WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2004
ENTERTAINMENT
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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19
Michael Moore's new film under fire
By Marc Ingber
mingber@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Michael Moore's new film, Fahrenheit 9/11, is set to open this Friday after having a little trouble getting out of the starting gates. The University of Kansas community has mixed feelings on its impact.
The film, which deals with Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush's ties to Saudi Arabia, as well as his foreign policy after Sept. 11, was originally supposed to be released by Miramax Films, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.
But Disney decided not to go through with it, so Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the founders of Miramax, bought back the film to find another distribution company.
According to The Washington Post, Moore said Disney's decision was based on the fact that its Disney World theme park was based in Florida, where Bush's brother Jeb was the governor.
Moore said he was being censored because Disney didn't want to make Jeb angry.
Since Disney made the decision not to release it, Moore has no right to call it government censorship, said Josh
Steward, Hays senior and vice-chairman for the College Republicans.
Although the film will no doubt anger many on the right, Steward said the film interested him.
He said Moore had always done a lot of research for his films, so it was definitely worth reviewing.
Although he hasn't seen the film, Steward said the accusation that Bush had anything to do with Sept. 11, or that he knew about it and didn't try to stop it, implied that Bush wanted to hurt his own country.
"To make that accusation is pretty heavy and unwarranted," he said.
Brandon Barnett, Topeka junior, said the film had to be pretty good if it won the Palme d'Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
However, he said it would be hard for critics to review Fahrenheit 9/11 objectively without projecting their own political views.
He said he liked the idea that a film such as Fahrenheit 9/11 could be released at a time when most movies were the typical summer action blockbusters. Moore has the ability to get press for issues that usually escape the limelight, he said.
"I'm glad there's something political
"If Michael Moore is presenting a biased side it's just to overcompensate for the right-wing media you see on TV like Fox News."
Brandon Barnett
Topeka junior
that is coming to one of the most watched media," Barnett said.
Burdett Loomis, professor and chairman of political science, said Moore knew what he was doing when he released it.
"Moore made it so it would come out at a certain time and perhaps influence the election,so of course it's political," he said.
However, Loomis said he didn't think it would have a major impact on the election.
"If Michael Moore is presenting a biased side it's just to overcompensate for the right-wing media you see on TV like Fox News," Barnett said.
The controversy over the movie can't be compared to other recent controversial films such as The Passion of the Christ.
courtesy of www.michaelmoore.com
Barnett said.
"Jesus has dealt with 2,000 years of criticism and misunderstanding," he said. "He's stood the test of time unlike George Bush."
— Edited by Joe Burke