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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cnyndwllr who wrote (137532)	6/22/2004 10:43:01 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

Analysis: 'Fahrenheit' ready for market ___________________________ By Pat Nason UPI Hollywood Reporter Published 6/22/2004 6:38 PM LOS ANGELES, June 22 (UPI) -- When Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" arrives in theaters this week, movie consumers will provide a key measure of the project's market value right away -- but it will take longer to tell whether the movie delivers on Moore's highest hope for the project, that it might help turn President George W. Bush out of office in November. After his film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Moore told reporters his main wish was that it would motivate people to vote in the Nov. 2 presidential election. However, he recently told the New York Times he hoped the picture would be known as the first big-audience, election-year film that helped unseat a president. Moore said that focus-group testing of "Fahrenheit 9/11" in Michigan in April showed that viewers who went into the screening undecided about the election came out ready to vote Bush out. "We found that if you entered the theater on the fence, you fell off it somewhere during those two hours," he said. Moore's critics might challenge his telling of the focus-group outcome -- as they are challenging so much of what he has to say in the movie. In any case, pollsters are finding that the pool of undecided voters is unusually small this year. "Fahrenheit 9/11" begins by challenging the legitimacy of Bush's presidency. It goes on to argue that the Bush administration has made America less safe by bungling the war on terrorism by prosecuting the war in Iraq, that the administration manipulated American public opinion to gin up support for invading Iraq, and that the president and his advisers are motivated by a potent blend of self-interest and misguided -- if not delusional -- ideology. The Times article concluded that "it seems safe to say that central assertions of fact in 'Fahrenheit 9/11' are supported by the public record." But supporters of the president and his policies are adamant that the movie is deeply flawed and not to be trusted. Joanne Doroshow, a public-interest lawyer and filmmaker who has worked as a fact checker for Moore's production team, told the paper the movie has been thoroughly checked for accuracy. "We have gone through every single word of this film -- literally every word -- and verified its accuracy," said Doroshow. But of course, film is a visual medium. And there is music, such as the clip from Eric Clapton's recording of "Cocaine" during a segment about Bush's National Guard service -- a moment that provides a strong suggestion about possible past drug use by the president but eludes the rigors of word-for-word fact checking. The movie is powerful and skillfully made. It is also one-sided, but then Moore -- who declined an interview request from United Press International -- has never pretended that it would be anything but the most passionate argument he could make for his point of view. It remains to be seen how many minds "Fahrenheit 9/11" will change, or whether it can exert the kind of influence Moore hopes for. The film contains some footage that had not been previously available to the public. Much of the material that has been accessible before now has largely been seen only by "news junkies" -- a small group relative to the larger population, considering that some cable chat shows can reach commercial-hit status just by drawing several hundred thousand viewers. With the movie about to open on a small number of screens in New York Wednesday and on more than 800 screens nationwide Friday, advance interest in it has been strong. On Tuesday, the online ticketing service Fandango calculated that "Fahrenheit 9/11" had accounted for 42 percent of its ticket sales for the past week, an unusually strong number for a documentary. A publicist for Fandango said the company controls 70 percent of the online movie-ticket sales business. The audience-tracking service Nielsen NRG found high awareness for the movie, with 67 percent of those surveyed saying they knew about it and 35 percent saying they were definitely interested in seeing it, according to Daily Variety. Also Tuesday, the Motion Picture Association of America denied an appeal of the R rating for "Fahrenheit 9/11," based on language and graphic depiction of violence. Distributors said the movie could lose as much as 20 percent of its potential gross due to the decision. Moore issued a statement urging teenagers to violate the MPAA guideline. "Teenagers should be able to see this film and see it on their own," said Moore. "Older teenagers are being sent to Iraq, some never to return. To say that teenagers shouldn't see this movie means that the truth should be kept from them. I encourage all teenagers to come see my movie, by any means necessary. If you need me to sneak you in, let me know." The tug-of-war between the conservative organization MoveAmericaForward.com and the liberal MoveOn.org emblemizes the "preaching-to-the-choir" nature of Moore's movie. After MoveAmericaForward.com launched a campaign urging people to contact theater owners to protest plans to screen "Fahrenheit 9/11," MoveOn.org countered with a campaign of its own -- urging its members to see the movie and bring friends. As of Monday, MoveOn.org claimed it had commitments from more than 100,000 of its members to buy a ticket for the movie. That may help pump up grosses, but it can only have a limited effect on the outcome of November's election, since virtually all of MoveOn's membership can already be counted on to oppose Bush for re-election. It is possible the movie will move some votes. It may also be true that if the president is as duplicitous and incompetent as Moore argues, it shouldn't take a two-hour documentary to persuade the electorate of it. -- (Please send comments to nationaldesk@upi.com.) Copyright © 2001-2004 United Press International upi.com