Got out of Fahrenheit 9/11 a coupla hours ago. It was good. Really good. Go see it. Its definitely worth seeing, as both a movie and a historic document, I think.

Honestly, I thought it was very even-handed - considering the circumstances of all that’s been happening in the world. I mean, if it had been me, I would totally have given into the temptation to really go off the deep-end, saying all kinds of crazy shit. But this movie didn’t really do too much of that. Sort of stated some facts, and showed the impacts of all this nonsense on real people. Which is really good, since normal media is decidedly lacking on both those counts.

Anyway, I don’t really want to say too much about the movie itself, besides that I really dug it and that it’s really important for people to go see it. Probably the thing that makes me the most happy about the movie, actually, is the fact that it beat out that movie, “White Chicks” at the box office. Thanks be to Jesus for that one. That’s the first glimmer of hope I’ve had for America in fucking months.

I mean, I feel like I’ve been taking crazy pills for quite some time now. And I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s been feeling like that. And that’s probably the thing I liked second-best about the movie. Is that it let’s people like me realize that, not only are we not crazy, but we’re also not alone, and we’re anything but powerless.

My favorite segment in the movie was from Congressman Jim McDermott (D-Washington), who is also a psychiatrist. He was talking about how to keep people in a state of fear and confusion by constantly bombarding them with contradictory signals. It reminded me a lot of my favorite clip from “Bowling for Columbine,” where Marilyn Manson is talking about pretty much the same thing, but more in relation to the media and advertising.

Unfortunately, I just found out that McDermott was one of the co-sponsors of the Universal Service Act, which is the latest draft bill in Congress. He has an op-ed piece here on his Congressional site about it. While I’m pretty firmly against a universal draft or other mandatory national service, he makes a couple okay points about how the idea of a draft opens up important debates about how the military does not reflect the class & financial distribution of our country. One of the major points of the movie as well. (Incidentally, I especially liked and was completely taken aback by that scene with those two marine recruiters outside Walmart)

What else? Oh right. Like everyone else, I have to wonder whether this movie will have an impact on the election, and on people in general. Certainly, I feel like anybody who sees it can’t help but be affected by it. There are some really powerful passages in it. Certainly, this movie will act as a catharsis for all kinds of pent-up anger and frustration over Bush and the war. But once that energy is released from people, where will it go? Will it just evaporate? Will Bush get voted out? Will that even matter? It’s hard to say.

In the end, I’m really happy this movie came out. For me, it’s sort of a validation and catharsis, like I said above. But, as somebody who’s been researching this stuff ever since 9/11, it’s hard for me to put myself into the mental shoes of your average media consumer to imagine what it will be like for them to experience it.