I want my money back

It's late in the game to be blogging this, but I've just seen Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9-11. I was dragged to the movie, more or less against my will. I won't review the film's well-known problems with the facts. I was at least as disturbed by the implicit racism. For instance it portrayed the Saudis as vile connivers, in a manner reminiscent of 19th century racial propaganda. [N.B. I agree we should trust the Saudi government less, but this is not the point.] Even worse was the segment on the "Coalition of the Willing"; Costa Ricans for instance are shown as a primitive and laughable people who work with oxen.

Most of all the film shows an overall contempt for humanity. The American poor, supposedly the object of Moore's concern, come across as stupid, inarticulate, and easily duped. The only idyllic paradise we ever see is Saddam Hussein's Iraq, where all appears beautiful.

It is a sad day in Cannes and in the United States when a movie of this kind commands so much attention. There are many important and intelligent critiques of the foreign policy of the Bush Administration, but this is not one of them. On top of everything else, the film was outright boring, especially during the second half.