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Story by Cassius Croom / Contributing Writer
“Fahrenheit 11/9” is a political documentary directed, written and produced by Michael Moore. The film covers the ramifications of Trump’s presidency and delves into several other issues that exist in our society, such as gun control, “fake news” and the rise of white nationalism. This documentary is well written and provides a lot of information in a (mostly) bipartisan manner, but I don’t think that this documentary is for everyone.
“Fahrenheit 11/9” is a documentary consisting of Michael Moore interviewing important people, such as political candidates and the residents affected by the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. News footage and Facebook Live footage are intertwined with the interviews along with the occasional narration. The film constantly points out what Moore sees as Trump’s incompetence and likeness to Hitler, but the premise is much deeper than that. The movie also claims that there were issues of mass incarceration of black people under Bill Clinton’s administration and police militarization under Barak Obama’s administration. I appreciated Moore’s bipartisan approach to these topics.
The ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan, is central to this movie. Moore claims that it was done intentionally and that a handful of morally bankrupt individuals purposefully poisoned a city with a predominantly black population. Rick Snyder, the governor of Michigan, is largely blamed for Flint’s current predicament, and the movie goes into great detail on how he managed to do that.
As you can guess, the movie has an overall serious tone, but Moore’s witty narration eases the tension at times. The music definitely helps, too. For example, footage from election night in 2016 was shown. The polls showed that Hillary was expected to win the election, and cheerful, celebratory music played as the crowds cheered and celebrated. Over time, when it became apparent that Trump would win the presidency, the excitement died down, and the music became solemn. Whoever edited this film knew what they were doing. I don’t have many complaints about “Fahrenheit 11/9.” It seemed to drag on at times, but something interesting would then occur, reeling me back in.
All in all, I thought “Fahrenheit 11/9” was an intriguing documentary. Michael Moore did a great job with presenting the facts in a bipartisan manner, and his wit balanced the serious tone of the movie. I would give this film a 7.5/10.
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