Fahrenheit 451 and 911
The Constitution provided the right to free speech and this right afforded us to voice our issues, concerns, discontent or even salutations to how our government acts or does. Previously, the freedom of speech was expressed through the power of the pen or oration in different gatherings but modernization of the media changed all that. The Internet, live news broadcasts and even the movies became tools for free expression and Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 is a prevailing example of how a civil act is expressed. Some sectors may say that Moore may be a bit too critical of the Bush Administration when he released the movie Fahrenheit 9/11but others applaud it as a wake up call for what was happening during George W. Bush's administration. In summary, the movie is about what occurred after 9/11 terrorist attacks on US soil and how certain events before and after could be traced to how the Bush Administration has been poorly handling the government. At the height of the 9/11 attacks, the movie showed how George W. Bush was stumped when he first heard the news. He was seen as taking several minutes before he was able to give directions on what courses of action were needed to be taken. This was a disheartening scene because being the
In a criminal, civil or legal case, the suspects or those that have relations to suspects are kept under tight watch because they may be able to help solve the case or shed light on aspects of the case. It is quite an apropos correlation because what was contained in Bradbury's book is the opposite of what Sir Thomas More termed as "utopia" - an imaginary, idealistic place where people live in a society free from poverty, tyranny and war. Instead of being cared for and looked after considering their soldier-family member at times are giving "the ultimate sacrifice, they are treated as cannon fodders without hope of improving their lives and their families' lives after coming home from the war front. Indeed, Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and his other movies like Bowling for Columbine and Sicko provide a wakeup call not only to Americans but the government most especially to get their acts together and stop leading us to a dystopian society. Worst than not reading books, people's lives in the book are concentrated on driving fast, watching excessive amounts of television on wall-size sets, and listening to the radio using "Seashell Radio (Today's Bluetooth perhaps?!)" sets attached to their ears. Using the term "Fahrenheit" in his movie was no accident because Moore is actually referring to Ray Bradbury's 1950s novel Fahrenheit 451. We may not be in the situation as the citizens in Fahrenheit 451 but certainly, the way the government has been getting away with things puts us close to the situation. This clearly showed a social and economic inequity whereby the rich and the privileged go scot free to do whatever they want while the poor and less fortunate are made sacrificial lambs. Bradbury dispelled utopia in Fahrenheit 451 when he showed a dystopian society whose citizen's actions, viewpoints and way of life are dictated by the government. There should be a stop to government policies the puts Americans' lives at risk while protecting other nationals. This had something to do with the immediate family of Osama Bin-Laden being allowed to leave the country. Moore may have been thinking that since the Bush Administration has been dictating and implementing stupid and idiotic policies, Americans are cast as automatons living at the beck and call of the government. In the 1950s science fiction genre, Bradbury set a world where critical thinking, reading of books and free speech are taboo to the point of being banned and illegal. Moore's movie could really be seen as disturbing and unnerving because it showed how the Bush Administration has been mishandling and mismanaging the government. What happened after the 9/11 incident was totally out of context and letting go of Bin-Laden's family members could be seen as "coddling the suspects" instead of protecting the basic premise of the law.
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