Is Michael Moore a Narrow-Minded Bigot?
Reported by Marie Therese - August 9, 2004 -
The O'Reilly Factor. August 6, 2004. 8:48 PM to 8:52 PM EDT.
Guest: Dr. Mamoun Fandy, media analyst and syndicated columnist
Tony Snow, substituting for Bill O'Reilly
On August 4, 2004 Neal MacFarquhar of the New York Times reported on the opening of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 in Beirut, Lebanon (Arabs Riveted and Angered).
NYT: "When it opened last weekend in Beirut, 'Fahrenheit 9/11' achieved the almost impossible: It silenced a movie audience. Although Beirut is the one capital in the region where almost all American films are shown with no censorship, screenings are somewhat more social affairs than elsewhere in the world, with people chattering on their cellphones or with their friends in the audience.
"But the unheard of happened during the initial showings of the film, Michael Moore's angry documentary about President Bush. A cellphone began ringing, and the rest of the audience hissed loudly that the owner should shut it off, prompting virtually all the people in the rapt theater to whip out their phones and silence them, too."
"Also unusual for an American documentary, the film is expected to receive wide play in the Arab world. It has already been in theaters for several weeks in the Persian Gulf, and censors in Syria and Egypt have approved the film, although no screenings have been scheduled in those countries." (end of excerpt)
True to form, FOX News Channel managed to find and interview the one critic of the movie, Dr. Mamoun Fandy, mentioned in the Times story.
Dr. Fandy is an acknowledged and well-respected expert on Saudi Arabia, who runs his own Middle Eastern think tank, Fandy Associates (Mamoun Fandy). He has written extensively on the Middle East and many times does not side with the administration. He has appeared on virtually all the major news networks, most especially NPR and PBS.
Despite the overwhelming positive reception Fahrenheit 9/11 recieved at its first showing in the Middle East, Dr. Fandy had this to say to Tony Snow about Michael Moore and the movie:
FANDY: "He's terribly insensitive to the plight of 300,000 Iraqis who were killed in mass graves in Iraq, by most conservative estimates today. So, Michael Moore, according to him, probably these people died of common cold or something."
Later Tony Snow says: "Another thing you've said, Dr. Fandy, is that Michael Moore - or the movie itself - engages in or indulges in Arab stereotypes."
FANDY: "It wasn't just Arab stereotypes. It was flat out racism. If you look at the whole segment about Morroccans contributing to the war effort as an ally...He showed them as people running around in the Atlas mountains amongst monkeys and all of that, regardless of the culture and civilization of one of the most great kingdoms of the Arab world. And, after that, he treats the whole Arab situation - Arabs, although they are part of the whole scene of the movie, Arabs are never interviewed. They are footage, they are background for Michael Moore's racism."
SNOW: "Now you've approached this from an intellectual point of view. Audiences in the Arab world - we're getting reports they're kind of mixed on it. Do you think the ultimate reaction's gonna be more outrage at Michael Moore or are there a lot of people looking for a reason to hate George Bush as his opponents are in the States?"
And here Dr. Fandy gives a reply that is straight out of the RNC talking points!
FANDY: "I don't think so. I think lots of people will change their mind about George Bush and there are lots of - and, as this situation in Iraq changes, lots of people are changing their mind about what happened during that war, that Iraq is moving toward being a democratic country. It's moving forward. Yes, there are difficulties. But Michael Moore's view of the world is really narrow-minded, bigoted and, as far as the Arabs are concerned, it's really racist." Dr. Fandy goes on to say that he bases this judgment on that fact that, in the movie, when the issue of the Patriot Act comes up, Michael Moore interviews a white man in a gym, not an Arab from Flint, Michigan.
When Snow asks him if this "will be an exploding cigar for him", Fandy goes on to say: "I think this is something that is just despicable and I think most Arabs who are part of the Democratic Party should ask Michael Moore to apologize for the Arabs and the Arab-Americans."
As noted in the New York Times article, Kuwait has banned the movie as being offensive to it neighbor, Saudi Arabia. Here's how Dr. Fandy tweaks it:
FANDY: "Well, I think the government of Kuwait censored it because, (searches for words) you know, I mean, there is just a, I mean, the people of the Gulf in it are presented as sleazy, shifty people, untouchable, and it is no, no - nobody will accept that in the region, but, you know, I'm for all freedom of expression, so he can let the people judge."
It was facsinating to watch Fandy trying to find just the right words to mold his opinion into what Tony Snow clearly wanted him to say, while at the same time trying to keep some shred of his credibility as an impartial expert.
Comment:
I saw Fahrenheit 9/11. In my opinion, the movie is clearly an indictment, not of the Arabs, but of the misuse of power by the Bush administration. The "Arabs" whom Dr. Fandy says are presented as "sleazy" are those who are at the top of the food chain in their respective countries.
Dr. Fandy seems to forget the clip of the Iraqi man (father?) throwing the charred body of a baby into the back of a truck. That's the image I carry with me - the casual way the body was tossed and the anguish on the face of the man, a nameless human being trying to deal with the horror that my government perpetrated on his country in my name.
No, Dr. Fandy, Michael Moore is not a bigot. He's opposed to fat cat politicians and corporate potentates who lie, steal and cheat to further their own agendas at the expense of the little guys.
"What really struck me is how the American administration was able to manipulate the American people," said Leila Kanso, a 59-year-old social worker. 'How can a government do that?'" (N. Y. Times, 8/4/04)
In some strange way, maybe "Fahrenheit 9/11" will help to bridge the gap that exists right now between America and the Middle East. Maybe it will show Arab audiences that there are many faces and voices in this country and that a lot of us didn't and don't support the misadventure the Bush administration calls the "War on Terror" but which we know is really the "War for Oil".
