Cinema and the 2004 United States Presidential Election When I was reporting from Iraq in April of this year, a friend emailed me and asked how many American "alternative" journalists there were in Baghdad. I replied there were only a handful, maybe six. He then asked about reporters from other countries, were there any good ones working there? I thought for a minute and answered that the majority of the journalists I met from Europe, South America or the Middle East would qualify as "alternative" in the United States. Which is to say that they were well-informed and, as a journalist should be during a war, deeply critical of reports that came from the occupation forces. The same holds true for the current explosion of political cinema in the U.S. As I will explain, it is really only serving the function that mainstream journalism ought to be, were it not for the appalling state of reporting, particularly reporting on Iraq, in America. As everyone already knows, this election is one of the most dynamic in U.S. history, and cinema is weighing in with its own efforts. From the Christian fundamentalist slant of films like George Bush: Faith in the White House, which was bulk-mailed to churches across the country, to the mega-success of Fahrenheit 911, which grossed more than any documentary in history and is probably the first film in American history to be seriously considered to affect a Presidential race, more political movies are being produced and viewed than in any time in recent memory. However, it must be remembered that the American political landscape is anything but a level playing field. At this point in our country's history the media is, for all intents and purposes, the voice of the Right Wing. Or perhaps it is more apt to say, as filmmaker Robert Greenwald did, "The problem is not that Fox is a conservative network. The problem is that it's a Republican network!" The point is that the majority of the American media is currently acting as a de facto voice of the White House. But due to the disastrous turn of events at home and abroad, all media is in what could be called a "crisis of legitimacy." Which is to say that it has finally become clear to a growing number of Americans that their news and information services are actually far from the political neutrality that the U.S. public tends to believe in. More specifically, people who consider themselves "liberal" or "moderate" or "undecided" have at last realized the extreme bias that exists in mainstream journalism. Because the right wing, particularly the Christian Right, has long understood that media is a partisan tool, which is why they have built strong, viable networks of alternative media in the form of Christian cable networks, music stores, labels, concerts, and films. Now, with millions of Americans frustrated at the shoddy war reporting of such venerated papers as The New York Times, people are eagerly consuming a myriad of political documentaries. Such media has been being produced in the U.S. for decades, but it took a crisis like this one for its audience to be so greatly expanded. However, I do not think it is accurate to say that these movies come from "all parts of the political spectrum" as the boondoggled news networks comment, but rather from the liberal left, who are finally angry enough to start looking elsewhere for their news and analysis. Most of the films' viewpoints are decidedly anti-Bush, and basically pro-Kerry, albeit reluctantly. But they do not go much deeper than that. They all have valuable information and are very informative and well-produced. However, from an Islamic perspective, or from the point of view of the Islamic World, the films really offer nothing. None of them address the problems in Palestine or other U.S. interventions in the world. Nor do they attempt any deeper understanding of the people of Iraq or anywhere else. Arabs, if they are portrayed at all in these films, are seen as at best silent victims or at worst, as wealthy accomplices of the Bush family. It is always heartening to see vibrant political debate, and the atmosphere in America is more politically charged than I have witnessed it in my lifetime. But it must be remembered that the debate is still taking place within the heavily patriotic and xenophobic United States, where there is an utter absence of reliable media to begin with. So while I'm glad these films are being made and viewed by so many people, I still think we have a long way to go, and more compelling films need to be made, if we are to really understand our place in the world and the future. And now, the films: Besides the world-famous Fahrenheit 911 by Michael Moore, there are several other anti-Bush films: Robert Greenwald (www.outfoxed.org) has directed three very popular documentaries, Outfoxed, which is about Fox News, Uncovered, which details the deception used by the White House leading up to the Iraq war, and Unprecedented, about the 2000 Presidential election. Bush's Brain (www.bushsbrain.com) directed by Micheal Paradies Shoob and Joseph Mealey details the way in which Karl Rove pulls the strings behind George Bush. Orwell Rolls Over in his Grave (www.orwellrollsinhisgrave.com) directed by Robert Kane Pappas, is a further scrutiny of the U.S. media. There are also several pro-Bush films that have come out recently attempting to counter the aforementioned liberal films: George W. Bush Faith in the White House (www.bushvideo.com) directed by David Balsinger, former producer of the Grizzly Adams series. This film specifically deals with how fervently Christian the president is. Stolen Honor (www.stolenhonor.com) directed by Carlton Sherwood is about John Kerry's anti-Vietnam war activism, accusing him of betraying American soldiers. Last, but definitely not least, there is a music video, in effect a short film, that delivers one of the most blistering anti-war, anti-Bush messages this year. It is the video for Eminem's song MOSH, produced by Guerrilla News Network (www.guerrillanews.com). The video is visually stunning and its message may be more far-reaching than Fahrenheit 911 for the simple reason that because Eminem is the most popular rapper in America it is sure to viewed by the most important constituency in this election: the U.S. soldiers in Iraq. David Martinez San Francisco, California