Two Sides to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 To every story there are two sides, to every case in court there are two opinions. Michael Moore's book, Fahrenheit 9/11, is no different. It can be reveled as sole source of truth about the war and our government, or it can be portrayed as the lying antichrist that rips apart people's solidarity. Nevertheless, both sides do contain truths and evidence but along with that comes certain forms of debatable deceits. The proceeding will attempt to bring some of Moore's potential deceits to light and thus seek to explain one half of the story, that being Michael Moore's opposition. Fahrenheit 9/11 wastes no time in divulging its first deceit. The movie itself opens up with the election night in the year 2000. The first thing we see is Al Gore rocking on stage with famous musicians and a crowd chanting in the highest of spirits. A large sign on stage proclaims "Florida Victory." Moore creates the impression that Gore was celebrating his victory in Florida. However, on the contrary, the rally took place in the early hours of election day, before polls had even opened. So basically, this whole thing reflected Gore's hopes, not the truth in the election results. In the same time span, Moore commits another falsehood by explaining that because the Fox news channel did not broadcast Al Gore as the as the winner, all of the other channels fell in line and did the same and changed their broadcasts. However, these networks that projected Gore as the winner did so early in the evening before the polls were finished being tallied. Thus, the Fox network had no bearing on their decisions for change; it was actually a mistake that those networks corrected themselves. Secondly, in addition to the preceding Michael Moore really takes a cheap shot at the president in the way he portray how he handled the events of September 11th right after it occurred. Moore claims that all the president did was read the book "my Pet Goat" to his students. In reality, the book was called "Reading Mastery" and he chose to continue reading to create a calming effect on a bad situation.
The day was September 11th, 2001, a moment in history that will never be forgotten by any American living at the time. It was in the early morning hours on this day that our nation experienced the single most devastating terrorist attack ever carried out on American soil. Images of planes crashing into the World Trade Center, news coverage of buildings on fire, and images of building rubble will forever be imprinted into the history of this great nation. However, it was on one of the darkest days for America that one of the most impassioned speeches ever given by a United States president was spoken. President George W. Bush’s speech addressing the nation after the “9/11” attacks was infused with pathos through his imagery of destruction and
Michael Moore’s documentary, “Bowling for Columbine,” attempts to expose the truth of gun violence in the United States of America. While his argument is persuasive, its impact is lessened with his use of logical fallacies, such as hasty generalization, post hoc, and appeal to doubtful authority. Moore’s film is thrillingly entertaining, but it is hard to look past the gaping holes in some of his logic.
With America still in doubt about the twin towers, George W. Bush presented his information in a well-organized style of manner that was followed with a lot of questions and answers. This gave Bush more of a personable tone, which made the audience feel very relaxed and at ease. Many of the American people, as well as Congressman, had the same questions that Bush had addressed, and they were clinging to Bush’s every word in hopes of shedding light upon what occurred during this tragic event. The questions were very well sought out, as it allowed President Bush to control the speech in a way that would imply immediate action be taken, as opposed to a more cautious approach.
In his speech, he goes on to say, “This is scripted” (Bush). The film addresses this comment perfectly by responding, “Scripted… Sure enough the president staff has given him a list of reporters to call upon”. President George Bush clearly had power over the media when 9/11 happened, and this is shown in this part of the documentary. Moyer’s says at the beginning of the film, “They couldn’t have done it on their own, they needed a compliant press to pass on their propaganda as news and to cheer them on” (Moyers). In other words, the government knew exactly how they wanted to react to 9/11, despite having a lack of evidence, but they needed the media to help portray that this was the right thing to do, which is exactly what they did. The media reported what the Bush administration wanted, and that is to show American’s that going to war with Iraq was the best option. Most people were traumatized by 9/11 and what it had done to their free nation, so of course they were going to listen to what the media was
In 1692, one of the most inhumane tragedies occurred in the small village of Salem, Massachusetts. Now infamously recognized as the “Salem Witch Trials,” the trials were based on faulty accusations that charged others of being witches. These accusations resulted in a considerable amount of people being imprisoned and hanged, and it ended with 20 people being killed. 309 years later, four planes were hijacked by terrorists and were set to crash in four important government centers and buildings. Consequently, these attacks resulted in 2,966 deaths and it was the most severe attack ever on American soil. The terrorists were revealed to be Muslims, and that they supposedly did it in the name of “Allah”, which is the Arabic translation for God.
