In ‘Fahrenheit 11/9,’ less would have been more for Moore
FILMMAKER MICHAEL MOORE in the documentary ‘Fahrenheit 11/9.’.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
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Michael Moore wants to save us from ourselves. It’s been his mission for a long time, a noble one, and it’s obvious he is sincere. But as a filmmaker, Moore needs to save himself from his worst indulgences, which undercut his good work. His new film, Fahrenheit 11/9, showcases both the best and the worst of his film making instincts.
Fahrenheit 9/11 was about former president George W. Bush, and Fahrenheit 11/9 is about President Donald Trump and the way the mainstream media, Democrats and the GOP function (or don’t function) around him.
Moore makes clear the connection between media ratings, money and Trump’s election, starting off with a banger of an argument: that Trump’s news conference announcing his candidacy for office was merely a ploy to get a raise from NBC after learning Gwen Stefani made more money on The Voice than he did on The Apprentice. When he was fired, the campaign became real. Thanks, NBC.
But while Moore indicts the media for pandering to Trump for ratings, making a pretty penny off the reality show host’s stunts, he does the same thing in 11/9. He cannot resist indulging in his own petty desires in the film, and you wish he had resisted such giggle-inducing montages, such as Trump’s election night party soundtracked to opera or laying Trump speeches over Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will. It’s cheap, indulgent film making, and frankly, it’s not funny, not even in a dark way.
But as much as Moore loves making fun of Trump any chance he gets, in 11/9 he has truly the knives out for Obama and establishment Democrats. Trump gets off easy compared to Pelosi and Obama, and Moore argues Trump is the force of chaotic evil necessary to burn the whole rotten system down.
He shreds Democrat organizations to pieces, while focusing on the new guard of leftist candidates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. These segments, as well as sections on the teen survivors and activists of the Parkland school shooting, are uplifting and inspiring to the point of tears. But Moore quickly plunges us back into the darkness of Trump, ominously predicting an inevitable march toward Nazi Germany, likening the Reichstag fire to September 11, in terms of the political ramifications.
Moore is at his best when he’s performing shoe-leather investigative documentary work. One of the sub-stories in the story-cluttered 11/9 follows the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, Moore’s hometown and the setting of his first film, Roger & Me. Flint is Moore’s area of expertise, and he deftly explains how CEO-governor Rick Snyder’s business-style criminal tactics led to the never-ending deadly water crisis.
He interviews victims and whistleblowers, and he stages stunts like hosing down the governor’s mansion with a Flint Water truck and attempting to make a citizen’s arrest. It’s biting, sharp and chilling, and it proves Moore could have made a truly powerful film about Flint.
However, Flint functions merely like a canary in the coal mine in Fahrenheit 11/9, as a linchpin of his argument that Trump is marching straight for autocracy, using Snyder as inspiration. It’s an argument that conjures up dread, the way much of the film is designed to do, to inspire action.
Fahrenheit 11/9 is an emotional and intellectual roller coaster. Moore swings for the fences, as he usually does. But the film, done in Moore’s traditionalist maximalist style, is overblown and overstuffed with editorial indulgences. It’s clear that stylistically and structurally, less should be more for Moore.
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Constant ‘rejuvenation’ key to Cool Fahrenheit’s success
The station’s confident operator, Thai entertainment leader RS Public Co Ltd, is investing Bt100 million in an ongoing ”rejuvenation” campaign, counter to the general downward trend of the sector.
The station’s operator attributes its success to the brand’s relentless efforts to rejuvenate itself and to offer something modern and fresh to cater to its audience’s lifestyle both online and offline.
Prin Minsuksaeng, the managing director of Coolism, the operator of Cool Fahrenheit, said radio station’s audience base was growing steadily. According to Nielsen Media Research (Thailand), Cool Fahrenheit’s listeners in 2018 rose sharply from 1.2 million a month in January to 1.8 million in December – a 50-per-cent growth.
“This is why it remains the No 1 radio station for both the online and offline platforms,” said Prin.
Its web-based audience – on iOS and Android – is about 60 million a year. “This success is due to the station’s business transformation to become a 4.0 station in all aspects, with outside-the-box marketing, and marketing activities to build loyalty, and CRM [customer relations management] activities to offer special privileges [Coolprivilege] to its audience,” Prin said.
To boost its online audience, it offers users opportunities to collect points and redeem rewards. In terms of activities, there are “Cooldegree” exclusive activities, “Coolouting” trips, and dining activities with trusted brand endorser ML Parson Svasti – a food expert – inviting participants to enjoy famous and delicious dishes.
Cool Fahrenheit is marching forward confidently, following its rejuvenation concept, by investing Bt100 million to make the brand young and relevant, catering to both online and offline lifestyles. And it is doing all that while still retaining the brand’s character, which has remained consistent over the past 15 years, says Prin.
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And the brand character is to be a radio station that appeals to the “music and lifestyle community”. The station makes its [target] audience, who are 20-44 years old, feel connected and form a sense of community, said Prin.
“In this era, things move fast, and businesses have to keep up, so the station must offer a relevant experience that appeals to its digital audience in terms of lifestyle trends, while also keeping in mind the economic and social climate.”
Prin said many of its activities had been well received. He cited Coolouting, in which the radio station took its audience and their colleagues to different destinations in Thailand, and abroad like Taiwan, South Korea, Macau, Maldives and Luang Prabang.
For its “Ink Eat ALL Around” activity, led by ML Parson Svasti, the audience was taken to enjoy delicious food throughout the year, with a focus on culinary highlights of seven secondary destinations. Cool Music Fest is a free concert that invites the station’s audience to travel back in time and enjoy a blast from the past. Cool Fahrenheit aims to be a one-stop shopping hub for office people, while Line@COOLanything aims to turn the station’s audience into customers through promotions and targeted products, including its top-selling makeup products.
“Cool Fahrenheit is not intimidated by business disruption,” explained Prin. “In the digital era, we have to move fast and stay relevant. We feel that this is a challenge, and in the next few years, radio stations must move faster in terms of marketing. They have to be in-trend and have good management.
“Needless to say, technology will continue to progress, so marketers must keep up and keep their platforms fresh.”
Cool Fahrenheit, as a leading radio station, has been invited by the NBTC to try out DAB+ broadcasting, which offers clearer signals than FM, he noted.
“This shows that the radio business is here to stay, and new innovations will be introduced. Radio stations can still generate profits. In the past year, Cool Fahrenheit generated Bt300 million in revenue,” said Prin.
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