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Arts and Entertainment: Cedar Key Arts Center News
January 2nd, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: The Flora La Florida Exhibit
January 1st, 2003

Arts and Entertainment: Fritz Seyfarth Memorial Exhibition
December 27th, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: First Annual Open House at the Gernhardt Studio
December 17th, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: Exquisite Simplicity - The Art and Artistry of Ed Levin
December 15th, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: Doubled Pleasure at the Cedar Key Arts Center
December 8th, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: Cosmic Tips to Holiday Shopping
November 23rd, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: Art Exhibit and Competition
November 16th, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: A LIfe in Photographs
November 3rd, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: Action at Robbie Blake`s Quarternote
October 7th, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: Plein-Air Exhibit Opens
October 6th, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: The Art of Henry Gernhardt
September 6th, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: Poetic Pairing
August 26th, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: Jazz at the Quarternote on August 18
August 15th, 2002

Arts and Entertainment: A Love Story Beyond Forever
August 15th, 2002

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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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