Michael Moore, The New Leni Riefenstahl?

Michael Moore, The New Leni Riefenstahl?
Tom Marsland
Tuesday, July 13, 2004

German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl died last September 8 at the age of 101. Riefenstahl was known for her collaboration with the Nazis, especially for her cinematic masterpiece "Triumph of the Will." To the end Riefenstahl vigorously disputed the significance of her role in promoting Nazism. She maintained she was a "non-political person" who never joined the Nazi party and was only interested in her "art," and in "truth."

Interviewed post-war, she insisted that the driving force in her life was the search for “beauty and harmony,” that “reality does not interest me.” Her life's work clearly demonstrated that she was instrumental in creating the ruse of “beauty and harmony” on behalf of one of the most barbaric regimes ever. In a clear malapropism, she viewed her brilliant propagandist effort as a "documentary."

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This world has always suffered from witting accomplices to oppressive political regimes; such as Riefenstahl for the Nazis, Tokyo Rose to the WW2 Japanese, Sergeii Mikhaiilovich Eisenstein for Soviet Stalinism, and Yuan Mu for the Communist Chinese.

Lest ye panic, I am not quite ready to draw evil comparisons with the above regimes and today's Democratic party. I'm just asking this question. Has Michael Moore crossed the propagandist’s line? You can decide, but the similarities are too pronounced to ignore. Just as Riefenstahl had claimed to be politically unaffiliated, Moore claims to not be a Democrat. But voter registration records in New York show that he'd registered there as a Democrat in the 1990's. Nothing wrong with that, but why would he lie? Like Riefenstahl, Moore claims to seek the very truth he often violates. This is indeed curious, as lying is what he endlessly castigates Pres. Bush for. Perhaps he is familiar with the art of prevarication himself? Just as the Nazi film maker claimed that “reality does not interest me,” perhaps it doesn't interest Moore either. Lastly, like Frau Leni, Moore too calls his film op-ed a documentary. If F-911 is a documentary, then I have no opinions ... NOT!

Though I concede that Leni Riefenstahl was a master of the cinematic arts, no one has yet to confuse a Michael Moore film with the work of Steven Spielberg. That said, several of Moore's films have been well constructed and entertaining. One such was 1995's anti-war spoof 'Canadian Bacon.' I am a huge John Candy (God rest his soul) fan anyway, so maybe my admiration of this little film is overstated, but the point is he can produce a decent film. Clearly 'Fahrenheit 911' is not such a film.

Well-known liberal journalist Christopher Hitchens has been in my dog-house for recently denigrating Pres. Reagan's legacy before his body had even cooled down. Though tactless and in poor taste, I believe he'd expressed his honest opinion nonetheless. Attempting to get back on my good side no doubt, Hitchens penned a June 21st article entitled 'Unfairenheit 911, The Lies of Michael Moore.' In it the left-leaning journalist point by point refutes about 20 of Moore's major assertions found in 'Fahrenheit 911.' The film has been out a while now, and since Hitchens and others have already torn it apart, I'll not wax pleonastic on Moore's tergiversation (yes, they're real words!), except to say that Michael Moore and the truth have little in common.

Save the money you would've spent on F-911 tickets, then buy your high-fat buttered popcorn and high caffeine sugared soda whilst attending 'Spiderman 2' or 'The Two Brothers.'

Now roll the credits please...

Ecclesiastes 10:2: "The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of the fool to the left."

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