There is a war of words, and a war of idealogies, and sadly this tale does not end happily...
This
film is not the same as most Michael Moore documentaries, for the main
reason that he is not the star of the show. The star, believe it or
not, is the State of Utah, a place that is often the butt of many
colloquial American jokes because 75% of the population is of the
Mormon faith.
For the some of the educated, middle class Mormon
inhabitants of the mountain state, they have to do a year or two
of missionary work, preaching the good word to others, often in third
world countries.
Keep this in mind as the student body
representing some 25,000 students at Utah Valley University decides to
get Michael Moore to be a guest speaker two weeks before the 2004
election.
Another fact about Utah that should be understood is
that is that only one out of 12 senators in the state are Democratic,
meaning the Republicans (conservatives, like John Howard's Liberal
party) have a strong grip on policy and infrastructure.
This Divided State works
because the the first two thirds are devoted to the locals, and how the
students and those concerned members of the community argue their
respective cases.
On one side, you have the student union
president saying that democracy and free-speech allow for people like
Mike Moore to speak at the university, even though he is speaking to a
largely conservative enclave.
Sean Hannity and Kay Anderson are
firmly of the opinion that Mike Moore's views are invalid. At one point
during a university meeting that includes the Dean and a handful of
senior professors, Anderson says "the great thing about free speech is
that people know when to keep their mouths shut."
In addition to
bribes, threats and other ploys used by the 'concerned' members of the
community, who also happen to be incredibly rich right wingers with
strict religious views, the whole argument comes across as very petty,
and for me I found it profoundly sad that there were people who wanted
to stop another person (Mike Moore, in this case) from giving a speech
two weeks before the 2004 election.
Whether one agrees or
disagrees with Michael Moore's point of view is irrelevant - the
doctrine that America always preaches is that of democracy, which
naturally accords free speech. But if this cannot be practiced in 'the
land of the free' by its own people because the right wing elements sue
the stundent union president and vice president, and even demand that
the university faculty be replaced if they don't teach what the elders
think is correct, something is very wrong.
Getting back to the
work that many young mormons do once graduating high school -
missionary work in 2nd and 3rd world countries - you can see that this
has changed them, and has changed their outlook and perhaps even their
political beliefs. Many of them are not concerned that the world is out
to get America and destroy its way of life - and it shows in their
desire to have someone of a different political persuasion talk to them.
Everyone
will get something different out of this DVD. There will be many who
agree with the conservatives and the elder generations who want to keep
things as they always have been. Traditionalists, some may call them.
And there will be some audiences who disagree with these ideologies of
control, and want to see Mike Moore make his speech at the uni.
This
is a highly charged documentary, with more shouting and arguing between
the left and right sides of politics than you'll see at an election
debate. It's real, this stuff happened and was not scripted, and it's
very powerful.
Every high school student should see this film,
along with every parent - the controversy it canvasses
will definitely spark debate, but if this debate is gagged,
then one side will always triumph and the idea of free speech becomes a
token gesture. Top stuff. DVD
Extras An amazing
extras package is included with this release, with well over two hours
of extra footage and arguments included. It's esentially a whole extra
DVD, and quite frankly, someof the points raised here are more powerful
and hard hitting than those in the final cut of the real doco. Well worth viewing. Conclusion:
Movie 75% Extras: 85% 
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