In an effort to counteract the on-campus appearance of controversial filmmaker Michael Moore, the UA College Republicans showed the film "FahrenHype 9/11" to more than 250 people in Gallagher Theater yesterday.
"FahrenHype 9/11" criticizes Moore's accusations against President George W. Bush and the war on terror, offering a conflicting analysis of the President's political decisions after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
The College Republicans organized the event in response to the showing of Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" on campus and his speech at McKale Center, said Danielle Roberts, political science junior and College Republicans president.
Roberts said the College Republicans had been asked by students and community members to provide something that would show the other side of the political story before next week's election.
The College Republicans responded by inviting conservative author Ann Coulter to campus Thursday, and providing a free showing of "FahrenHype 9/11" last night.
"We wanted to ensure that people have the opportunity to see what Michael Moore tends to portray is not the truth," said Pete Seat, theater arts senior and College Republicans state chairman.
"We want to bring truth to our campus since we all know our university and student government refuses to do so," Seat said as he introduced the film.
Directed by Dick Morris, former advisor of the Clinton administration, the film focused on rebutting Moore's arguments in "Fahrenheit 9/11."
In "FahrenHype 9/11," Morris said "Fahrenheit 9/11" was a personal attack on the Bush campaign, where Moore took pieces of information and blatantly "spun" them to deliver a specific point of view.
Morris said in "FahrenHype 9/11" that instead of revealing the truth, Moore's film intended to portray Bush as having reacted irresponsibly to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and having unjust intentions in the war on terror.
After condemning Moore's accusations in "Fahrenheit 9/11", "FahrenHype 9/11" shifts the blame of the terrorist attacks from Bush to the Clinton administration. Former President Bill Clinton was blamed in "FahrenHype 9/11" for not sufficiently funding the fight against terror, failures in airplane safety and refusing a version of the Patriot Act that Morris said could have helped prevent the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
In addition to misrepresenting facts, Morris said in his film that "Fahrenheit 9/11" was a propaganda tool in which Moore used editing techniques like cutting and splicing of film to stir an immediate emotional reaction from the audience.
In "FahrenHype 9/11," Morris said rather than showing the thousands of dead bodies discovered in Iraqi torture chambers or pictures of Iraqi children being abused by consent of the government, Moore chose to show pictures of children playing in the streets and then cutting to images of bombs exploding and families crying.
Before "FahrenHype 9/11" ended, Morris asked his viewers to not give up or turn their backs on America after seeing "Fahrenheit 9/11."
"Please don't lose faith, we're a much better country than he portrays," Morris said in the film.
Brian Eck, political science freshman who was at last night's screening, said he watched and enjoyed "Fahrenheit 9/11," but was angered by Moore's negative representation of troops' feelings about being in Iraq.
"I had a friend who died in Iraq, and I received a letter from him a few days after. He said how happy he was in Iraq," Eck said.
Steve Gerner, a political science sophomore and self-proclaimed liberal, said he believes all information should be represented and was happy the College Republicans showed the film.
However, Gerner said "FahrenHype 9/11" inaccurately represented Moore and his intentions in his movie.
"They falsely showed Michael Moore as a traitor," Gerner said. "It ("FahrenHype 9/11") showed a series of people's opinions over and over without any fact, which is the same thing that they criticized Moore for doing."
Roberts said the university showing "Fahrenheit 9/11" two days before Sept. 11 was distasteful and this was the College Republicans' chance to show students the other side of the story.
Roberts said the only cost of the event was a $500 fee to rent Gallagher Theater, which was provided by College Republicans funding and private donations.
"We don't charge you to hear the truth," Roberts said.