Fahrenheit 9/11 for Joe Schmo

There’s been a lot of talk on the net about people’s reactions to Fahrenheit 9/11, about how much money it made, and about how factual it was. There was even discussion about how the movie may have affected sales of anti-Bush books. But I was wondering how much the movie will really affect the average, undecided American.

Well, the average American doesn’t read books, doesn’t watch documentaries at theatres, and doesn’t vote. So when Joe Schmo sees this movie, will he side with Moore and want to vote the current administration out of office? Or will he agree with people like Hitch that the movie is so much “liberal propaganda” and vote for Bush?

So I went with an average american who subscribes to the above three “doesn’ts”. While in line, I asked whether or not he was going to vote in the next election. “I really don’t know, I wasn’t planning on it.” And let’s just say that his opinion didn’t change after watching the movie. Maybe his answer would have been different if Arnold was running for President.

A depressing experiment. I know my own Joe Schmo is only one data point, so for now I’ll hold my judgment until after the election, and try to keep the faith.