Michael Moore is certainly allowed to edit his films such that the target (Roger Smith, George W. Bush, Charlton Heston, Bambi...) is shown in the worst possible light. I think that 60 minutes has done this to great effect. Moore is less subtle than Wallace -- but if he wants to show unflattering video of Rumsfeld picking his nose, that's certainly his prerogative.
But to edit the film to change the meaning of a statement is over the line. Stockholm Spectator GroupBlog's The Lies of Fahrenheit: The First in a Series catches a big one at the end of F9/11:
ROLL FILM:
"Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11."
CUT.Pretty damning stuff, isn't it? But that was the truncated, Michael Moore version.
Now for the full, unexpurgated quote:
"Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. It's not that Saddam Hussein was somehow himself and his regime involved in 9/11, but, if you think about what caused 9/11, it is the rise of ideologies of hatred that lead people to drive airplanes into buildings in New York."
Well that's a different quote, Mike. So why the editing?
Hat-tip: Andrew (who is still driving me bonkers but I can't stay away).
Posted by jk at July 1, 2004 09:49 AM