Mark Littmann: Moore of the same from Hollywood liberals

When Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick left Roland Garros, both ousted by Frenchmen in the beginning rounds of the French Open, they were surprisingly not the biggest losers to disappoint America there in the past weeks. In a small city on the southern tip of the country, nine angry actors gave our own Michael Moore the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his Bush-bashing work Fahrenheit 9/11. So Moore was a winner, right? Unfortunately, his victory was, in disguise, a mockery of not just the current administration but also America as a whole.

The film was praised by limousine starlets in a gathering of artists that was anything but impartial, yet the question remains: how will Moore's work be received in the United States when it opens next week? Quentin Tarantino, president of the Cannes jury, comforted Moore, "On this jury we have different politics," assuring him that it was the movie not the message that won. Yet despite having four Americans on the panel, I find it hard to believe that this cross-section of Hollywood and the international film community has any politics beyond liberal, ultra-liberal, and socialist. Put Tom Selleck and Arnold Schwarzenegger on the jury and then maybe Tarantino could actually make that statement, but the Terminator would probably proceed to kick his a--.

The actual critical reviews of Fahrenheit 9/11, though still not unaffected by politics, have been mixed. The documentary, while perhaps humorous and controversial, seems to be nothing more than a two hour long campaign ad. Variety, the entertainment trade publication, decried Moore's work "a reality film as an election-year device." They write, "The facts and arguments are no different than those one can glean from political commentary or recently published books on these subjects." While the America-lovers over in Cannes gave the movie a thirteen-minute standing ovation, it is no surprise that Moore selfishly appeased our French "allies."

Moore fit right into the political scene at Cannes; an American agreeing with the French. But is Moore a legitimate representative of America? He could not have been further from the truth when he claimed: "I exist in the mainstream of majority opinion in this country." President Bush's latest approval numbers, among the lowest they have been, still have America split virtually down the middle. I guarantee that no conservative shares the same ideals as Moore. Yet examining Moore even closer produces results that delineate the filmmaker even from most liberals who are up in arms to oust President Bush. In 2000, he was an ardent Nader supporter, backing a candidate who failed to receive even 3 percent of the vote. Following the September 11th tragedy, Moore quickly turned the debate inappropriately partisan by proclaiming, "I think Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Watt [sic] and the Republican party owe the American people and the families of those 3,000 dead a huge fucking apology."

Moore's true colors are revealed when examining what he says overseas, currying favor to those radicals who share similar politics to Moore. While here, he confidently claimed "The American people are not that stupid," yet in Germany he self-righteously declared that his fellow countrymen "are possibly the dumbest people on the planet ... Our stupidity is embarrassing." He looks to take advantage of this supposed stupidity by misleadingly presenting the bin Laden family and President Bush's relationship in his film. The notion that our government knows where bin Laden is but he is "hands off" because of Bush's Saudi Arabian friendships is preposterous. The bin Laden family officially disowned Osama in 1994, following the World Trade Center bombing and his exile from Saudi. To associate all of the mostly moderate 600-member family with that extremist shows pure ignorance and disrespects a family that owns the largest construction company in the Islamic world.

Graced with victory, Moore thanked the Cannes patrons in helping to "ensure that the American people will see this movie." However, all Moore really won was approval for criticizing the Bush administration among the ultra-left French. Now that Moore has finally found a film distributor (and stopped playing politics by pretending that Disney just recently rejected his film when, in reality, the company passed on it a year ago), we may all be shocked to find out just how intelligent we are. Moore's shock tactics and unfounded theories in this propaganda piece should be examined critically. While I have yet to see the film, based on reviews and Moore's dubious past (including numerous inaccuracies in his book Stupid White Men, in which Moore, among other things, completely fabricates an interview with Fred Barnes), this seems to be what would be expected from the radical filmmaker.

Rely on your own minds when considering the election this fall, and, whatever conclusion you may come to, just do not let Michael Moore and other ignorant Hollywood millionaires make up your mind for you. Perhaps, when Moore ridiculed Americans as unintelligent and ignorant, he was only referring to himself.

Mark Littmann is a junior finance major in Wharton from New York, N.Y.

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