It is not quite clear, going into it, why michael moore should have chosen to take off ray bradburys title fahrenheit 451 of a story about book burning in order to make what seems an even feebler joke than usual in the title of his antibush screed, fahrenheit 911. A videotape of the president holding the book open while staring. Bushs goat tale is tough to find wsj the wall street journal. If i was quite familiar with the photos taken in a empty classroom after bush finally. Three segments redeem fahrenheit 9 11, allowing it to claim to be more than just a list of antibush charges. For bushs failures in leadership, moore submits footage of the president on the morning of sept. Bush sits in a florida classroom and reads along with secondgraders. Bush reads my pet goat in fahrenheit 911 by michael moore on vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the. Fahrenheit 911 is a 2004 american documentary film directed, written by, and starring filmmaker, director and political commentator michael moore.
Michael moores book, fahrenheit 9 11, is no different. Its a sequence in moores film that you will never forget. Indeed, in one of the films alreadyfamous scenes, president bush is shown reading a book my pet goat to some schoolchildren in. Bushs 911 school visit pushed pet goat into spotlight the. Suddenly, one of the bestknown childrens books in the u. Since then it has gone on to smash all box office records for a documentary and created an international discussion about the bush administration and the war in iraq. The official fahrenheit 911 reader is a the cannes film festival jury voted unanimously to award the 2004 best picture award to michael moore and fahrenheit 9 11. In one of the more talkedabout sequences in michael moores barnstorming fahrenheit 9 11, president george w. The blame for it goes to the presidential imposter who sat idly by reading a childrens book called my pet goat while the clock ticked. Moore is to be commended for offering another perspective on recent events and, on the whole, his oped comedy is. My pet goat fitting, since bush, in this film, is michael moores pet goat, in the sense of the word meaning a target of ridicule. Being a staunch democrat himself, michael moores films are obviously very biased, resulting in fahrenheit 9 11 being ridiculously fabricated and blown out of proportion in many of.
Yes, bush really did waste 7 minutes while the country was under attack, wearing a stupid, deercaughtintheheadlights expression, while a grade school class read my pet goat and people died horribly in nyc. As shown in michael moores fahrenheit 9 11, its the book read by president bush to florida school children on the morning of sept. Since michael moore cant resist showing this sequence in nearly real time, he fills up the surreal normality of the moment with his own guess at the presidents train of thought as he continued to sit through the reading of my pet goat. When told that a second plane has hit the world trade center and that the nation is under attack bush seems wary but calmly continues reading the pet goat to the kids, and moore notes that he continued reading for nearly seven minutes before leaving the school. The story tells of a girls pet goat whose future is uncertain because it eats everything, but after it foils a robbery by butting the intruder, the girls parents allow the goat to stay. The first is the videotaped footage of bush in floridas booker elementary school, reading my pet goat for seven minutes after the second plane crashed into the world trade center. According to bill sammons book fighting back, bushs. Public attention to the pet goat first came to the fore with michael moores 2004 documentary fahrenheit 9 11, though the film called it my pet goat and called it a book. Fahrenheit 9 11 2004 in michael moores scathing documentary to indict president george w. Moores 2004 documentary fahrenheit 911, though the film. Contrary to popular belief and due in large part to the distortion of the facts by michael moore in his documentary fahrenheit 9 11 and the rest of the liberal media, president bush was not reading a book called my pet goat to a group of schoolchildren when america came under attack on september 11. Michael moores fahrenheit 911 opens in berlin on wednesday. The official fahrenheit 911 reader by michael moore. Two sides to michael moores fahrenheit 911 75 words.
The title, misquoted as my pet goat, became a punch line for comedians and especially for filmmaker michael moore, who in fahrenheit 9 11 mocked the president for staying with the. In the film, moore contends that american corporate media were cheerleaders for the 2003 invasion of iraq, and did not provide an. Why did i keep reading my pet goat to give people bush reads my pet goat bush reading my pet goat jon jost s weblog president george w bush reading readers are leaders bush explains reaction to 9 11 news during historic jonathan chait rove my pet goat. George bush reads my pet goat to school kids on sept. Fahrenheit 911 shows how the bush administration and its policies have served the interests of the haves and the havemores with unjust domestic policies and a terrible and tragic war. Two sides to michael moores fahrenheit 9 11 to every story there are two sides, to every case in court there are two opinions. Bush, the war in iraq, and its coverage in the media. Democrats are often told to get over it, but any kind of recount would have been likely to result in a gore win. The presidents videotaped performance is enshrined in michael moores documentary fahrenheit 9 11. The film takes a critical look at the presidency of george w. Bush during the 911 attacks the pet goat is the book the class is reading. Fahrenheit 911 disparaged bush for lingering almost 10 minutes with. Fahrenheit 911, though the film incorrectly gave the title as. Bush is then shown sitting in a florida classroom with kids.
The movie fahrenheit9 11 opens by revisiting the contested 2000 election that put george w. George bush is seen holding the book upside down as hes supposedly reading along with the kinder garden class thekimrob. A clock appears in the corner of the screen, as the minutes tick by and the president keeps reading my pet goat, not knowing what to do without. Within a few weeks, a blogger named peter smith tracked down the correct name and origin as a reading exercise by engelmann. According to bill sammons book fighting back, bushs gaze. During his most recent book tour, germans gave him rock start treatment as he gave. Bushs critics, notably michael moore in his film fahrenheit 9 11 in which moore erroneously named the book my pet goat have argued that the fact that bush continued reading the book after being notified that the attack was ongoing shows that he was indecisive.
Bushs criticsnotably michael moore in his film fahrenheit 911, in which moore erroneously named the book my pet goathave argued that the fact that bush continued reading the book after being notified that the attack was ongoing shows that he was indecisive. The book contains a script of the documentary, political cartoons, essays and critiques of fahrenheit 9 11, and letters written to michael moore, thanking him. Bush was reading in a florida classroom on the morning of september 11, 2001, at the moment he learned of the. It can be reveled as sole source of truth about the war and our government, or it can be portrayed as the lying antichrist that rips apart peoples solidarity. In a key scene from fahrenheit 911, president bush continues reading my pet goat with elementary school students on the morning of sept. Yes, members of the bin laden family were flown home 2 days after 9 11, with nothing more than a cursory passport check. But most importantly, and mainly what i was looking for to supplement my viewing of the documentary, is the cold hard, back up and evidence of the information michael moore presented.