mouton
07-08-2004, 05:22 PM
It's summertime and the weather is hot. I could take a dip in the pool. I could slap back some sangria on a terrace. Or, I could get lost in the cool dark of an air-conditioned movie theatre. For two hours I can just sit back, enjoy my assorted concession stand refreshments and not think about anything at all. Every film has big stars and hot cars; there's lots of sex and something's bound to blow up. That's the beauty of summer movies…brainless fun!
So how did I find myself waiting in a line the other day for a sold out show of a controversial anti-war documentary? I was waiting for Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and that's just one of three documentaries playing at this particular theatre. I knew why I was there – I like to think at the movies. But why weren't all those other people waiting to see White Chicks? Instead, they were all about to watch a film that promises to force people to take notice of a harsh reality of our world. In the time it took for the line I was in to begin filing into the theatre, the line itself grew to stretch down to the next floor. And as I got past the theatre doors, three teenage boys rushed past me and raced each other for the best seats in the house. At least some things haven't changed.
As for Mr. Moore, he made quite an impact at last year's Academy Awards when he very publicly attacked President George W. Bush's decision to declare war on Iraq just a few days before the telecast. The reaction was mixed from the crowd but one thing it did was get audiences to see his film, Bowling for Columbine, which picked up the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature that night. It quickly became the most successful documentary of all time, sparking a rejuvenated interest in the genre and opening new doors for upcoming docs to get a much wider release than they would have originally.
One of those lucky films is Canada's The Corporation. This smart, well-balanced piece presents the viewer with a psychological profile of a corporation as a person, as it is legally considered, labelling this "person" as psychopathic. It is an extremely engaging documentary featuring many legitimate interviewees revealing startling facts and putting faces to a faceless structure. As insightful as I found this film, the message is somewhat lost. This is in no way the fault of filmmakers Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. Rather, when a documentary addresses such a hot button topic as corporate entities being held accountable for the consequences of their actions, the likelihood is that the core audience will already be in line with the same beliefs. I was fortunate enough to see this film with my younger brother, a corporate enthusiast. He was not moved by the time the film's close came around. A sign of unconvincing persuasion on Achbar & Abbott's part? Or merely a sign of my brother's stubbornness (which is indicative of a more massive collective thinking but that's a lot deeper than I was hoping to go with this)?
A film that is sure to attract both naysayers and yea-sayer alike due mainly to the familiarity of its subject is the feisty fast food film, Super Size Me. I went to see this film as a refresher of sorts. I was expecting this film to get me off Big Macs for good but I ended up only wanting another one within the first twenty minutes. Writer/Director Morgan Spurlock places himself in the role of human guinea pig as he vows to eat nothing but McDonald's for thirty days straight. He limits himself to walking as a form of exercise as that is what he tells us most Americans do as their only physical activity and he goes even further by limiting his walking to the amount of steps the average American makes in any given day. He enlists the care of three different doctors and a health nutritionist to monitor his progress. His only other rules are that he can't skip any meals (or have extra ones); he must have everything on the menu at least once during the thirty days; and he must super-size his order whenever he is offered. Luckily for Spurlock, the McDonald's employees of America don't do their jobs that well because he was only offered to super-size nine times in the entire month.
As the host of his film, Spurlock is winning. He is funny and sarcastic but also quite intelligent and shrewd. By allowing the viewer to tag along on his wacky ride, he creates a bond with the audience. When he has his McGas, we all know what he's talking about. Consequently, we all can agree with his theories and empathize with his plight to varying degrees. Contrary to popular belief, this film is not a personal attack on McDonald's alone. Nor does this film insinuate that fast food chains should bare the sole responsibility for the rapidly increasing obesity epidemic. What this film attempts to demonstrate is that there needs to be a middle ground between corporate and consumer responsibility. In fact, Spurlock seems much more concerned with the youth of the future growing up in this fast, fatty world more so than he seems obsessed with bringing down Ronald McDonald (and his shareholders).
One man who does seem somewhat hellbent on bringing another down is Michael Moore, whose Fahrenheit 9/11 is raising the question as to just how much a movie can influence people's political opinions. So valued is his opinion as a prominent Bush-hater and anti-war advocate that he was featured as a talking head in The Corporation. So valued, Madonna admitted crying while watching Fahrenheit 9/11 and declared that the world needs more people like Moore at a New York show. So valued, that Disney washed their hands of his film in fear of causing too much controversy in an election year. So valued, that crowds of people are still selling out showings of his film a week after its record breaking release. With crowds of this size, can we say that people are that desperate to feed a supposedly unpopular attitude about President Bush? (I heard Demi Moore booed at the screen at an L.A. premiere.) Or are people just that starved for a thought provoking summer film?
Moore shows a new maturity as a filmmaker this time out. There must be something sobering about having people threaten and/or spit at him over his political views. He allows these images to speak for themselves, many of them taken from sources unfamiliar to the masses. The result is an emotional impact that smacks you in the face from the opening shots of the presidential team getting their makeup done and mics attached for the televised speech announcing war and has you crying by the time shots of children playing freely in pre-war Iraq appear. In what is perhaps his greatest moment of dignity in the film, Moore decides to shield his audience from having to watch the all too overexposed images of the planes flying directly into the World Trade Center towers on September 11th. In their stead, complete blackness and audio. He gives us time to remember and reflect upon what those moments and the days that followed were truly like. What follows is Moore's presentation of how everything that has happened politically since in the United States has in some way or another been a form of cover-up. Consequently, I found myself completely baffled by a later shot of President Bush being cheered on by hundreds of constituents and supporters. How could anyone still be applauding this man's accomplishments?
