin laden family were allowed to leave this country without an interview or proper clearance.

2. Fact, there is no link between Sadam and 9/11.
3. Fact, Sadam was not an immenient threat, and by diverting resources from Afganistan to Iraq, we have allowed the terrorists to expands
4. Fact, bush has "lied" numerous times about the environment, no child left behind, weapons of mass destruction, and tax breaks for the middle class
5. Fact, instead of trying to negotiate peace between Israel and the Palestinians when bush took office, he ignored the situation, and in fact did everything to destroy the peace process that had been started since Nixon.
6. Fact, this president wants to ban abortion.
7. Fact, this president wants to appoint people like Scalia.
8. Fact, this president wants to ban stem cell research.
9. Fact, this president wants to eliminate the seperation of church and state.
10. Fact, this president does not support veteran's benefits, and in fact the veteran's benefits have decreased since he took office.

I could go on, butthis president is a lying scum bag

[Lauren2882]

5. The more I hear about this movie, the more excited I am to see it.

I was actually surprised to read that focus groups show that this film can actually change minds -- just makes me more intrigued (even though I'm of course of the choir).

[Longhorn]

6. Me, too!

We pre-ordered our tickets online for the 9:30 show Friday night. I've never gone to a theater to see a documentary before! Can't wait!

:bounce:

[Longhorn]

7. Dupe