Separated at Birth: Argument by Irony in Hearts and Minds and Fahrenheit 9/11

Abstract

Political documentaries Hearts and Minds and Fahrenheit 9/11 were made three decades apart and stand as cultural markers of their times. The films share remarkable similarities and equally important differences. Hearts and Minds and Fahrenheit 9/11 include many similar iconic images of antiwar rhetoric, including grieving parents, profiteering businessmen, dissembling politicians, and wounded warriors. They have similar distribution histories. Conceptually, both films construct cinematic argument through an intricate succession of incongruous, contradictory, and ultimately ironic words and images. This article explores argument by irony as exemplified by Hearts and Minds and Fahrenheit 9/11, and discusses their dissimilarities as manifestations of the radically differentiated media environments of their times."Throughout the war in Vietnam, the United States has exercised a degree of restraint unprecedented in the annals of war." -Richard Nixon in Hearts and Minds (1974) "The care that goes into targeting [in Iraq] is impressive as anyone can see. The care that goes into it-the humanity that goes into it." -Donald Rumsfeld in Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) It is a riveting political documentary that won raves at the Cannes Film Festival, was dropped by its original distributor, met with passionately opposing reviews, and was a leading contender for an Academy Award. Is it Michael Moore's 2004 Fahr-

Missing the Joke: A Reception Analysis of Satirical Texts

“…Perhaps the reason lies in the rather open properties of satire, or in the practical arrangements and considerations of undertaking empirical reception studies, or even in the complex theoretical history of audience research. Those concerned with satirical arguments have generally conducted textual analysis (Gring-Pemble & Watson, 2003;Kaufer, 1977;Olson & Olson, 2004;Wilder, 2005;Wright, 2001). This line of research is typified by Olson and Olson (2004), who describe four possible reading positions and produce hypothetical readings of a sample text from those positions.…”