When documentarian Michael Moore released “Fahrenheit 9/11″ in 2004, I believed that he had gone over the edge. I felt his film was too critical of the War on Terror and the events following the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. He seemed too driven by blind rage and hatred.
I had been a fan of Moore’s since his first film, “Roger and Me,” a scathing indictment of corporate greed and the damage it did to his hometown of Flint, Michigan. I thought “Bowling for Columbine” was brilliant, and I was a huge fan of his short-lived NBC television series “TV Nation.”
In the months leading up to the release of “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Moore proved ever-present on television, outlining his charges against the Bush Administration. At one point, he even claimed that “there is no terrorism.” It made me uncomfortable, as if he re-activated my inborn (and, perhaps, knee-jerk) sense of patriotism, even as I secretly suspected that he may be right. I could not, however, admit that even to myself, not while the nation was at war on several fronts.
I am a product of the Cold War and of the Reagan Administration. I believed whole-heartedly that, although the United States occasionally made mistakes, it really was different from the “older” world powers: less corrupt, less bent on domination, more focused on bringing the benefits of capitalist democracy to the world.
Then I grew up.
Then I realized that Michael Moore was right on a number of levels.
And I realized that I had judged him too harshly, as I now share his feelings for George W. Bush and his fascist administration.
I weep for our nation, and hope for a better future.
