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May 1st, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Pastel Art From Citrus County
April 30th, 2012

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April 28th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Cedar Key’s 48th Annual Fine Art Festival
April 24th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Official 2012 Posters & T-shirts for Sale
April 19th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: VALERIE BRETL RECIEVES `BEST IN SHOW` AT INTERNATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION
April 19th, 2012

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April 16th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Join the Fun - Be an Old Florida Celebration of the Arts Purchase Award Patron?
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Arts and Entertainment: Henry Gernhardt and Kevin Hipe to exhibit at Cedar Key Arts Center
April 5th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Festival - List Of Artists
April 5th, 2012

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April 4th, 2012

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April 3rd, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Festival - Entertainment Schedule
April 2nd, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: AND THE WINNER IS...
March 31st, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: ART THERAPY CLASSES
March 29th, 2012

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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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