"Fahrenheit 9/11" is the temperature at which freedom burns, so says Michael Moore, but as satisfying the Bradbury reference remains, what really is Moore’s model is Orwell’s "1984," where war and poverty is state-sanctioned in order to maintain the power hierarchy. In fact, the entire film can be seen as one big argument that "1984" is happening to us right under our noses.

Michael Moore, being Michael Moore, does everything in his powers to make his theory real to the audience. While much of the joy of the film derives from seeing the White House’s power players in candid camera, Moore spends enough time with the smallest of the small folk that we never lose perspective. Yup, Moore is concerned with everything wrong with this country from the top down. Some of the most powerful moments in the film come from these candid, non-confrontational interviews that make Fahrenheit more of a documentary than his last film "Bowling for Columbine." He's tapered back his cameo appearances into a narrative that's about as big as you can get.

But Moore remains a master manipulator, always ready and eager to promote his version of truth. Some buffoonery remains such as the accosting of Congressmen on the streets of Washington about the fact that only one out of 535 has any family member serving in the military, a scene with overtones of his similarly disturbing ambush of Charlton Heston in "Bowling." Moore mentions that the linens Bush slept in on Sept. 10, 2001 were French, a harmless jab but one that shows he’s not above using even the smallest detail to prove his point. And much of Moore’s film is based on speculation, albeit one grounded in television footage.

And that’s what gets your goat. All of this corruption was happening right under our noses and we didn’t see it. The reason why is more Orwellian than anyone could have imagined: television was placating us into acceptance (an eerie resemblance to Orwell's own vision of televised propaganda). The Fox News Channel was and is setting the agenda for how to cover politics, yes that’s right, profitably. All of Bush’s foibles were swept under the rug for the benefit of the American people by newscasters willing to take part in the charade. In fact, Moore shows us a lot of footage immediately before and after Bush’s actual televised statements, ones where he’s getting his makeup applied and being silly, to deflate this well-honed image of the determined war President. It’s disarming to see Bush staring into the camera with his actorly cowboyisms about defeating terrorism and then step back to reveal the golf club in his hand as he drives the ball with the same bravado. The message is “I’m tough on terror, but I’m equally tough on golf.” You didn’t see that on any news outlets.

It’s easy to see this film as the decline of America into corruption. But Moore takes pains to show just how sincere and loyal its citizens are. In perhaps his most emotionally gratifying footage, Moore shows mother Lila Lipscomb going through her various stages of military supporter to grieving mother to angry citizen. Most of the embedded military footage is not about soldier abuse of prisoners although there is some of that, but you see soldiers scared about their lives in danger and upset that they may lose it for the benefit of the corrupt elite. And his recounting of the 9/11 attacks are far more tasteful than the images on Fox News. (spoiler ahead, skip to next paragraph) Moore understands that we’ve seen the attacks so many times that just by showing us the blank screen we can still see the burning buildings in our minds without needing a vulgar rehash. Fox News on the other hand still shows the attacks full-on at the slightest mention of the event as if the news anchors were Bruce Willis graciously providing more die-hard explosions. Moore may be critical of the power elite, but he isn’t unpatriotic to the average Joe.

None of Moore’s accusations are new. In fact, I first came into contact with his arguments a full year and a half before "Fahrenheit 9/11" came out as Moore described the plan in a speech played on the Pacifica radio network. In that speech he talked about various clandestine relationships from the corporate tentacles in the White House to the bin Laden-Bush connection, and even then he cited journalist sources. But the difference this time around is that he’s playing ball with the Fox News Channel. He’s made the antidote to propaganda by making a film with those same elements of propaganda, raucously entertaining footage cut and scored to produce a skewed vision. He’s been doing it for years to hilarious effect, and when his country needed him the most, Moore has produced perhaps the greatest work of his auteur career (no one else could have made this film).

It’s still hard to see what effect Moore’s film will have on the Presidential election. But if the film is the box office sensation that it promises to be, it may make or break this upcoming election (as Moore put it, "Any swing voter will have swung after seeing the film"). But if this film has revealed anything about the Bushes and their powerful friends, it’s that they’ve figured out a way to win money, elections, you name it. They won’t stand by and watch their power deflate so let the spin hit the fan. Only know this: that in times of war, I’d want Michael Moore to be on my side.
-Howard Ho