Michael Moore, the rotund left-wing, documentary filmmaker, fell on hard times during the Obama years, like many other people. He has not had a film of note since 2007’s “Sicko,” his polemic for government-run health care. Now, according to the Washington Times, Moore is reaching back to his glory days, when the anti-Bush movie “Fahrenheit 9/11” made him the voice of the anti-war and terror on the left. Get ready for the sequel, “Fahrenheit 11/9” the film that will, in its director’s view, will bring down the Donald Trump presidency.
What is ‘Fahrenheit 11/9’ about?
Moore and Harvey Weinstein, the producer of the upcoming film, made the announcement regarding the anti-Trump movie at the Cannes Film Festival. The title not only reverses that of the previous show but also represents the day that Trump was officially declared the president-elect. Neither Moore nor Weinstein provided any more details. Presumably, it will have all the classic techniques that the filmmaker has used in his previous movies, including omissions of inconvenient facts, the juxtaposition of two unrelated images to drive home a point, emotional manipulation and cynicism. Trump will not come out well in the film and will be depicted as both a monster and a buffoon, just as George W.
Bush was in the previous movie.
Will the movie bring down the Trump presidency as promised?
To answer the above question, it should be noted that in 2004, the year that “Fahrenheit 9/11” came out, President George W. Bush won reelection comfortably against then Sen. John Kerry. The reason the film did not bring down the Bush presidency is that it was not crafted to persuade but rather to buttress the already preconceived beliefs of its audience.
Bush haters were pretty sure that “Fahrenheit 9/11” was a searing indictment of the Bush presidency and the conduct of the global war on terror. Bush admirers were just as sure that the movie was a piece of dishonest, left-wing propaganda. One should expect a similar reaction for “Fahrenheit 11/9” and President Trump.
So how will Moore’s new film do?
What Michael Moore and Harvey Weinstein hope for “Fahrenheit 11/9” is what all filmmakers hope for their projects, that it make a pot full of money. “Fahrenheit 9/11” certainly broke all box-office records for a documentary movie at the time, almost $120 million in the United States alone against a $6 million budget. The film made Moore into a superstar and political force.
Trump hatred has been lucrative for other media figures. Stephen Colbert, who had previously been struggling in the ratings as the host of “The Late Show,” has enjoyed a surge thanks to a monologue filled with anti-Trump zingers. Rachel Maddow, the MSNBC host, has experienced a similar surge thanks to being the go-to talking head for all things anti-Trump.
Apparently, enough anti-Trumpers exist to turn “Fahrenheit 11/9” into box office gold, even if Trump goes on to win reelection by a landslide. If it wins a Best Documentary Oscar, that would be fine too.