The attacks that occurred on 9/11 took place on September 11th, 2001. In this devastating event, four different attacks had taken place. Each of the attacks were carried out by terrorists. The group responsible for the attack was Al-Qaeda, a militant Islamist organization that is known to be global in present day. The group itself has a network consisting of a Sunni Muslim movement that aims to make global Jihad happen. Furthermore, a stateless, multinational army that is ready to move at any given time. This terrorist group focuses on attacking non-Sunni Muslims, those who are not Muslim, and individuals who the group deems to be kafir. Ever since the late 1980s, Al-Qaeda has been wreaking havoc all around the world. The leader of the group once being Osama bin Laden. Three planes were bound for New York City while another plane headed towards Washington, D.C. which was supposed to take out the U.S. Capitol. Two of the airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center. One plane hitting the North Tower and the other hitting the South Tower. The third plane had crashed into the Pentagon taking out the western side of the building. The last and final plane was focused solely on taking out the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. but failed due to passengers of the plane coming hijacking it from the hijackers. The passengers attempted to take out the hijackers but sadly failed, crashing it into a field in Pennsylvania. Throughout the content of this paper, we will be focusing on the role of media when it comes to 9/11; more specifically: how the media's coverage of 9/11 manipulated our feelings towards 9/11, how it affected Islamophobia in America, and the lasting effects of 9/11.
After the terrorists attacks on September eleventh, President Bush had to prepare himself to address the nation with intensions to calm the United States citizens and give them some answers. The President had many speeches in the week after this happened and some words he used were not as concise as they could have been. These words and phrases are his attempts to comfort the United States people but only anger the terrorists he has declared war with. In a critique of Bushs speeches in the weeks after the tragedy, it is written, He called for revenge, called Osama bin Laden the prime suspect and asked for him dead or alive. (Max 1) Using such strong words gives an impression that Bush is overly confident and jumping to conclusions. Using revenge would imply retaliation and in result would come a war. Bush seems so sure that bin Laden is responsible when, still as of this day, he has no hard evidence. Asking for him dead or alive is probably the first threat he made. The only accomplishment Bush got out of making these accusations and threats was making the American people nervous. The citizens of the United States may not agree with the decisions he is making for the country. Bush needed another chance to redeem himself and comfort his people. A committee of speechwriters and George Bush spent time writing the speech that was given on September twentieth. In this speech, the President made more sense and brought his ideas together more clearly, with phrases and topics that would calm the citizens of the United States.
On June 25, 2004, Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Michael Moore, released a controversial film, Fahrenheit 9/11, to the nation, that examined the actions of the Bush Administration in the time period following the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001. The film was protested by the nation’s conservatives and thought to be rather comical to the nation’s liberals due to the way that Moore portrayed President George W. Bush and the rest of the Republican Party. Moore showed in detail the different events or decisions that he felt were disputable from Bush’s presidency, including the way he feels Bush unfairly powers the nation’s population into following that of the power elite. We will use Mills’s Power Elite Theory to argue that President George W. Bush and the power elite exercise their power over the American people through the many decisions and policies they make on our country.
