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Arts and Entertainment: "Images of Cedar Key" Exhibit Opens at Arts Center
September 7th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Florida Artists at the Atlanta Folk Fest
August 22nd, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: The World Without - The Spirit Within Captured by Artist Connie Nelson
July 21st, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Center Dance Classes a Big Hit
June 28th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Memories and Reflections - A Daughter`s Perspective (The Artist Ken Strange)
May 17th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Levy County Genealogy Society Meeting
May 15th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: A Sense of Place - Classic Cracker Architecture
May 5th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Artistry Times Three
May 4th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: C.K. Dog of the Week
April 23rd, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Center Exhibit Continues Through March
March 11th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Capturing Light and Rainbows - the Art of Don Joyce
March 6th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Center Gala
March 2nd, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Visiting Artist Teaches at Art Center
February 19th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Feeling Adventurous?
January 20th, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Cedar Key Arts Center Presents Memorial Exhibit
January 5th, 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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