I am absolutely sick of hearing the right-wing continually bashing Michael Moore and his recent film, Fahrenheit 9/11. I swear, if I hear one more person talk about the “lies” of Michael Moore, I’m going to go on a rampage.

First of all, yes, the film is certainly opinionated. Michael Moore, like many Americans, has some very strong opinions, and he is certainly in a position to voice them. I hesitate to label the film “propaganda”, though—it’s more of an examination of one man’s opinion. However, I grow tired of right-wingers’ continual portrayal of the film as “propaganda” disseminated by the “liberal left-wing media.” The film certainly contains a lot of opinions, yes, but many of those opinions are backed up by facts. Yes, the conservatives would like to believe that Bush is a perfect idol and everything he does is pristine, but the facts simply do not back that up. Rather than accept some of the missteps of their hero, they find it easier to simply cast the opposition as filthy liars. Considering that the alleged “left-wing liberal media” has not done a satisfactory job of investigating many of these truths behind the Iraq War, I find it only fitting that someone, even someone with as strong opinions as Michael Moore, expose some of the hidden, dark truths of the Bush Administration.

However, what irritates me even more is when conservatives claim that Fahrenheit 9/11 is nothing but lies and opinions when they haven’t even seen the movie themselves. If they don’t know the contents of the film, how can they label it as lies? One cannot possibly analyze a film for its content if one has not seen the film! It’s evident that many of these Michael Moore haters have simply regurgitated what they have read in columns and blogs in magazines and on the Internet; yet they accuse others of simply buying into the claims of filmmakers and writers such as Michael Moore. Hypocritical? Yes, I think so.

The thing that conservatives need to realize is that one cannot simply watch Fahrenheit 9/11 and take all the facts as the gospel truth; they also need to realize that just because someone watches it, does not mean they are doing this. Fahrenheit 9/11 exposes some truths that might be hard to accept; it also spouts plenty of political rhetoric and opinions. However, it offers another way to look at a situation, and another way to think. One will not get much out of a film like Fahrenheit 9/11 simply by watching it; it is intended to be thought about. A viewer might not believe everything in the film, but at the very least, they should perhaps remove their blinders and look at the world around them in a different light. The intention of the film is not necessarily to brainwash America; it’s to get America thinking—something that hasn’t been done much in the past four years, but is of vital importance in the weeks leading up to the presidential election.