Fahrenheit 9/11

(You know, I took German for years and that still looks wrong to me. Maybe it's being around computer programmers too long--their misspellings rubbed off on me.)

Anyway here's my review. I know there are others because it broke all box office records for a documentary and was the #1 movie last weekend.

The film does sort of seem like two, two films in one. The first half is about 9/11 and how the Bush and Bin Laden families have histories going back years. The 2000 election gets some interesting treatment. (Since I'm a bit of a political junkie, there was not a ton of stuff in the film that was new to me, but the fact that Bush's limo got egged on his inauguration day was new to me. Funny how that didn't get much coverage that I can recall.)

The second, and more powerful by far, segment of the film deals with the invasion of Iraq. There's a side-trip to Afghanistan, of course, but it could have been longer and talked about how there are more drugs there now than before we overthrew the Taliban. But that might be for the DVD. Anyway, there are some truly gut-wrenching scenes of civilian casualties, interviews with the troops that make me cringe (one guy talks about how their choice of music during a battle is "House on Fire," since they wanted Iraq to burn), and a devestating scene of a woman who's lost her son being shouted at by some Republican woman that she should blame Al Quaida for his death in Karbala. As if Osama had given the order to ship him there.

When you go, either take a drink beforehand or be prepared to drink heavily afterward. Mrs. GFR said that "this is the angriest I have ever been in a long time." This is how I feel almost every day when I read the news and look at what the Bush administration has done to this country. It's a travesty. Words fail me when describing how far we have fallen from the ideals we hold so dear.

It's a powerful film. I can think of several ways it would have been more powerful, such as showing Powell at the UN with a vial of... something and saying "We know he has this toxic chemical." Another release with Cheney saying "Fuck you" to Patrick Leahy. The "early" handover of Iraq to the transitional government with Bremer fleeing like a thief in the night... The list goes on and on. As long as this film is, as enraging as these actions have become, there are still so many things we can list, not to mention what we don't know about. Like what's really going on in Guantonomo. Cheney's Energy Task force minutes. The Plame Affair. Etc. Etc. Etc. Still, baby steps. Go see it.