Post-Moore-tem

Yesterday, Adam and I caught a matinee of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911. Even if a few of Moore's techniques are suspect and precious few of the film's arguments are brand new at this point, it's still worth seeing. And it's also worth eavesdropping on the conversations of those leaving the theatre.

As the credits rolled, someone in the back of the (packed) matinee hollered, "DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!" A mother rubbed the neck of her sobbing teenaged daughter. A middle-aged couple worried aloud if Moore's film, cutting though it was, was "preaching to the converted." Behind them, a 60-something man and his elderly father argued over the film's message. "That man! War isn't like that," sputtered the older man. "But we're not talking about your war, Dad..." the younger man said tentatively.

We got in an elevator with two white-haired couples. The taller man was saying "...and with a film like this, with a message like this, there's going to be a revolution." His wife nodded: "This war was supposed to be okay. We bought it, hook, line, and sinker." "And we were wrong," said her husband. "We were wrong."