Shouting Fire (2009)

Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech is a documentary film which premiered on US television (HBO) in 2009. Here is some basic information about it:

** Director: Elizabeth “Liz” Garbus (born 1970)

** Run time: 74 minutes

Many persons are interviewed in the film. Archive footage is used between the interviews. I will not mention all names, because the list is too long. Here are some of the names (in alphabetical order):

** Floyd Abrams (born 1936) – first amendment lawyer

** Leslie Cagan (born 1947) – United for Peace and Justice

** Eric Foner (born 1943) – Professor of History, Columbia University

** Martin Garbus (born 1934) – first amendment lawyer

** David Horowitz (born 1939) – author

** Donna Lieberman – New York Civil Liberties Union

** Daniel Pipes (born 1949) – Middle East Forum

** Richard Posner (born 1939) – judge, US court of appeals

** Kenneth Starr – Dean at the school of law, Pepperdine University 2004-2010

** Josh Wolf (born 1974) – blogger, comedian

The first person we see when the film begins is Martin Garbus. Why? Because he is not only a first amendment lawyer; he is also the father of the director Liz Garbus. Liz has a dual purpose:

(1) She wants to make a film about free speech in the US.

(2) She wants to chronicle the life and career of her father Martin Garbus.

Her choice of participants is both interesting and surprising. In many cases, the director of a documentary film will select only people who support and agree with his or her own point of view. This is not the case here.

The choice of participants is quite balanced. First we get to hear from a witness who supports one side and later we get to hear from a witness who supports the other side of a case.

In the US, speech is relatively free. But there are limits.  You are not allowed to say whatever you want. The classic example used to illustrate the limit is this: you are not allowed to shout “Fire,” if you are in a crowded theatre, and there is no fire. Why not?

If you do this, you will cause a panic, and many people might get hurt or injured when they are trying to get out. Hence the title of the film:  

 

Shouting Fire

Many people say they support free speech. But is it really true? There is a test you can take. If you support only free speech for opinions with which you agree, you do not really support free speech. As Martin Garbus explains, you must be prepared to support free speech for people with whom you do not agree and for opinions with which you do not agree.

This film covers a number of cases where the question of one person’s right to free speech is involved. Here are three examples:

# 1. The case of Ward Churchill, who was a professor at the University of Colorado. He was fired from his job. He says this was a violation of the first amendment.

# 2. The case of Debbie Almontaser, who was a principal at a school in New York. She was fired from her job. She says this was a violation of the first amendment.

# 3. The case of Chase Harper, who was a student at Poway High School. He was wearing a T-shirt with a certain message. The school suspended him and threatened to expel him from the school because of this message. He says this was a violation of the first amendment.

Martin Garbus also talks about a famous case from the 1970s: the case of the Pentagon Papers and the Vietnam War. This case involves Daniel Ellsberg, because he was the one who leaked the secret documents. But the case was not only about him and his rights. It was about the US government and its foreign policy over several decades.

What do reviewers say about this film? On IMDb it has a rating of 76 per cent, which corresponds to (almost) four stars on Amazon. On the US version of Amazon there are six reviews of this product. The average rating is 3.8 stars.

If you ask me, both these ratings are too low. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS. For more information, see the following documentary films:

** Shadows of Liberty (2012)

** Orwell Rolls in His Grave (2003)

** Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (2006)

** Unconstitutional: The War On Our Civil Liberties (2004)

** Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992)

** The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009)

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