A picture is worth a thousand words, or so goes the old saying.
I've read numerous reviews, pro and con, about Michael Moore's "Farenheit 9-11" so I went to see it for myself. None of the reviewers have really gotten it right, and I am about to join them. It is a film that must been seen. Words do not do it justice regardless of whether one loves or hates it.
Celebrities and powerful people undertand the media. They know that image is everything and words amount to very little. A lot of work goes into crafting a successful media image. It is expensive but worth it if the results are successful. It is marketing.
There are, according to "The Unreality Industry," nine key sectors in which celebrities can be made into stars - entertainment, sports, politics, general culture, business, religion, science, the professions, academia. Furthermore, there are 22 major story lines that have been identified as successful ways to fashion an identity, such as First of a Kind, Talent Wins Out, A Fatal Flaw, The Big Break, a Great Teacher, Risks It All, etc.
Today, anyone can be made into a celebrity with a cadre of make-up artists, directors, agents, reporters, photographers, promoters, costumers, hair stylists, plastic surgeons, psychologists, coaches and teachers, lawyers, accountants, and PR firms.
How does this relate to the film?
Since Nixon's debate with Kennedy, the importance of images has not been lost on presidents. Years of experience have taught them that a carefully crafted image, regardless of its authenticity, can sway opinion. Clinton knew it, and so does Bush.
The Bush team, the focus of the film, depends on the successful delivery of their carefully crafted images to sell us on an endless war against "terror," tax cuts, privatization, and gutting of social programs. They go to great lengths to arrange photo opportunities that show Bush and others taking issues seriously and care about the people. They have a lot invested in the creation and distribution of images.
Bush on the aircraft carrier. Bush announcing a war at an official desk. Bush speaking with small business owners. Lots of flags. We are all very familiar with the images they have presented, and many of us do not question them. We don't think about why the photo is arranged the way it is, or why it is being shown to us. It just sinks in, the way it is intended.
Control over the image is essential for long-term success. Nothing can interfere with the image, or it loses its carefully constructed effect. This is true in advertising as much as politics. Most Fortune 500 companies have books outline the guidlelines regarding how and how not their logo may be used. I worked with an Intel logo once... it had to be a certain size and color, had to be set off from things around it by a certain distance, could not be altered in any way, etc. Similar rules exist for candidates.
What isn't shown to us, though, is as important as what is.
What Farenheit 9-11 does is to throw a monkey wrench into the meticulously crafted images built up by the Bush team over many years at great expense. The images in the film are in contrast to what we have seen for the last few years. We get to see things we weren't supposed to notice. That is why this is such a dangerous film for Bush & Co. -- their image is being destroyed, day by day and hour by hour, as hundreds of curious people go see this film. People are lining up and paying money to view things that they have been prevented from seeing.
This is akin to jamming a transmission, causing deliberate interference in the signal, causing it to break up. Moore is jamming Bush with great success. If Bush were a brand, let's say Coke, and trying to convince us that he is refreshing and the real thing, Moore is showing us the cavities that result from too much sugar.
This is causing an interesting effect. Conservative pundits are now dismissing Bush's Saudi ties as unimportant. Until this film, no one was talking about the Saudi ties at all. The film has been successful in allowing us all to judge for ourselves whether this relationship is or is not important for us to consider. "Does it matter?" is a question the Bush image machine would prefer we don't even ask, let alone answer. This film gets the conversation started on numerous issues that we have all been thinking about for the last few years. Are we safe? Are we doing the best we can do? What makes this country great?
Farenheit 9-11, from my perspective, went easy on Bush and his pals. It doesn't hit very hard and misses many other news events that would support an anti-Bush crusade far better than what is shown here. He does this on purpose, though. Moore wants people to see this film and chose to be quite respectful throughout. There is some footage of the administration that makes them look foolish. The thing is, they were looking foolish all by themselves and cameras caught it. Moore isn't pasting their heads on to actors bodies. Wolfowitz really did drool all over his own head to, one assumes, look good for the camera.
What emerges is a portrait of some extremely wealthy individuals out for their own personal gain at the expense of the rest of us. It's not a pretty picture.