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Edited on Sat Jun-26-04 02:55 AM by TrogL
I went and saw Fahrenheit 9-11 tonight with Ahknaten. He spent eight years living in the Middle East and speaks fluent Arabic. I run a website (see below) about Oil Wars so I have some perspective on the topic.
It was absolutely amazing to see how Michael Moore put everything together - all the little pieces I knew about and some that I didn't. If this doesn't win an Oscar for best edit he's been robbed.
At one point in the movie he briefly describes the war in Afghanstan as being about a pipeline and mentions the Unocal connection. Then he does an animated map showing the pipeline. I burst into tears and almost freaked because it's very similar to the map on my Oil Wars website (click the "signs" link at the very bottom). I'm convinced he got some of his information from there.
When the movie shifted to Iraq, Ahknaten fell apart. He was devastated by the pictures of the children and some of the talk in the background that wasn't translated - people calling to God and asking "where is God" and "God the great and He is not here" (literal translation). A lot of it doesn't translate well into English - you don't get the intensity. Ahknaten says you don't hear this kind of thing even at Muslim funerals - they say "it is God's will". Even in their worst grief they don't deny God.
When they invaded the college kid's house, the women were saying "try to hide him". Ahknaten has never heard any Muslim doubting that God was there. It's two hours after the movie and he's still upset and crying.
I hate going to theatres because of the unruly audiences. The only reason I go is if the kids want to see the latest Harry Potter or LOTR. I made an exception to see Fahrenheit 9-11.
About half way into the movie, the audience went dead quiet - you could hear a pin drop. There was none of the usual chatter and noise. People were forgetting to eat their popcorn. Ahknaten left his half-eaten. I could hear people crying and sniffing. I fell apart when Moore quoted Orwell at length. When something funny happened, people would laugh briefly, but rather than the usual chatter people would immediately shut up so as not to miss anything. There was one point during the movie where people applauded (which is rare for a Canadian audience) and there was applause at the end.
People leaving the show looked shaken and upset. Ahknaten bolted for the parking lot. When I got to the car, I drove to the far end of the parking lot, parked then disintegrated. It took us both about 10 minutes to calm down. Other people were sitting in the cars and not driving away - probably doing the same thing.
The Edmonton Journal (yes, we do get newspapers in "Dreadful Valley") did a half-page movie review (plus a second sidebar). The reviewer is frank with his hostility towards Moore's other movies but praises this one. "Fahrenheit 9-11 is a reminder that something is fundamentally wrong with the system we're exporting to the heathens...Now, if only we could vote in presidential elections."
Ahkanten has asked me to tell you that he thinks Dubya should be charged with war crimes and hung with piano wire. He doesn't agree with execution but in this case he feels it's right. It's the first time he's ever said that about execution. It totally violates his Buddhist beliefs. Ahknaten has Iraqi friends that moved back to Iraq from Egypt. He doesn't know where they are.
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