I saw F911 last night in suburban New Jersey. The show was sold out. I'd never seen such a mob scene at a theater. This is going to be a very big hit. Michael Moore got really lucky with all the publicity, some of it from his adversaries on the right, that has built up a buzz surrounding this film.
All in all it was very well done. It connected the dots in a very interesting and understandable way. My wife, who's not particularily political really enjoyed it and said she learned a lot from it. My big criticism of Mike Moore, and one that a lot of people voice, is that he doesn't offer solutions to the problems he is critiquing. Sure, it's great to inform the American people of the cozy relationship between the Bushes and Bin Ladens, Americans and Saudis, and all the negative side-effects of that relationship, like taxmoney wasted on wars for oil, etc. It's also great to point out some of the blatant abuses of power by the U.S. government after 9/11. But, what solutions does Mr. Moore offer the viewer? What alternative routes could we persue to avoid these conflicts of interest and these abuses of power?
Does he go into a diatribe about how many alternatives to the petroleum economy there are out there in 2004? How we could essentially kick our foreign oil habit and kiss the Bin Ladens and Saudis goodbye? Does he talk about other ways of controlling terrorism, perhaps more of a carrot approach, rather than the kneejerk stick approach always utilized by those in power? Perhaps a broader approach of disengagement from the region? NO. I think it's a fair criticism to say that Mike Moore is long on criticism, but short on solutions. We need solutions, not just criticism. |
