Hayneyz at sparkles of lucidity, laced with insanity (emphasis added):
When I was a kid, we used to clap at the end of the movie. As I got older, we just “evacuated” the theater before the credits so we could get the hell out of the parking lot. Today, I relived my childhood.... I have never been to a theater where every person in line was buying tickets for the same movie. Until today. And, barring the Rocky Horror Picture Show, I haven’t been to a movie with such expressive participation. Again, until today.
Yes, in the middle of Alabama, in the middle of an upper-class area, in the middle of an upper-class shopping area, people were going to the movies. The movie, rather. A man in line in front of me told his wife, “It’s the only place us Democrats can get together and not be ridiculed!". I just laughed. I’m not a Democrat. But I appreciate the sentiment. It was an interesting group of attendees, older folks, really young folks, kids on summer vacation, people of different ethnic backgrounds, people of different economic backgrounds and I didn’t expect there to be as many people as there were. ...
It felt so intimate in a way. Almost like I was at home watching the movie in my living room with friends. What with the way folks were shouting at the screen. ...
We laughed, we cried, we sat in stunned silence. We lived all the movie-going cliches. As far as whether or not anyone should see it, it totally depends on your tolerance for pain. And how much you can take before your head explodes.
It's interesting. Moore obviously wants to tie into the collective liberal id. He's done a good job of that. And people want to have something to connect their anger to. Audiences don't walk into that theater neutral and get angry watching. They're already angry at Bush and Moore just provides them with the hooks to hang their anger on.
I don't know about the merits of the conservative group's lawsuit to try to ban advertising for the movie in advance of the convention, but it seems pretty clear to me that this movie is one long attack ad that lands nonstop punches. Bush is a moron; Bush is beholden to people who put their own wealth ahead of our national security; Bush has caused untold suffering. Enough of that, and the campaign will be redefined as a referendum on Bush's intelligence and Bush family integrity. If I were Rove, I would be praying that some other blockbuster comes along quick, and knocks this one off the screens.
Even if one comes along, the frothing at the mouth that the right is going to continue to do will only drive more people to it. The right is constitutionally incapable of ignoring it - which is what they should be doing if they wanted to make it go away. They simply can't do it. It's like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
Posted by: Hal | June 28, 2004 at 12:46 AM
"If I were Rove, I would be praying that some other blockbuster comes along quick, and knocks this one off the screens."
Rove has arranged for this little indy film about a guy who got bit by a spider and now runs around in red pajamas to get a wider release this weekend for just that purpose.
Posted by: Gib | June 28, 2004 at 01:26 PM