Between Bowling for Columbine and the current Fahrenheit 9/11, most people have heard of Michael Moore. Well, the somewhat former “Liberal” and columnist at Slate, Christopher Hitchens has done a number on Mr. Moore’s Palme d’Or winner at Canne. In a piece entitled Unfairenheit 9/11, he dissects the dishonesty and incoherence that makes up the essence of the work. For example:
To describe this film as dishonest and demagogic would almost be to promote those terms to the level of respectability. To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never again rise above the excremental. To describe it as an exercise in facile crowd-pleasing would be too obvious. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sinister exercise in moral frivolity, crudely disguised as an exercise in seriousness. It is also a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of “dissenting” bravery.
Hitchens goes on to deconstruct and debunk the film point by point. Just to clarify, he is not one to denounce Moore at a distance. Hitchens recounts that:
In late 2002, almost a year after the al-Qaida assault on American society, I had an onstage debate with Michael Moore at the Telluride Film Festival.
He even challenges Moore to do it again:
Any time, Michael my boy. Let’s redo Telluride. Any show. Any place. Any platform. Let’s see what you’re made of.
Do read the piece.
