The Emperor has no uniform...
Matt Leclercq, Fayetteville Observer (North Carolina):
"Fahrenheit 9/11," a left-sided documentary that
bashes the Bush administration's war on terrorism,
wouldn't find much of an audience in a military town.
Or so they thought.
"This has broken all of our past records," said Nasim
Kuenzel, an owner of the Cameo Art House Theatre. "The
movie that I thought would make us hardly any money -
I never thought it would break all the records."
Both showings sold out Friday at the Cameo, the only
theater in Fayetteville to carry the Michael Moore
film. A midnight showing added at the last minute
Friday brought in 60 more people.
Saturday and Sunday were just as busy, Kuenzel said,
with nearly 1,000 tickets sold over the weekend. As
many as 75 percent of moviegoers were soldiers or
military families, Kuenzel said.
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Fahrenheit 9/11 Breaks Records in Military Town
posted by Reverend Chuck0 on Sunday July 04 2004 @
06:36AM PDT
June 29, 2004
The Fayetteville Observer (North Carolina)
Fahrenheit 9/11 Breaks Records in Military Town
By Matt Leclercq
"Fahrenheit 9/11," a left-sided documentary that
bashes the Bush administration's war on terrorism,
wouldn't find much of an audience in a military town.
Or so they thought.
"This has broken all of our past records," said Nasim
Kuenzel, an owner of the Cameo Art House Theatre. "The
movie that I thought would make us hardly any money -
I never thought it would break all the records."
Both showings sold out Friday at the Cameo, the only
theater in Fayetteville to carry the Michael Moore
film. A midnight showing added at the last minute
Friday brought in 60 more people.
Saturday and Sunday were just as busy, Kuenzel said,
with nearly 1,000 tickets sold over the weekend. As
many as 75 percent of moviegoers were soldiers or
military families, Kuenzel said.
Many were like Natalie Sorton. She is 25 and married
to an infantryman who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I want to see what my husband is fighting for,"
Sorton said Monday before going into the theater with
a friend, Kathy Norris.
Another military spouse had recommended the movie.
While Sorton described herself as a moderate
Republican, she said she gained respect for Moore
after seeing his last documentary, "Bowling for
Columbine."
In that film, Moore pestered corporations and
celebrities to take responsibility for gun violence.
Sorton said she wanted to see Moore be equally
pestering to politicians who make decisions about war.
"I'm going because from what I heard about
('Fahrenheit 9/11'), it fills in a lot of blanks, a
lot of questions we've had about the Bush
administration," Sorton said.
The documentary assails President Bush's decisions
surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Moore attempts to link the Bush family with Saudi
Arabia and blame business interests as the reason for
invading Iraq. "Fahrenheit 9/11" includes frank
comments from soldiers in Iraq and emotional
interviews with families who lost children in the
fighting.
Almost all the crowds at the Cameo have applauded the
film at the end, with some people giving standing
ovations, Kuenzel said. Many have tears in their eyes
as they leave the theater.
"I think it's going to open my eyes a little, and that
worries me," Sorton said before taking her seat.
Lea Barnes, a Republican, seemed giddy as she and a
friend bought tickets Monday.
"I'm not pleased at all about the way things are
going" with the war, Barnes said. "I trust Michael
Moore. He can be out there a bit, but he's for the
common man."
Negative reactions have been few, Kuenzel said. The
theater received three calls and two letters in
opposition of carrying the film, she said. No one has
protested, though some people handed out anti-war
fliers on the street Friday evening.
Nationwide ticket sales totaling $23.9 million
launched the film to the No. 1 spot over the weekend,
a record for a documentary. Twelve other theaters in
North Carolina are carrying "Fahrenheit 9/11,"
according to the film's Web site.
Other theaters
The Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill also sold out over
the weekend, with some patrons from the Fayetteville
area, said owner Mary Jo Stone. The publicity
surrounding Disney's refusal to distribute the film
because of its political content helped ignite sales.
"I think people are interested in perhaps getting a
different perspective than what they see in the news
all the time," Stone said. Since the Cameo opened in
2000, the only other movies that approached the sales
figures for "Fahrenheit 9/11" were "My Big Fat Greek
Wedding" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Other
theaters across the country are expected to start
showing the film in the next few weeks.
After Monday's showing, Sorton emerged with a grim
face. She said she plans to buy the film on DVD and
give it to everyone she knows.
"I'm disgusted," she said. "Disgusted."
The film changed her opinions on the war in Iraq by
convincing her that oil and corporate interests were
behind decision-making, she said. Worries over whether
Moore would vilify soldiers were unfounded.
"I don't think they portrayed them as bad," she said.
"I don't think it portrayed them as not doing their
jobs. It showed them doing what they're told.
"All this movie did was open my eyes a little more to
what's really going on," she said. "I think this is
definitely going to have an impact on the election.
I'm glad I'm a voter."