The Movie the FBI Doesn't Want You To See
Dateline: 12/2/99
Independent film maker Mike Z. is getting a lot of attention recently -- it's just not the kind he was hoping for. One day last week, the FBI knocked on his door and asked him to take down a movie he had posted to his website, www.crowdedtheater.com. Giving in to pressure, Mike Z's host, ISP BECamation, complied and took down the site, although there was no warrant issued. Now, the ACLU is wondering whether the FBI action was constitutional, and for the time being, the controversial movie is back online.
The movie in question is a six-minute long RealVideo spoof posing as secret military footage. It features rainy footage of the area around Time Square and a voice-over that gives instructions for agitation in order to incite a race riot so that the military can move in and "by oh-three-hundred we must have the island secured." A caption on Crowded Theater's download page states that the tape came "from my cousin Steve who's in the army." That's right: the military is plotting to take over Manhattan on New Year's. You heard it first on the 'net. Ha, ha, ha.
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The film is based on an interesting idea that capitalizes on our fears about what will happen on December 31st, zero hours--it's an excercise in pre-millennial angst. Like The Blair Witch Project, it is another instance of a very low-budget filmmaker cleverly using severe limitations to his advantage. All it takes to gain notoriety these days is a camcorder, a net connection, and a good idea. Where Blair Witch showed nothing but empty woods, there's nothing to see here but New York cabs in the rain. The real movie plays in our heads as the voice-over describes the riots that will errupt on New Year's Eve. To anybody with an active imagination, it's interesting, somewhat distrubing, and mildly entertaining for about six minutes. But is it a threat to national security worthy of potentially unconstitutional government intervention? I think not. |
To my mind, what happened to Mike Z. is yet another sorry display of the humorlessness and helplessness of authorities in the face of art. Satire doesn't play well with the powers that be--it never has, and it never will. Does the FBI really think we are so immature as to seriously confuse this film with real footage?
I say: if we're so worried about dangerously bad filmmaking and millennial fear runnig amok, we should go ahead and shut down Schwarzenegger's End of Days instead..
Y2K Military Takeover
See the Time Square riot movie for yourself before it disappears again. Requires
RealPlayer.
Village
Voice
Read coverage of the Mike Z. case.
Wired
Wired looks into the background of the case and asks if Mike Z's
ISP is to blame.
