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THIS DIVIDED STATE Send This Review to a Friend
How deeply the United States is politically divided is reflected in the unsettling documentary “This Divided State,” which on the one hand shows the frightening lengths some would go to suppress speech they do not agree with, and on the other highlights the determination of those committed to upholding our democratic rights. Director Steven Greenstreet captures behavior that is downright chilling in creating an ugly lynch-tone atmosphere. The film is an important window on what America might be like if the speech-squelchers would become dominant.
The cauldron of hate bubbled over in September, 2004, when officers of the student body at Utah Valley State College invited Michael Moore to speak on campus. The state is Bush country, and a campaign was launched against the booking, with so much hate involved that Moore was depicted as virtually the devil and a threat to the conservative community and their perceived values. Many, of course, had not even seen Moore’s controversial documentary, “Fahrenheit 9/11.” His reputation was enough. The fact that Moore was being paid a $40,000 fee fueled the anger, although his popularity was reflected in ticket sales that guaranteed no loss of money.
Leading the pack was a rich local opponent, a man named Kay Anderson, who offered $25,000 to the administration if the lecture was cancelled. Opponents of Moore invited Sean Hannity of Fox News to speak before Moore came. The film captures the roughshod tactics of Hannity on the platform in his speech and question period in which he ridicules liberals and a student who bravely identifies himself as one. The camera panning the auditorium picks up hate-filled facial expressions among many who wildly cheer Hannity and would in a mob atmosphere wipe out the right of Moore to talk or others to hear him.
The Moore appearance does materialize before a huge crowd, but there is court action against the students who arranged for his talk, and on a sad note, one of the officers is compelled to resign his student post. The free speech victory was a marred one, and what remains is a portrait of those who will take risks to preserve our freedoms, the many students who support free speech and the mean-spiritedness of others who would stomp on the Bill of Rights in order to keep people from saying things they don’t want to hear. All of this happened against the background of the last Presidential election and the explosive issue of the Iraq war. “This Divided State” does a major service by taking us into Utah for its revealing look that tells us how dangerously split America is. A Disinformation Company release.
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