Flying Below the Radar

Fahrenheit 9/11 is rightly drawing large crowds and getting rave (and raving) reviews. But if your budget and interests allow for more than one documentary a summer, don't miss Control Room, which, strangely enough, is playing in Baton Rouge this week.

Two of my closest friends gave me a strong recommendation to see this movie, and I'm very glad to say I took their advice. Now, unlike F9/11, the audience was about what you'd expect for a show that offers a different view of Operation Go Fuck Ourselves, formerly known as the invasion of Iraq. My presence accounted for twenty five percent of the 7:10 showing (actually 7:25 showing--I usually try to arrive a little late, if only to miss the onslaught of advertisements, previews, announcements, and other such movie house purgatory. And, damn if I didn't win the showtime lottery--as I walked in, the first opening credit was on the screen.

Control Room looks at the war through the eyes of Al Jazeera, which, if you believe the Bush administration, served tea to Saddam Hussein when not broadcasting his propaganda. Major parts of the movie are shot at Central Command Media Headquarters. Located on the outskirts of Doha, Qatar, the nondescript metal building looked remarkably like the desert studio on the old sci-fi flick Capricorn One, and I'll bet CentCom wished at the time that it would serve a similar function in pulling the wool over the eyes of the world.

Some moments that really stuck out for me were scenes where our pResident piously invoked the Geneva Convention in regards to the US prisoners captured and killed in the same firefight where Jessica Lynch was taken prisoner, and with Donald Rumsfeld lighting into Al Jazeera about their "lies," which breaks the irony scale. The mounting frustration over the sterile, distant media center is reflected when the deck of "Iraqi Most Wanted" cards is displayed--followed by the revelation that the media will not be allowed even a quick view as the deck appears to be the only one delivered to Doha. An apt metaphor for the scripted television show that Doha was.

Other poignant moments are the death of Tarek Ayoub, who is seen on camera minutes before a US airplane (I think an A-10, but I'm not certain), launches a missile strike against Al Jazeera's Baghdad Headquarters. Ayoub was killed in this strike. The images of death and destruction throughout the conflict generate debate between US military spokespersons (who come across suprisingly sympathetic) and Al Jazeera correspondents. Interestingly, a healthy friendship develops from the dialectic that exists between them.

Media bias is explored on both sides, as camera capture US correspondents cheering the toppling of Saddam's statue in Firdos Square, while Arab correspondents lament the fall of Baghdad (and offer a skeptical view of the unfolding events).

Finally, there are moments that you'd expect: a translator for the network can't hide his contempt for both a military spokesperson and our pResident, while Hassan Ibrahim chuckles about a street scene he saw on television. A US soldier heard children chanting something that included the word "Bush." The soldier thought the kids were singing his praises; Ibrahim, who of course speaks Arabic, said they were shouting "Goddamn Bush." Classic.

So, while Michael Moore is the lightning rod this summer, I encourage anyone who has the time to make sure to see this movie. Nothing like seeing things from the other side of the fence, as it were.