- LOS ANGELES (Reuters) --
A week before "Fahrenheit 9/11" opens nationally in theaters,
Michael Moore's scathing documentary critique of the Bush administration
has become a lightning rod for political debate over propaganda, patriotism
and censorship.
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- Lining up behind the film are such Democratic luminaries
as ex-New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and former Clinton White House aides Chris
Lehane and Mark Fabiani, plus a host of showbiz celebrities and the liberal
activists of the anti-Bush group MoveOn.
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- Rushing to the administration's defense are veteran Republican
strategist Sal Russo, along with California conservatives Howard Kaloogian
and Melanie Morgan and their group, Move America Forward.
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- Political fallout from the film has been magnified by
the backers' stated intention to shape the U.S. presidential election in
November, which is being cast in many quarters as a referendum on President
George W. Bush's war on terror and the U.S.-led war in Iraq that toppled
Saddam Hussein from power.
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- "Moore's film offers the opportunity to elect more
intelligently than ever before," Cuomo said this week in announcing
he would spearhead efforts to obtain a PG-13 rating for the movie instead
of the more restrictive R classification received from the Motion Picture
Association of America.
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- For his own part, Moore insists that while he wants to
see Bush defeated in November, he is a political independent who has not
endorsed presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry and does not regard
his film as anti-Bush per se.
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- "The issues I'm raising in this film are going to
be with us a year from now, regardless of who's in the White House,"
he told Reuters in a recent interview. "I do not want my work of art
to be reduced to a Bush vs. Kerry thing. ... If Kerry's in the White House,
I'll keep my camera on him."
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- "Fahrenheit 9/11," which won the top prize
at the Cannes film festival in May, explores links between the Bush family
and powerful Saudi Arabians, including relatives of Osama bin Laden. It
also contends that Bush thrust America into war with Iraq by propagating
misinformation and exploiting public fear in the aftermath of the attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001.
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- The movie's independent distributors, Lions Gate Films
and IFC Films, plan a nationwide launch of the film next Friday in more
than 700 theaters in what will be one of the biggest roll-outs ever for
a documentary.
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- Opponents have mounted a campaign to discredit the film
as "anti-American" and to pressure theater owners to boycott
it.
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- "'Fahrenheit 9/11' serves one purpose and one purpose
only: to undermine the United States' war against terrorism," said
Kaloogian, a former California assemblyman.
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- A statement this week by Move America Forward claimed
"Fahrenheit 9/11" was endorsed by the Lebanese-based organization
Hezbollah, which the U.S. government has identified as a terrorist group.
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- The claim of Hezbollah backing was based on a gossip
column item in London's The Guardian newspaper, which in turn cited a story
printed in trade publication Screen International.
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- "It would be more appropriate to have this propaganda
shown at Al Qaeda training camps rather than American movie theaters,"
said Morgan, a talk show host on San Francisco radio station KSFO AM and
vice chair of Move America Forward.
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- Moore's supporters insist the campaign to stifle "Fahrenheit
9/11" will work to the film's advantage, generating controversy that
ultimately would lead more exhibitors to show the film and more people
to see it.
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- "The misguided efforts of a few to try and suppress
and censor the film will backfire," said Tom Ortenberg, president
of Lions Gate Films Releasing. "One of the most important lessons
of 'Fahrenheit 9/11' is that we need less censorship in this country, not
more."
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- He acknowledged that a few exhibitors had expressed some
concern about the politically charged nature of the film but knew of none
who had turned down the movie.
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- - Additional reporting by Bob Tourtellotte
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