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Arts and Entertainment: M. A. Harley Exhibit Opens at Arts Center Gallery
February 9th, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Center Auction Draws Enthusiastic Crowd
February 1st, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: More Than Just Paint on Canvas - the Art of Travis Parks
January 31st, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Watercolor Exhibit Opens at Arts Center Gallery
January 4th, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Natural Inspiration - a Gallery and a Vision
January 2nd, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Annual "Rock the Boat" Exhibit Draws Crowd
December 7th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: The Wildlife Artistry of Rod Random
December 6th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: A Good Old Fashioned Mystery
November 16th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: FSU - UF Art Exhibit Opens at Arts Center Gallery
November 2nd, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: A View Under the Ocean with Artist Alda Leffew
October 27th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Frostproof Artists Paint Cedar Key
October 24th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Grammatical Wit and Wisdom
October 14th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Plein-Air Exhibit Opens at Arts Center
October 5th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Author Showcases Cedar Key
October 4th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Plein-Air Artists Visiting Cedar Key
October 1st, 2003

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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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