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NEXTopia
Welcome to NEXTopia, a Web diary in which NEXT writers — and readers — share their evolving thoughts on a variety of issues. The opinions you read below are those of the individual writers, not necessarily those representing The Seattle Times.
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June 29, 2004
| Re: "Fahrenheit 9/11" |
Response to Chris Collins' blog
I hope that conservatives like Chris will take their own advice. Just as they want Moore fans to wade through long anti-Moore articles to glean the facts about the movie, I hope that everyone will sit through Moore's anti-Bush film, and at least come out willing to ask some questions. To simply dismiss the entire movie and say that it is "completely illegitimate and has no credibility whatsoever" is to blindly believe in the perfection of Bush and the Republican party, and of the war in Iraq, and miss the larger points of the film.
If you're a Bush supporter, this movie won't change that. You'll apply the same reasoning to it that Moore did in making it. You will dismiss that which doesn't support your existing views, and focus on Moore's errors and mistakes. Fifteen minutes after walking out of the theatre, anything that made you uncomfortable, that caused psychological "dissonance," will melt away. But maybe not. Maybe you'll have some -- gasp -- questions, not about Moore, but about the war, or Bush, or even some social issue completely unrelated to Bush.
Are you so certain that those who oppose Moore have no ulterior motives or make no mistakes of their own? Are you guilty of simply seeking out reasons to dismiss Moore pre-emptively, or are you openly seeking the truth?
The movie does make some bad assumptions and leaps in logic, and focuses on those things that make the desired point. As does the Slate article. But the film also has many points and ideas that are worth knowing, thinking about, and discussing. It has many things that the Slate article did not, and probably could not, dismiss. Even if you ignore the stuff about Bush and the Saudis or bin Ladens, etc. it is still an important film in that it exposes you to ideas and images you won't get through the commercial news media.
If nothing else, you should see it for the same reason you may hate it without having even seen it yet. While you may not like Moore trying to tell you his version of the truth, you should not just rely on others to tell you their version of the truth either.
Philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in his book Utilitarianism, "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides."
When you fall into a rut, and just accept whatever is fed to you by one side, you ain't Socrates baby. But heck, who takes philosophy seriously anyway?
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| Posted by Randy Henderson at June 29, 2004 10:54 AM |
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