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June 27, 2004
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME
I'm not one of those people who thinks that Farenheit 9/11 is going to change a single mind. I think that the conservative complaints to the FEC, as well as liberal entreaties that "everyone" should see this film... well, I think they're stupid. People like me who hate George W. Bush and consider him a treasonous snake... well, we're going to love this movie. People who inexplicably like Bush will not like it one bit. But people's opinion's about Bush's war and about Bush himself were formed a long time ago, and very few people are on the fence... and no movie is going to suddenly take someone fron one side to the other. So all the talk about the film's impact on the election season is, I think, misguided at best and deliberately disingenuous at worst.
I think the more important thing isn't found in what the movie says... it's found in how many people wanted to hear it. Farenheit 9/11 took in $21.96 million at the box office this weekend - shattering all-time records for documentaries even in their full run. The film is the first documentary ever to debut at #1. It's setting 'per-screen' records and taking in more than $25,000 per screen ("White Chicks," in comparison, was the week's #2 film and took in about $7900 per screen). On a personal level, when I went to a theater in Arlington, Virginia on Friday afternoon around 3:00 to try and buy tickets for the 10:10 show, there was a line that circled around the building 1 1/2 times.
Conservatives are already dismissing the numbers and the crowds by saying that crowds were whipped up by Hollywood liberals and media hype. They're right. But... look at how many people answered the call. When Hollywood and liberals started sounding the bell and saying, "This movie tells you what Bush really is," so many people are so angry with George W. Bush -- so many people want to see him disparaged -- that the film was the #1 film in the country.
Conservatives who whine about Hollywood liberals here are missing the point. Yes, unquestionably this film is biased and carries a blatantly anti-Bush message. But guess what? The people sure seem to want to hear that message. A great number of Americans -- I would argue the majority -- hate George W. Bush. If Bush was popular and people felt good about his leadership, this film would have opened to a six figure gross and would have gone to DVD within two months. But people show up when given a chance to see a message they agree with and want reinforced. So the point about liberals whipping up interest in the film is moot. If no one wanted to hear the message, no one would have bought tickets.
Instead, we are a nation that by and large is fed up with this disgusting cowboy and wants to believe that he's a negligent, bad man. We are nation that responded to a blatantly biased film by embracing its message. "The Voice" that spoke to Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams seems also to have spoken to Michael Moore; he built it, and the American people came.
