Why does everyone want to find something about fahrenheit 9/11 to criticize?

Michael Moore's latest movie has me thinking - and talking - a lot about it.

I saw it last night... With 300 other people that were involved in the film in one-way or another. And even in a room of 'fans' the audience reaction afterwards was sobering.

You can't cheer. The story is far too personal.
You can't applaud. It's about a war - and an ugly one at that.
You can't even yell nasty things about the people who Michael says did all these things.

So I left angry.

But not angry with George Bush. Or Donald Rumsfeld. Or Ashcroft. Or Condi Rice. I was angry at myself.

This isn't anyone else’s country. It's mine. And this Government doesn't act in a vacuum.

I was angry after 9/11. I tried not to let my emotions be played... And I thought that I was in control. But as Michael reminds me of the Terror alerts, I'm embarrassed to remember the 'escape kit' that we have in our closet. One for each member of my family. Yes. I was made to be scared.

And once I was scared - I was able to have buttons pushed that made 'shock and awe' seem like some sort of global statement. Don't F*CK with US. What made me angrier was I knew better. Peter Arnett had told me - and showed me -that Iraq was a modern, literate, evolving country. A bright spot in the Middle East. A place with issues, but not our issues. And as I watched "911" I remembered the Baby Milk Factor that the US Government had bombed back during Gulf War One. Peter knew it wasn't a chemical weapons plant. He actually touched the milk powder to his lips to prove it. But the US Government said it WAS... And he was labeled a traitor for trying to put facts in the face of fiction. His career was thrown into a tailspin. But he was telling the truth.

Now - the 911 commission and all evidence says that there is no connection between Iraq and Al Queda. Despite that- the President still says that there's a connection. The drumbeat of fact vs. fiction is intense. And it makes me angry to think that somehow patriotism, 9/11, oil, and the 'support our troops' drumbeat makes it almost feel like it's ok to support what's happening. It's not ok.

And Michael uses every trick in his filmmakers bag... Music, images, gottacha cameras, and a mother who lost her son. As I watched the image of the boy with the kite in Iraq... I was angry with the film for a moment. How dare he use such an emotional button to make me feel... Well.... Guilty.

But then I remembered my trip to Russia back in 1983. I landed in Moscow with a group of student journalists and was stunned by the fact that on the street people walked dogs. Yes - Russian's had Dogs! They were Human. I was stunned that I had never seen real life images of human's in Russia. Of course... Never humanize the enemy. So Michael's decision to show pictures of life, children, families, before we began bombing seemed like it broken some unspoken rule of dehumanizing the enemy. He was right to do it. But was it manipulative - yes. Am I angry at how I feel about what I let happen to the boy with the kite (the metaphorical boy with the kite). Yes. I'm angry.

I don't know how that emotion will translate to a national audience. Will people go to be entertained, and leave embarrassed and angry. Certainly George Bush is made to look disconnected, goofy, and unconcerned. But those images aren't news. And in fact, it may be that his easygoing demeanor is part of his appeal.

The real villains of this film are the Marine Recruiters who troll the parking lots and malls of Flint Michigan - telling young men and women whatever it takes to get them enlisted.

The enemy is the Patriot Act... Being used by a local sheriff in Fresno to infiltrate a group of aging hippies known as PEACE FRESNO.

The real quest for audiences is - can they accept the culpability that Moore charges all of us with in the world events that are now unraveling.

Fahrenheit 911 is layered, complex, serious film. It is important. And uplifting only in that it puts together all the threads that have been hanging out in the media for all to see.

It's our government. What it does is our responsibility. And if we don't speak up - then power will corupt, that's for sure.

So why does everyone want to find something about fahrenheit 9/11 to criticize? Maybe because to accept the film’s indictment is to have to look into a very personal mirror.