'Fahrenheit 9/11' provides welcome hot-button issue
"Fahrenheit 9/11'' is the number-one film in America.
With a debut weekend haul of $23.9 million, the film is now the highest-grossing documentary ever, surpassing Moore's 2002 Academy Award-winning film, "Bowling for Columbine.'' And playing on only 868 screens, less than a third of those allotted for "White Chicks,'' (2,726), and nearly one quarter of screens showing "DodgeBall,'' (3,020) it still managed to defeat both of those mainstream comedies.
Save for Mel Gibson's equally polarizing movie, "The Passion of the Christ,'' no film this year has received more contentious pre-release publicity than Moore's Bush administration-skewering documentary. Even before the film secured a North American release date or won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival in May, pundits were speculating on how the film might affect the upcoming presidential election. Now, with the film in theaters, it's prompting people to consider, among other vital issues, the merits of the ongoing war in Iraq.
Depending on your viewpoint, Moore, also the best-selling author of such irreverent books as "Dude, Where's My Country?'' and ``Stupid White Men,'' is either a schlumpy crusader for unpopular truths about our nation and its leaders or he's a schlumpy showboat who relies on sometimes deceptive editing and demagoguery to promote his liberal agenda. (Truth be told, he's a heaping helping of both.) But he's gotten us all talking about issues which may profoundly affect our lives for decades to come - unlike, say, Britney Spears's engagement.
See, even as war has raged, and as what may be the most important presidential election in our history has drawn closer, we've been infected with a serious case of the sillies. On a morning when sovereignty was restored in Iraq, and several hostages, including a US Marine, were threatened with execution by extremists, morning show hosts still found time to chirp about the singer's romantic foibles. (On CBS's "The Early Show'' the story was introduced as "the latest chapter in the Britney Spears saga,'' although the story itself failed to address exactly how and when the life of an inconsequential pop star became something so weighty as a saga.)
So far this year, we've already spent an absurd amount of time discussing Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction, "American Idol'' conspiracy theories, and the conniving Omarosa on NBC's "The Apprentice.'' We've endured twin media orgies following the death of President Ronald Reagan and the release of President Bill Clinton's autobiography, so much so that one can almost forget there's actually an ongoing presidential campaign.
In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, some speculated that such an emotionally devastating event would permanently alter the American psyche. We would now be a much more serious nation, and gone, they maintained, were the days when the media would devote headlines and airtime to celebrity effluvia.
Yet, in the nearly three years since, we've proven ourselves ever-resilient in caring about absolutely nothing. At a time when we can ill afford to be distracted by foolishness, we behave as if in caring about, say, the many loves of Jennifer Lopez, we've thwarted the terrorists by getting back to frivolity as usual.
But at least for now, ``Fahrenheit 9/11'' has forced us to turn our attention toward something. What's not to like about young people under 17 trying to finagle their way into a film that has far more talking heads than explosions? To be sure, Moore, as an anti-Establishment rabble rouser, has a natural appeal for rebellious, authority-questioning youths whether he's attacking the mendacity of corporate America (his breakthrough film, "Roger & Me''), our violence-prone culture (``Bowling for Columbine''), or the suspect prewar reasoning that now has our nation mired in Iraq.
Most important, though, his film has accomplished what daily casualties among American troops and Iraqi civilians have generally failed to do - refocus our attention on the past four tumultuous years, and their still-evolving repercussions. Moore has said he wants nothing less than President Bush voted out of the White House in November. Whether his film can effect that kind of change remains to be seen.
Still, whatever "Fahrenheit 9/11'''s long-term impact (Moore may try to have this film released on DVD just weeks before the election), and despite how one may feel about the filmmaker or his provocative agenda, there's reason for celebration in our beloved republic when a nonfiction film about politics and war somehow defeats the Wayans brothers in white face and drag.
Life in the Pop Lane appears on Tuesday. Renee Graham can be reached at graham@globe.com
