Grandin Theatre packed for 'Fahrenheit 9/11'
The documentary was so provoking, one couple broke up in the middle of a showing.
By Shawna Morrison
Several people could be heard calling it a "madhouse."
It was the Grandin Theatre on a Friday night, but not just any Friday night: It was opening night for Michael Moore's controversial film "Fahrenheit 9/11" and only one theater in the Roanoke Valley was showing it.
About 10 p.m., more than 600 people were crowded inside the theater's lobby, on the sidewalk in front of it and even on the street. The 315 people who were getting out of the 7:45 p.m. showing were relinquishing their seats to the 310 people with tickets to the 10 p.m. show.
Anyone without the foresight to buy tickets early was out of luck.
Theater employee Claire Hodges said she sold the last ticket to the 10 p.m. show about 8 p.m. and immediately started selling tickets for weekend showings.
Joe Phelps, Corey Jefferson, Nelson Austin and Josh Walthall, ranging in age from 19 to 21, drove to Roanoke from Franklin County to get their tickets early.
"I've heard Michael Moore's work is really good," Walthall said, "and I don't like Bush."
The others agreed.
"I'm very anti-Bush," said Tony Parker, 22, of Roanoke. Parker, sporting a Rage Against the Machine T-shirt, said he showed up at 7:15 to get a ticket for the 7:45 show. It was sold out, so he filled his belly with a chicken club combo to kill time before the 10 p.m. show.
Parker said he doesn't think the media always show both sides of a story," and this is the other side of the story," he said.
"Most people are positive" about the film, Hodges said. But there were a few, she said, who made it clear that they thought the film was anti-American, and at least one couple broke up because of a disagreement over its message, she said.
The woman was pro- Bush, Hodges said; the man was anti-Bush. In the middle of the 7:45 show, they began to argue. Several people witnessed the man rip a bracelet off the woman's arm, Hodges said, leaving pearls strewn about the theater.
The couple left and broke up outside Hodges' ticket booth.
Howard Webber, 62, of Vinton figured he would have a negative reaction to the film, so he decided not to see it.
"Too much bashing of George Bush," Webber said. "Too much one-sided. He hasn't done everything right, but ..."
So when Webber's wife, daughter and son-in-law bought their tickets for "Fahrenheit 9/11," Webber bought one for "The Terminal."
"They know how I stand, and I know how they stand. It's just something I don't want to see."
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