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WHO'S AFRAID OF MICHAEL MOORE?

LARGE NUMBERS OF people, many of them in positions of great power, from the looks of it. Recently the Saudi Arabian Government began an advertising blitz in 19 American cities that, despite official denials, was essentially directed at challenging certain claims in Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's scathing, sardonic and savagely funny broadside on the United States' invasion of Iraq. One of the spots of the campaign, which projects Saudi Arabia as a loyal ally in the fight against international terrorism, attempts to counter Moore's charge that the Bush administration helped relatives of Osama bin Laden flee the U.S. while its airspace was closed for commercial traffic in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. This Saudi response is perhaps the latest instance of an acknowledged truth: you can choose to love Moore or hate him, but you can no longer ignore the enormous influence he commands. That a maverick low-budget filmmaker with irreverent ways and strikingly nonconformist views could have shaken the American establishment and emerged as possibly the most powerful anti-war voice in our times is a measure of the improbable phenomenon that Michael Moore has become.

During the Democratic Party convention in Boston last month, Moore received a hero's welcome; he also drew huge and appreciative crowds at the several events in which he made appearances in the city. The Democratic candidate, John Kerry, may have his reasons to distance himself from the radical filmmaker, but the party is aware that Moore has contributed towards energising the campaign against President Bush's re-election. Opinion polls conducted in America suggest that those who have seen Fahrenheit 9/11 are more likely to vote against the incumbent. Seen by millions, this cinematic critique of recent American foreign policy has already grossed $115 million, the highest ever for a documentary. So much so, some political commentators have begun asking an ordinarily inconceivable question: can a documentary actually influence the outcome of a presidential election? Moore may have tasted success with his earlier award-winning documentary Bowling for Columbine, a hard-hitting examination of America's benighted gun culture. But nothing could have prepared him for the overwhelming reception to Fahrenheit 9/11, which stormed into public attention after winning the Palme d'Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. "What have you done?" asked the flabbergasted director as he received one of cinema's most coveted prizes. "You just did this to mess with me, didn't you?"

The film owes its astonishing appeal to a number of factors. It was released at a time when disenchantment was growing in the U.S. and other parts of the world with the Bush administration's criminal war of aggression in Iraq. It provided an alternative perspective of Washington's real game plan in a media environment that allowed little significant dissent in the mainstream. The film is also handled with Moore's characteristic blend of humour and outrage — a style that enigmatically juxtaposes the light and teasing touch of comedy with the grim horror of tragedy. Moore, who is also the author of some hard-hitting and enormously successful books (notably Stupid White Men and Dude, Where's My Country?), is routinely criticised for posing rhetorical questions and for allegedly tailoring the facts to suit his argument. The issues and details are arguable. However, those who make such carping observations often fail to appreciate the uniqueness of his provocative in-your-face style and the larger social purpose behind his punchy, polemical voice. The point is that Moore simply wouldn't be Moore if he were tethered to the rules that govern the grammar of conventional writing and filmmaking. And the world would be much poorer for this.

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