With so many discouraging realities on the planet we call Earth, it's no wonder the masses look for ways to distract themselves and stop all the thinking. Judging from the success of these little thinker movies that could, avoidance might be on the way out, making way for facing reality to make a big comeback. Who knows? All I know is that this little thinker can't wait to see Spiderman 2.
So how did I find myself waiting in a line the other day for a sold out show of a controversial anti-war documentary? I was waiting for Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and that's just one of three documentaries playing at this particular theatre. I knew why I was there – I like to think at the movies. But why weren't all those other people waiting to see White Chicks? Instead, they were all about to watch a film that promises to force people to take notice of a harsh reality of our world. In the time it took for the line I was in to begin filing into the theatre, the line itself grew to stretch down to the next floor. And as I got past the theatre doors, three teenage boys rushed past me and raced each other for the best seats in the house. At least some things haven't changed.
As for Mr. Moore, he made quite an impact at last year's Academy Awards when he very publicly attacked President George W. Bush's decision to declare war on Iraq just a few days before the telecast. The reaction was mixed from the crowd but one thing it did was get audiences to see his film, Bowling for Columbine, which picked up the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature that night. It quickly became the most successful documentary of all time, sparking a rejuvenated interest in the genre and opening new doors for upcoming docs to get a much wider release than they would have originally.
One of those lucky films is Canada's The Corporation. This smart, well-balanced piece presents the viewer with a psychological profile of a corporation as a person, as it is legally considered, labelling this "person" as psychopathic. It is an extremely engaging documentary featuring many legitimate interviewees revealing startling facts and putting faces to a faceless structure. As insightful as I found this film, the message is somewhat lost. This is in no way the fault of filmmakers Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. Rather, when a documentary addresses such a hot button topic as corporate entities being held accountable for the consequences of their actions, the likelihood is that the core audience will already be in line with the same beliefs. I was fortunate enough to see this film with my younger brother, a corporate enthusiast. He was not moved by the time the film's close came around. A sign of unconvincing persuasion on Achbar & Abbott's part? Or merely a sign of my brother's stubbornness (which is indicative of a more massive collective thinking but that's a lot deeper than I was hoping to go with this)?
A film that is sure to attract both naysayers and yea-sayer alike due mainly to the familiarity of its subject is the feisty fast food film, Super Size Me. I went to see this film as a refresher of sorts. I was expecting this film to get me off Big Macs for good but I ended up only wanting another one within the first twenty minutes. Writer/Director Morgan Spurlock places himself in the role of human guinea pig as he vows to eat nothing but McDonald's for thirty days straight. He limits himself to walking as a form of exercise as that is what he tells us most Americans do as their only physical activity and he goes even further by limiting his walking to the amount of steps the average American makes in any given day. He enlists the care of three different doctors and a health nutritionist to monitor his progress. His only other rules are that he can't skip any meals (or have extra ones); he must have everything on the menu at least once during the thirty days; and he must super-size his order whenever he is offered. Luckily for Spurlock, the McDonald's employees of America don't do their jobs that well because he was only offered to super-size nine times in the entire month.
As the host of his film, Spurlock is winning. He is funny and sarcastic but also quite intelligent and shrewd. By allowing the viewer to tag along on his wacky ride, he creates a bond with the audience. When he has his McGas, we all know what he's talking about. Consequently, we all can agree with his theories and empathize with his plight to varying degrees. Contrary to popular belief, this film is not a personal attack on McDonald's alone. Nor does this film insinuate that fast food chains should bare the sole responsibility for the rapidly increasing obesity epidemic. What this film attempts to demonstrate is that there needs to be a middle ground between corporate and consumer responsibility. In fact, Spurlock seems much more concerned with the youth of the future growing up in this fast, fatty world more so than he seems obsessed with bringing down Ronald McDonald (and his shareholders).
One man who does seem somewhat hellbent on bringing another down is Michael Moore, whose Fahrenheit 9/11 is raising the question as to just how much a movie can influence people's political opinions. So valued is his opinion as a prominent Bush-hater and anti-war advocate that he was featured as a talking head in The Corporation. So valued, Madonna admitted crying while watching Fahrenheit 9/11 and declared that the world needs more people like Moore at a New York show. So valued, that Disney washed their hands of his film in fear of causing too much controversy in an election year. So valued, that crowds of people are still selling out showings of his film a week after its record breaking release. With crowds of this size, can we say that people are that desperate to feed a supposedly unpopular attitude about President Bush? (I heard Demi Moore booed at the screen at an L.A. premiere.) Or are people just that starved for a thought provoking summer film?
Moore shows a new maturity as a filmmaker this time out. There must be something sobering about having people threaten and/or spit at him over his political views. He allows these images to speak for themselves, many of them taken from sources unfamiliar to the masses. The result is an emotional impact that smacks you in the face from the opening shots of the presidential team getting their makeup done and mics attached for the televised speech announcing war and has you crying by the time shots of children playing freely in pre-war Iraq appear. In what is perhaps his greatest moment of dignity in the film, Moore decides to shield his audience from having to watch the all too overexposed images of the planes flying directly into the World Trade Center towers on September 11th. In their stead, complete blackness and audio. He gives us time to remember and reflect upon what those moments and the days that followed were truly like. What follows is Moore's presentation of how everything that has happened politically since in the United States has in some way or another been a form of cover-up. Consequently, I found myself completely baffled by a later shot of President Bush being cheered on by hundreds of constituents and supporters. How could anyone still be applauding this man's accomplishments?
With so many discouraging realities on the planet we call Earth, it's no wonder the masses look for ways to distract themselves and stop all the thinking. Judging from the success of these little thinker movies that could, avoidance might be on the way out, making way for facing reality to make a big comeback. Who knows? All I know is that this little thinker can't wait to see Spiderman 2.