“Fahrenhype 9/11”

By Marcus Leshock

Just when you thought we couldn’t get enough of the documentary, on comes a documentary ABOUT a documentary.

“Fahrenhype 9/11,” a film about the film “Fahrenheit 9/11,” attacks Michael Moore’s credibility, patriotism and his lack of discussing all things great about America.

The documentary has a great premise – Michael Moore is too sloppy a filmmaker to ever be trusted. But instead of arguing this point, director Alan Peterson decides to remind us (yet again) about what happened on Sept. 11, 2001 – over and over and over again. Thousands of American citizens were viciously murdered, many of our heroes were slaughtered, American flags were torn apart, etc., etc., etc.

We know what happened Sept. 11, 2001. Michael Moore knows what happened Sept. 11, 2001. Nobody in his or her right mind (Moore actually included here) feels anybody who died in those attacks deserved their fate. The debate lies in the response to the attacks, and Moore’s film has become an integral part of it.

Now, just because we have a freedom of public opinion, should not mean that Moore is free from scrutiny. There is a certain responsibility and ethical code that follows a film such as “Fahrenheit 9/11.” If there are inaccuracies in the film, the public deserves to know.

Instead, “Fahrenhype 9/11” gives us interviews with people with conservative ideologies across the country, headlined by actor/narrator Ron Silver – who at one point, tells us if he had access to the footage, he could make Moore look like a cross-dressing Nazi. That is no small task, especially considering the tremendous failure of hordes of editors who have attempted to portray Silver as a semi-talented actor.

The interviewees rant and rave about how un-American it is to be Michael Moore. Occasionally we get a segment about one of the many glaring inaccuracies in “Fahrenheit 9/11,” but quickly thereafter some conservative ideology is thrown down our throats.

So, instead of a truly investigative piece, “Fahrenhype 9/11” becomes the direct opposite of “Fahrenheit 9/11.” It leans as far to the right as it can and use its medium to spread its rhetoric. The message of “Fahrenhype 9/11”: If Michael Moore is wrong, the right-wing must be right.

Its obsession with right-wing ideology is not its only flaw. The film lacks the pacing and narrative arc that give a documentary the fresh, swift style necessary to engage a large audience today. Moore’s expert use of juxtaposition and his uncanny ability to find startling humor out of everyday stiffs make him one of today’s most entertaining documentary filmmakers.

Alan Peterson seems to think content is key to a successful documentary. Peterson fails by letting his interviewees drive the film – a technique that ends up turning an intriguing, thought-provoking premise into a eye-rolling bore fest.

Without entertaining your audience, your documentary is doomed to fail. At this point, Peterson’s best hope to find an audience is through an accidental rental.

A “good” film may analyze the works of Anne Coulter (one of the many interviewees) and the works of Moore as messengers of fear – one telling the flustered public a Liberal White House means we’re all going to die, the other saying a Bush White House means we’re all going to die.

So should I spend my Tuesday in a voting booth, or should I be stocking up on bottled water?