The success of Michael Moore's documentary attack on President Bush, "Fahrenheit 9/11," has drawn considerable attention to the convergence of film and politics. But the use of motion pictures to besmirch political candidates can be traced back more than half a century.

Arts & Politics Part Three

Scott Olson, Associated Press In "Michael Moore Hates America," filmmaker Michael Wilson travels across America trying to interview Michael Moore, all the while casting doubt on Moore's documentary strategies. Click photo for larger image. A series of articles on the convergence of art and politics in the 2004 presidential campaign. Previous coverage Sunday: Stars of every stripe stump for their candidate Monday: TV, radio reflect left, right, 'West' wings Tomorrow: We look at the visual arts and how politics and the election are informing new works of expression.

One of the earliest examples occurred in 1934, during the Great Depression, when Socialist author Upton Sinclair won the Democratic nomination for governor of California. Running on a platform to end poverty, he proposed the state take over unused factories and farmland to put the unemployed back to work while instituting taxes on the state's wealthy citizens and corporations.

The moneyed interests fought back, including Hollywood's major movie studios. Although some movie stars backed Sinclair, the studios coerced employees into financial support of Sinclair's opponent, Frank Merriam.

Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, released a series of fake newsreels that made it look as though the state would be invaded by hobos if Sinclair were elected. Sinclair might not have won the election in any case, but Mayer's barrage certainly contributed to his defeat.

In 2004, even a film as popular as "Fahrenheit 9/11," which has grossed about $120 million, may not have much power to affect the presidential contest between Bush and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. A study conducted in July by the Annenberg Public Policy Center concluded that the movie reinforced the views of its audience, whether they agreed with its political point of view or not.

Part of Moore's box-office success stems from the fact that his films may not always get their facts right but almost always contain some kind of entertainment value. Critic Leonard Maltin suggests "Fahrenheit" fits into a hybrid category he calls "docutainment."

David Blake, a Fox Chapel native and professor at the College of New Jersey who is teaching a class called Literature, Film and the Art of American Politics, said, "Audiences found [Moore's] conspiracy narrative to be both memorable and entertaining. 'Fahrenheit 9/11' isn't going to win over many ardent Bush supporters. It may influence voters who are finding the White House's story line increasingly hard to believe."

Moore's film is one of a spate of 2004 movies aiming to either influence the election or reflect the issues, social climate and public tension surrounding it.

In the battle for the hearts and minds of today's moviegoers, the anti-Bush crowd easily trumps the Bush backers.

A conservative film festival playing this weekend in Los Angeles will feature such titles as "Celsius 41:11" (a response to Moore's film), "WMD: The Murderous Reign of Saddam Hussein," "Michael Moore Hates America" and "Confronting Iraq." A similar festival played last month in Dallas.

But films that tilt to the left, drama and documentary alike, are getting released in commercial theaters. They include "Silver City," "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry" and "Uncovered: The War on Iraq."

Jonathan Demme's July remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" finds the United States waging wars in distant parts of the globe, creating large profits for a politically connected corporation.

"Silver City," directed by veteran leftist filmmaker John Sayles, features a candidate for governor of Colorado who is the son of a famous politician and is grammatically challenged, conservative in his ideology and backed by big business.

Affecting the election?

"People ask if we're trying to affect the election. Absolutely yes," the film's producer, Maggie Renzi, told the Denver Post. "There's the suggestion that there's something improper about releasing a film that ridicules the president of the United States. I would say to most people: Remember the broadside, remember that we have a fine tradition of dissent. In fact, ridicule and parody and effigy -- all of these are time-honored."

"Team America: World Police," opening Oct. 15, features a squad of U.S. troubleshooters hunting terrorists and other villains around the world. But it doesn't feature actors in the lead roles. The movie, created by "South Park" satirists Trey Parker and Matt Stone, is populated by marionettes, some of them representing dictators, diplomats and politically active American celebrities.

The distributor of the film, Paramount Pictures, chose the release date with the election in mind. But Parker and Stone insist that the main reason "Team America" is coming out in October is that they have to get to work on the new season of "South Park."

"The first script was handed in before the Iraq war," Parker said. "That idea of us being the world police is well before George Bush and will be there no matter who gets elected. We'll still be the world police, and people will still be hating us."

He said they toyed with using Bush and Kerry puppets in the movie but decided, "No, this movie's bigger than them. ... At the end of the day, it makes fun of movies more than it makes fun of politics."

