There was a brief period when it was in doubt whether Moore's movie would be eligible for the award. It was broadcast in Cuba recently and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a rule that a documentary cannot be broadcast on TV or Internet for 9 months after theatrical release. The Academy has decided that F911 is still eligible.
Realistically that's the only decision they could have made. The Cuban government broadcast the movie illegally. You really can't disqualify a movie because a hostile foreign power pirated it. What you can do is ask why governments like Communist Cuba and terrorist organizations like Fatah are distributing the movie but that's neither here nor there.
This decision will, of course, guarantee that F911 will win the award for best documentary. The culture in Hollywood is such that it is a sure thing. They'll wait until the ceremony to make it official but Mikey can clear off some discarded KFC buckets from the shelf right now to get a spot ready, should he choose to be proactive.
I had always thought that documentaries were supposed to be truthful. Sadly, that's not the case. Although every dictionary in the world indicates that a documentary should be a collection of truths the Academy does not. Jen detailed this nicely a while back. Here's some excerpted bits (emphasis mine):
Encarta: giving facts and information rather than telling a fictional storyDictionary.com: Presenting facts objectively without editorializing or inserting fictional matter, as in a book or film; A work, such as a film or television program, presenting political, social, or historical subject matter in a factual and informative manner and often consisting of actual news films or interviews accompanied by narration.
Miriam-Webster: of, relating to, or employing documentation in literature or art; broadly : FACTUAL, OBJECTIVE (a documentary film of the war)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: An eligible documentary film is defined as a theatrically released non-fiction motion picture dealing creatively with cultural, artistic, historical, social, scientific, economic or other subjects. It may be photographed in actual occurrence, or may employ partial re-enactment, stock footage, stills, animation, stop-motion or other techniques, as long as the emphasis is on fact and not on fiction.
Essentially the Academy redefines documentary to substitute "creative" for "objective" and "emphasis on fact" for "factual".
Factual? We can't do that! That would be boring! Just make sure that there are a couple of facts in there somewhere. For the rest, get creative.
If you want to find dictionary definitions for Moore's movie it isn't very hard. This one fits very well:
the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person; ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; deceptive or distorted information that is systematically spread.
That's the definition of propaganda.
(News bit gleaned from Phillip Coons)
Despite the fact that the Academy Awards have become meaningless, the thought of having to see Moore's face up on the screen on national tv as he waves an Oscar around makes me want to vomit.
Yep. I just like how O'Reily caught him and cornered him .
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is irrelevant - they just don't know that yet since they all breathe the same rarified air. I've found that generally speaking I'm less likely to be interested in a film if it's won an Academy award (in the last 15 years or so - the Academy USED to mean something.)
It's interesting the parallels that could be drawn between the Academy and the UN...
Remember though that he was booed off the stage when he went into his tirade when he won the last one. I'm wondering if academy voters will remember, and will want to avoid such an outburst, denying him the award.
Just a contrarian view....
Yes, calling F 9/11 a documentary is a misuse of the word. Personally I agree with Michael Moore himself when he says that his films are not documentaries but rather opinion pieces. As for the 3 people who booed at him for his last Academy Awards Speech, I'd be willing to bet if anything that woudl be reason for them to want Moore to win. Controversary means ratings and ratings mean money.
If the film is harming the reputation of George Bush or Dick Cheney by libel or slander then they can take Micheal Moore to court for defamation. I haven't heard of any such case being brought to court so far.
I'm just back from seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 for the first time. From my perspective the film made two main points:
1. George Bush and Dick Cheney are in a conflict of interest situation because they are tightly connected to corporations that profit from war, while at the same time being in a position that enables them to mislead the country to go to war. They are also in a conflict of interest situation because of their business ties to the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the bin Laden family.
Jim, do you agree that Bush and Cheney are in a conflict of interest situation?
2. War carries a high human cost for both sides: for the poor American children that are serving in the military and for the civilians of Iraq. The film leads the viewer to the conclusion that there was no justification so great to warrant the human cost of the Iraq invasion - because the motivation for the war was to profit certain people via their corporate interests, while the burden of the war is falling mainly on US citizens from poorer communities who are forced to enlist for economic reasons.
Jim, do you believe the human cost of the invasion of Iraq was justified?
1. There is no such thing as a conflict of interest situation for a President and Vice President. There is no case where a President can recuse himself because a family member or friend is involved in a situation.
Are you implying that Bush and Cheney wanted the country to go to war so their former business associates could make money? I don't understand how any familiarity between Bush/Saud could be interpreted as a conflict of interest. Do you contend that Bush wanted to go to war in order to pursue the son of his ally? That makes no sense whatsoever.
2. There are no children serving in the American forces and the civilians of Iraq are in a hell of a better spot now than they were under Saddam. The 'human cost' of the invasion of Iraq was absolutely mandated, not simply justified.
3. How many Iraqi mass graves did Moore show in his movie? How many people being put through shredders? Having their hands cut off? Being gang raped? Did Moore show any single tiny bit of how things are better in Iraq now?
Winston, do you believe that the average Iraqi longs for the return of Saddam Hussein to power?
1. The president or vice-president (or any other public official) most certainly CAN be in conflict. This is precisely why they are supposed to cut any ties that could be perceived as a conflict.
Are you implying that Bush & Cheney wanted to go to war so that their former business associates could make money?
No. The implication is that the plan to invade Iraq was begun before 9/11, and since they were going over anyway, they wanted to cut some buddies in on the action.
2. There are children serving in the armed forces. Legally, they may be adults, but they are still my children. When you hear people speaking of american kids, they mean young men & women. At my age, anyone under 25 is a kid.
The 'human cost' of the invasion of Iraq was absolutely mandated, not simply justified
What a disgusting concept. 'Human cost' means young people die. What could possibly mandate this?
3. No one has ever said that Saddam was a good guy, with the possible exception of Reagan back when we were helping Iraq fight Iran. If the barometer for us to invade another country is that their leader is a bad guy, then there are lots of countries that have worse leaders than Saddam. But then again, Africa has no oil.
Sorry, Easy. There's no way I'm going to waste time explaining logical fallacies and moral equivalency. "No blood for oil", no matter how it's couched is an automatic flush for me.