 Republicans must see
Fahrenheit 9/11 may open the eyes of Bush supporters
in the
Iranian-American community
By Maziar Shirazi
June 27, 2004
iranian.com
I shot out of work Saturday at 3:00 p.m. to hop the first train
I could catch to NYC; I was going to see an old friend
for the first time in a while
and I didn't want to be late. When I finally got in to Manhattan
and met up
with my friend, we decided that we'd see Michael Moore's latest
documentary,
Fahrenheit 9/11, in downtown Manhattan.
Needless to say,
it was sold out at
every single theater in the area except for one late night showing
at Loew's
Theater (that show sold out later too; thankfully, we got tickets
5 hours
before the showing). We walked in, full of Iranian food and lacking
in
energy, amid a crowd of people anxious to see what
this
movie was all about. I've been a big fan of Michael Moore's since I saw Bowling
for Columbine and I was expecting his new movie
to wow me as well, but to be totally
honest, I was not prepared for what I was to see later that evening.
I'll
try to be brief: every single Iranian-American in the country,
every single
person in this country should go and see this movie. It is one
of the most
powerful political commentaries I have ever seen, and I feel personally
that
it is going to cause real thought to stir in the heads of the people
who
watch it. Fahrenheit 9/11 is an antidote to the past four
years of media
mind-control in our country and a revelation to those of us who
have been
apolitical or indifferent to events taking place.
However, there are a lot of people (especially those who have
not and don't
plan to see the documentary) who would easily disagree with what
I've just
said for any number of reasons: different political stance, skepticism
etc. Obviously, this letter is not going to make them want to go see
the movie,
and I'm fine with that.
My main concern is that Bush supporters
in the
Iranian-American community see this documentary. Maybe a lot of
them feel
that Bush is going to be good for Iran in the long run, especially
if he
pushes for its "liberation" (just like he liberated Iraq
and Afghanistan)
but I think that the facts presented in Moore's documentary are
going to
change that view altogether.
We Iranians have a history of not
listening to
the other side of the story, the other political view, the other
gender;
perhaps it is our stubbornness, our arrogance, bloated from our
sense of
history and cultural pride, our recent and bloody ideological
struggles. I think that we should set a good example for ourselves
and our community
and listen to each other, and seeing this movie is an awesome
way to express
the willingness to process a source of information other than
our own.
If
the Republicans and Iranicons walk out of the theater even
more assured in
their beliefs, fine. But at least they will have shown that
they can have
their beliefs challenged and proven that they still respect
that truth does
not have just one source and that we should seek it out. We
can show that
complacency is un-Iranian, and as our voices grow in the USA,
maybe we can
convince some people that it is un-American as well.
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Republicans must see