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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