Moore insists that all his facts are correct and even hired an old fact checker for the New Yorker to make sure. But this, of course, doesn't come to grips with the fact that much of the Bush statements he objects to are also, strictly speaking, factually correct. The truth about facts is not self evident, as he knows; the significance of facts can be manipulated by those with just a camera just as easily as by those in power. In an era of mass-media politics-a far cry from the original political debates in Athens-"Fahrenheit 9/11" is an uneasy compromise between populism and propaganda. The things it has to say are relevant and important and should be heard - but hopefully, they are just part of a larger, more even-handed discussion. Perhaps, the success of this movie is a recognition of the fact that the way this discussion gets carried out in the modern age is by turning it into a form of entertainment.
Bush opens his speech by acknowledging the events of September 11, and those that lost the lives of loved ones and to those that gave their life trying to save others in the buildings. He appeals to those that remain strong by saying that, “These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong.” His use of pathos helps Bush to calm and control the public in order to keep the country together. This
Some of us might remember how beautiful it was this day, how blue and clear the sky was. September 11, 2001 is not just a regular day anymore it marks the day terrorists attacked, not only New York but also America. Much like Pearl Harbor this is the day we were taken off guard and the day we struck back and went to war. With everything stripped away from us and no sense of what was going on, a country that was just fine on September 10, 2011 was now broken, on such a beautiful day such terror occurred. According to The Best American Magazine Writing in the article “Experts from the Encyclopedia of 9/11” there is a quote that reads, “Many of us remember going to work that week, searching for an appropriate journalistic response to a world that was changing in ways we couldn’t yet see.”(page 107) When our country was expecting failure and loss of control, we pulled together as a nation and started picking up the pieces from this tragedy that tore us apart this day. After reading this article I asked myself, how could anyone do such a horrible thing? Why would anyone want to give the...
George W. Bush’s “9/11 Address to the Nation” is a speech in which he talks about the catastrophic event on September eleventh, 2001. Two airplanes crash into the Twin Towers in New York City on this day, shocking the entire world. He addresses this speech to the people of America on the night of the disastrous event, to let the people of the United States know what is going on. This speech explains how the United States is a strong country, the motives behind the event, as well as to bring the United States together and stronger.
...eans the most. From interpretation, one can see the significant effect that 9/11 has on the American citizen. They watch as the doubts that Berne first displays when she arrives in Manhattan disappear into understanding and knowledge. It is the effect of what Berne sees and not what she says that successfully allows her to convey the impact of the tragedy itself; as well as, come to the conclusion that the events of 9/11 caused unity within the people of the United States. Her use of personal experience and choice of language allow her to successfully share her understanding with the audience. Berne’s correct use of the pathos, ethos, and logos in her writing “Where Nothing Says Everything” confirms that the absence of the World Trade Center forces the American people to unite in order to overcome the grief and sadness from the loss of those that will never return.
If it was not apparent enough that America’s education system is failing, Michael Moore’s “Idiot Nation” openly explains to us about the truth. America, for being the richest country, is behind in the educational standpoint. America needs to rethink their standards when it comes to education. America is more focused on corporate earning than educating our youth. The author of “Idiot Nation” makes the reader think about how America is viewed in the world. The purpose of Michael Moore’s essay is to point out what is wrong with this nation and also give the reader the motivation to actually do something about the situation at hand. Moore is trying to make readers aware of where we send our children. The author is trying to shock readers with the facts to do something to improve the American education system.
Michael Moore’s latest film, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” presents a critical look at the administration of George W. Bush and the War on Terrorism. In this film Moore investigates the rapid growth of the United States government and its trend of trampling the rights of individuals, and the corporatism that is spawned out of the close ties between big government and big business during wartime. Michael Moore may not convince all audiences, but is successful for its factual accuracy in which the evidence spoke for itself, and at the same time proclaimed Moore's artistry in transposing and splicing scenes to create impressions that supported his allegations and opinions. Michael Moore has employed two main techniques in an attempt to successfully influence his audience; psychological means of strategy, and cinematic techniques of persuasion. These methods, coupled with how they are presented to the audience, and how the audience react, are what Moore uses to create a scheming effect.