Joho the Blog
|
|
|
July 05, 2004
I wrote in my review of Fahrenheit 9/11 that a mother's grief for a dead soldier isn't an argument against a particular war although it may be an argument against all wars. Likewise for grisly photos of the war dead and injured. That there will be horrendous suffering is intrinsic to war, so that doesn't tell you that a particular war is right or wrong; justified and unjustified wars iinevitably produce griving mothers and horrendous suffering. But Britt Blaser speaks with a gravity I cannot. I know Britt through the Dean campaign and came quickly to trust and respect him, as well as to enjoy his company. Now he blogs vividly about one particularly bad day in Vietnam. It is a reminder that wars are not to be entered into casually...a reminder the way a punch in the stomach can remind you to mind your manners. Posted
by D. Weinberger at July 5, 2004 03:13 PM
|
Comments
that's a great point about the mother in F9/11. Another thing that most critics didn't seem to pick up on was the fact that her interviews were done all in one piece. Several people have cited her "progression" from ardent patriot to grieving peacenik over the course of the film, which is, of course, an illusion of editing. Given the myriad of other editing hat tricks Moore pulls off, I'd think most critics would have caught that.
Posted by: jodru | July 5, 2004 03:42 PM
I also noticed the "progression" that the greiving mother went through was odd b/c Moore caught it all, before and after. Her opinion seemed to drastically change.
But, I think it is very relavent to show the "grisly photos of the war dead and injured" b/c all coverage in the US is so censored. Most Americans are so desensitized by the censorship they hear that 40 people were blown up in Iraq and think its sad but dont have the picture of mangled bodies and women and men screaming in to the air about how its not fair. In many other countries the news does show these horrors. . . hmmm, wonder why they didn't want to back us up?
Although completely biased and probably not totally accurate, it is refreshing to see coverage of the war from a different prospective.
Too bad more Americans dont have balls like Michael Moore.
Posted by: kater | July 7, 2004 08:58 PM
"it may be an argument against all wars." ... but it's not.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
Posted by: MoralPhile | July 15, 2004 05:36 AM
"a mother's grief for a dead soldier" is a classical fallacy.
Fallacy: appeal to emotion
http://www.fallacyfiles.org/emotiona.html
Posted by: MoralPhile | July 15, 2004 05:38 AM