Mo' Money, Moore Problems

I'm taking an ill-advised break from frothy frivolity today, and instead I'm going to indulge in some polemic pontification. Just as a trial run, you see. If I crash and burn, you won't be seeing much more of this here. Cross your fingers and make your wish as to the outcome, because here I go:

All of you should be aware by now of the latest controversy concerning Michael Moore's latest film, Farenheit 9/11. It's yet another in a string of misrepresentations contained in the movie coming to light, this one concerning the doctoring of the front page of the Pantagraph, a newspaper based in Illinois. Supporters of the film and Moore in general are shrugging this off as no big deal; after all, they say, it was just some simple editing. It's not like Moore out and out lied. I have to disagree with these sentiments, for I believe that the issue at hand is representative of bigger problem. First off, I should admit that I'm ambivalent when it comes to Michael Moore himself. I do think he's doing a valuable service by acting as a dissenter, but I'm not particularly impressed with the actual quality of his dissent. Why? Farenheit 9/11 has one purpose: to prevent Bush from being re-elected. It's an admirable goal, but I'm not so sure it's going to succeed. What a lot of people fail to recognize is that despite the film's box office success, Moore may only be preaching to the choir. The thing is, there's a good portion of the American population who are either a) undecided or b) blindly supporting Bush. These are the people Moore desperately needs to reach with his film. Unfortunately, the stream of reports concerning the misrepresentations contained within aren't exactly inspiring these people to line up at the box office. What's all the more frustrating is that Moore didn't need to resort to these; surely, there should have been more than enough solid material concerning George W. Bush to make a convincing argument without them. What really worries me however, is the potential for a backlash; one which could actually increase and cement in place the popular support for Bush. When all is said and done and it's time for the American public to cast their votes this November, it could be that Farenheit 9/11 will have done more harm than good. It'd be a vicious irony if this film helped Bush win the election rather than making him lose.