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Arts and Entertainment: CEDAR KEY ART FESTIVAL JUDGE SELECTED
March 10th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: Cedar Key Poets 2013 Reading
March 9th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: March show at the Arts Center
March 7th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: LAST CHANCE THIS WEEKEND TO SEE LOCAL TALENT IN "LITTLE SHOP..."
March 6th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: "Bird in Hand" Awarded Blue Ribbon in CKAC`s 3-D Show
March 3rd, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: March Workshops at the Cedar Key Arts Center
March 1st, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS - FULL OF OUR MULTITALENTED CEDAR KEY FOLK!
February 27th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: Mosaic Marvels and Textile Treasures Show at the CKAC
February 26th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: Cedar Key Poets Annual Reading 3/7
February 23rd, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: LAST CHANCE TO SEE MOSAIC EXHIBITION, SARAH WESTENBERG RETROSPECTIVE
February 23rd, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: Suwannee Valley Players Presents "Little Shop of Horrors" Beginning 3/1
February 19th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: PALMS MEDICAL GROUP RENEWS TITLE SPONSORSHIP ROLE FOR CEDAR KEY’S 49th ANNUAL ARTS FESTIVAL, APRIL 13-14
February 16th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: Storytelling Theme a Success at Art Festival Fundraiser
January 30th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: Next Opening at the Cedar Key Art Center February 2, 2013
January 30th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: Coming Up at the Cedar Key Arts Center
January 29th, 2013

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Satire or Documentary?

Satire or Documentary?

Susan Seyfarth

In "Fahrenheit 9/11," director Michael Moore`s purpose is similar to that in most of his work: to create an awareness of the "little people" who are exploited by the privileged class, be it corporate America or political Washington, D.C. Here, Moore traces events leading to and continuing through the U.S.`s presence in Iraq. But this is not a documentary because the facts are not presented objectively. They are interpreted by Moore, and there is never doubt about what he wants us to feel--rage, indignity, sadness, and naiveté over what he sees as the Bush administration`s lying about the war--why it started(oil), who fights it (young unemployed minorities), who profits from it (the Bushes, their buddies). This is precisely what the creator of effective satire does; point out human vice and folly in order to change society for the better. The satirist`s tools include sarcasm, ridicule, and irony, applied gently or harshly, whichever it takes to wake up an audience.

In Moore`s hands, these tools craft a tough, funny movie in the tradition of TV`s "Saturday Night Live." We see the gruesome shots of limbless victims of explosions, harsh indeed. Ridicule and irony appear in the superimposing of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld on the bodies of the TV Western "Bonanza`s" cast. Accompanied by the show`s theme song, they appear to be having a swell time rounding up the bad guys and roping in the money resulting from their ties to the Bin Laden family. Then, Moore gently but sarcastically asks U.S. Senators to sign up their kids for active duty in Iraq. They don`t get the point but we do: they will not consider his request. From their perspective, it simply is not a sensible one.

Is "Fahrenheit 9/11" effective satire? Most likely, yes. Whether you love it or hate it, Moore causes you to react, to respond. Whether for the good of society or not is up to the judgment of each respondent, each moviegoer.


Caution: graphic violence, language.

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