Singing Loudly

POSSIBLE SPOILERS. I try to keep it sort of vague though...

This weekend I went and saw two wonderful films: Dodgeball and Fahrenheit 9/11. What was remarkable to me is that they were essentially the same story with endings that were simply juxtaposed. Both stories end with the seemingly incompetent businessmen doing what is best to make money in the long run. As like most fiction, it is the good guy who wins out and does what is right. Meanwhile, like most non-fiction, it is the money-grubbing cheat who wins.

Both movies are led by good old boys who would rather let their shirt hang out and drink a beer with their buddies than actually get down to business and, well, run their business. While the leader in each story is terribly incompetent one of the leaders is a likeable guy while the other comes across as being a power hungry, money grubbing, oil-drilling (usually unsuccessfully) wrench in the machine.

In Dodgeball, Vince Vaughn, the owner of Average Joe's Gym learns that his gym has come under attack from none other than Ben Stiller who owns the highly lucrative, and quite successful, Globo Gym. Of course, when you hear Globo Gym, how can you not think of Globo-Corp which in Mr. Show owns everything.

In both movies someone was wanting to destroy ways of life. Where Dodgeball is able to go after the correct enemy, after hitting some other teams along the way, Fahrenheit is never able to find the correct culprit. The leader of America, the laughable, yet contemptible George W. Bush, learns that America is under attack. He learns of this while teaching part of his clientele how to read; Vaughn learns of his attack while teaching part of his clientele how to work out. Unlike Dodgeball, however, in the end the enemy that attacked is probably not who was actually attacked by the Average Joes.

In both films, as in all good plot lines, when their property comes under attack it is time to send the Average Joes to fight back. In Dodgeball, Vaughn spends much time deliberating with his key constituents about what to do to save Average Joe's. Meanwhile in Fahrenheit Dubya, being the seemingly better businessman, joins up with fellow businessmen to discuss what the best method of attack will be for opportunistic purposes. Plot device? Is this a trick to make the supposed hero appear evil? Oh the suspense.

What do you do when you come under attack? That's right! You fight someone to the initial attack to build up your self-esteem. In Dodgeball, the Average Joe's head to the regional qualifier for the Dodgeball championship to fight six Girl Scouts. Pow! Dodge! Smack! They lost the game but won on a technicality. The Average Joes in Fahrenheit (as you learn, the majority of the men and women who joined the armed forces are those who are not well off and need the opportunities the armed forces can deliver) go to the regional qualifiers in good old Afghanistan. Pow! Flame! "Smoke 'em out!" Can you believe it, Dubya won that qualifier too?!

To get the money and save what they love it is time to head on to the big fight. The teams have been trained and the troops are built up. It's time to reap their reward. While Vaughn and his team are able to advance with a little fear through each of the rounds, Dubya and his troops are able to blast their way through city after city. In each case there are some casualties. There are even a few deaths in each.

Oh yeah there are deaths in both flicks! Fortunately, the leader in Fahrenheit, Dubya, claims that he understands the pain of a mother whose son was killed in Iraq last April. The city that is unwillingly hosting the match between the United States and the confused Iraqis. The story she tells is both patriotic, anti-this war, and harrowing. The deaths depicted in each movie are enough to bring a tear to your eyes (they did mine), unfortunately one is from empathy while the other is from glee. The death in Dodgeball was the result of a large "Luck of the Irish" sign! This occurred in the willing host city of Las Vegas.

In the end, the war in each ended. Vaughn was able to lead his team to victory in a sudden death match. We think that he might have signed off his soul to the bad guys for a little extra money. Then, in a surprise move he was able to win back all that was wanted. The good guy succeeds and removes the bad guy! Yay!

In the other story, Dubya declares victory! Hooray!

But the ending is so smooth. He isn't the good guy we thought he was, because he does sell off to the bad guys. The match isn't really over. In reality, hundreds of more casualties are happening each month. Families have been split apart. And for what? Dubya's Average Joe's Gym wasn't going to be leveled into a parking lot by the so called enemy. It's the Average Joe's who are being sent over to a country to fight for his oil interests. Dubya gets his reward. Halliburton has made millions of dollars of this war. Black Gold is the treasure that is found in this movie. The other movie also has a treasure chest but it is just a funny gag because there is an Average Joe who thinks he is a pirate. What kind of sense does this non-fiction make? The leader of these Average Joe's turns out to be a crook. He turns out to be a sham that wants to sign it all over, to give up what other people are fighting for, to earn a few quick bucks.

Both movies were great to watch. Both pull at your emotions in obvious ways. If you typically hate slapstick comedies, I urge you to give Dodgeball a shot.

Likewise, even if you don't like Michael Moore, you ought to watch this film. Understand that it is his take on what is going on. Much of it is opinion that is based on his interpretation of what he finds the facts to be. Whether or not they are all facts or that his conclusions are correctly drawn remains to be seen. Personally, I believe a lot of it, yet I understand that a lot of the movie was manipulative. That is what a skilled writer is able to do. If he is able to get more people to want to critically think about politics, than I think he's done this country a real favor.

UPDATE: Fixed some parts that weren't fully developed.