Stone pointed out how cartoons from Disney and Warner Bros. during World War II addressed the conflict. "It's not like you're minimizing it. They dressed Donald Duck as a soldier and Bugs Bunny as a soldier. Kim Jong Il is in the movie and terrorists are in the movie. I think it's cool to, like, belittle your enemy."

Vintage political movies

Some election-year movies of old, such as the 1964 Gore Vidal film "The Best Man," skewered the political system more than they targeted the man in office or his opponent.

The 1968 movie "Wild in the Streets" postulated a rock star running for president, mobilizing youth protests, spiking the water with LSD and advocating the banishment of anyone older than 30. "Medium Cool" (1969) was about a news photographer who refused to get involved until he found that he had to -- parts of it were shot during the riots accompanying the 1968 Democratic convention.

The makers of the 1971 parody "Millhouse" apparently figured it was not too early, a year before the election, to start taking shots at President Nixon. "The Candidate," a 1972 film about a handsome but vapid politico, was invoked by opponents of Vice President Dan Quayle when he was elected in 1988. "All the President's Men," released during the 1976 election year, reminded us of Nixon's misdeeds.

More recent election year film barbs include Tim Robbins' 1992 satire "Bob Roberts," about a folksy fascist with a following.

Of course, an actor had already become our real president by that point: Ronald Reagan, presaging Arnold Schwarzenegger's rise this year to the California governorship. Reagan came from a generation in which Hollywood's top stars tended to be older and more conservative.

Hollywood has come a long way since the Academy Awards opened with the singing of the national anthem and the reading of a telegram from the president -- not to mention the World War II years, when some stars arrived in uniform. In March 2003, when Moore accepted his Oscar for "Bowling for Columbine," his standing ovation quickly turned to a mix of boos and cheers when he attacked President Bush.

'Fahrenheit' on DVD

The fuse on "Fahrenheit" will be ignited again next Tuesday, when the documentary is released on DVD. In mid-September, World Ahead Publishing announced what it called a "DVD buy-back program." A press release said it was "designed to protect Americans from harm, especially young children who might accidentally slip this dangerous propaganda into the living room DVD players." The conservative California-based publisher is offering people the chance to exchange their DVD for a book titled "Thank You, President Bush: Reflections on the War on Terror, Defense of the Family and Revival of the Economy."

Blake, the College of New Jersey professor, said he doesn't think actors are more politically involved today than in years past. "We just see actors and actresses differently. As the culture has become more and more dominated by celebrity, we've become increasingly aware of how manipulative the whole notion of stardom can be. With our fascination comes a good deal of resentment -- particularly when those celebrities don't agree with us politically."

The movie business seems a Democratic stronghold -- Ben Affleck, Jane Fonda ("My father would strike me dead if I ever voted for a Republican," she recently told CNN's Paula Zahn), Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Susan Sarandon, Barbra Streisand and too many others to list.

Although Democrats may be most visible, they are not the only party in town. Jesse Moss proved that with his AMC documentary, "Rated R: Republican in Hollywood." It has aired twice and will be repeated at 11 a.m. Nov. 7.

Actress Patricia Heaton described the shock -- but certainly not the awe -- at a Beverly Hills dinner party when someone made a snide comment about the Bush administration. "And I said, 'Oh, gosh, I love President Bush. My husband and I voted for him.' Literally, you thought I had crapped in the middle of the table. Sorry to be vulgar, but the reaction was so ..." she said, and then gasped in imitation of the reaction she received.

Another Hollywood Republican, game-show host Pat Sajak, told Moss he thinks so much of Hollywood leans to the left because of the film and TV blacklist that stunted or ended many careers during the 1950s.

"We've forgiven the Germans, we've forgiven the Japanese for bombing Pearl Harbor, but we just can't forgive that blacklist. That comes up so often, as if Joe McCarthy is prowling the hallways here and is going to come out and go, 'Boo!' "

Moss, a Democrat who has been praised and pilloried for the documentary, acknowledged other prominent GOP backers such as Mel Gibson, The Rock, Bruce Willis and Heather Locklear.

He made the film a year ago, when the atmosphere was less politically charged.

"I think Republicans always have raised money in Hollywood; it's not just Democrats," he said. "I do wonder whether, particularly if Bush wins, what's in store for Hollywood in the next term, and will conservatives continue to make inroads there and raise more money there, or will they find it equally or more convenient to use Hollywood as a punching bag?"

Tomorrow: We look at the visual arts and how politics and the election are informing new works of expression.