The mood at the First Unitarian Church on Monday night was intense as over 400 people gathered in the hot, crowded room to celebrate the widespread success of the controversial film Fahrenheit 9/11, and to hear from its creator, Michael Moore, over a videoconference link.
They were not alone. An additional 55,000 people nationwide were able to see and hear what Moore had to share concerning the movie and his vision. The videoconference was organized by grass-roots liberal political organization MoveOn and its connected Political Action Committee.
"I would like to thank everyone who saw the movie," Moore said onscreen. "We have all participated in something historic."
Fahrenheit 9/11 broke box office records for a documentary feature in its first week of release, earning almost $22 million in revenue from 868 theaters. The film takes a critical look at the actions of President George W. Bush leading up to and during the war in Iraq and of the war on terror.
At different points, Moore emphasized that he was trying to reach a diverse audience, responding to criticism that his movie was "preaching to the choir." He pointed out that Fahrenheit 9/11 had sold out theaters in army towns across America and was the number one movie in every "red" state -- those whose residents had voted for Bush in the 2000 election.
"It wasn't just a liberal, democratic crowd coming out of the theater, shaking and affected," he added.
Moore also stressed that he was trying to reach the non-voter population. "I believe there are two choirs: the choir of the left and the choir of the left-out," he said.
In the latter category, Moore included the almost 50 percent of the population that didn't vote in the last election. "If you can't get the base to vote, what's the point?" he asked.
He urged his largely liberal audience to persuade their non-voter friends to vote in November.
Eastern Pennsylvania Field Organizer for MoveOn PAC Raymond Murphy echoed Moore's comments. "The real work is much larger than just this election. We want to multiply this energy to people who aren't voting, who aren't engaged in the political process."
Moore later enunciated his vision for the next administration, suggesting that the next president should remove U.S. troops from Iraq and replace them with an international force that would be acceptable to the Iraqi people. He added said that the United States healthcare system should be addressed as well.
Len Ashford, a Mount Airy resident present at the discussion, said that he "loved the movie."
"Moore did a great job. People could just see the things that were happening" in the movie. "You just couldn't deny it," he said.
But while most of the crowd viewed the movie positively, some were willing to admit that the film did have its faults.
"It definitely didn't provide a foil for its arguments, or acknowledge any of the arguments that the right did make," said William Bole, a Philadelphia resident and administrative staff member at Penn.
