[Oe List ...] Lest we get too sentimental about the Gipper

[Richard and Maria Maguire]

Hello

We appreciated hearing the comments Charles and David about Fahrenheit 
9/11. It sounds like a great movie, and we are eagerly awaiting its release 
here in Australia on 29 July.

You might like to know that Disney's backdown on the movie was big news 
here when it happened, including their fear of losing tax concessions from Jeb.

 From my reading the critics of the film (and Mike Moore's other work) two 
things to object to.

1. They don't like Mike's style.
2. What he says is nothing new.

For me, these objections seem mainly focussed on avoiding or distracting 
from the uncomfortable messages in his productions

1. On style.
I certainly agree that Mike has a style you could hardly call 
"objective."  He is pretty honest and often provocative about where he's 
coming from.  Which might make him more trustworthy, and very much more 
interesting, than those who try to be "objective".  I am also very 
impressed that he and his people have done a lot of research and put the 
backup in the notes in the books and on his website.

I was also very impressed with his interview with the militiamen in Bowling 
for Columbine.  I have rarely seen documentaries on this subject give the 
people involved such a chance to speak for themselves.  They actually came 
across as human beings rather than the cardboard cutouts they are usually 
depicted as in the mainstream media.

2 On content.
Most people don't know about the things he puts in his productions.  I 
learned a lot, including about the bin Laden evacuation effort.  As well 
his analysis of the gun culture in Bowling for Columbine remains among the 
best I've seen on the subject, either from Australia or the US.  I was 
particulary impressed by his presentation of the social opinions of 
Americans he gave.  It helps demonstrate that the grass roots revolution 
continues, in spite of the propaganda and political manipulations of the 
few.  Mike presents these facts in a way that keeps people's attention and 
makes a joke out of the policies and attitudes he is challenging.  There's 
a great quote we have from Alinsky in his last interview (in Playboy, 1972),

"The establishment can accept being screwed, but not being laughed at. What 
bugs them most about me is that unlike humorless radicals, I have a hell of 
a good time doing what I'm doing."

That sounds like something Mike Moore could say. (I loved his declaration 
from God in "Dude").  As we laughed at his send-ups in "Bowling" I realized 
that most other people were also laughing.  Good on him for his awakenment 
work.

Richard