Ray Bradbury is on Hardball crying about Michael Moore's...........

[TheDebbieDee]

use of his similarly titled Fahrenheit 451. Claiming MM stole his title. What a crying little bitch!

[Sweetpea]

1. Crying like in tears?

[TheDebbieDee]

9. It was more of a whine than a cry. How can anybody that smart.........

whine like such a wuss?

[jeff30997]

2. Ray Bradbury can go Cheyney himself.

[BattyDem]

3. Shut up, Ray!

Thanks to Moore, your book is in the Top 50 at Amazon!

[onehandle]

4. Shut up and sue him.

No?

Of course not. You have no case.

[Sporadicus]

5. I Heard Shakespeare's Pissed

because Ray Bradbury lifted 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' from MacBeth.

"Wolf cookies for everyone"

[goclark]

6. Poor Baby Ray

I suppose that the author of "Cold War" should try to sue the author of "Cold Mountain."

[AwakeAtLast]

7. He's trying to keep his title in the press

so he can sell as much as MM did.

[kentuck]

8. Sort of like "Gone With The Hailstorm" ?

"Gone with the Wind" would sue? For half a title? :shrug: I don't think so...:)

[BattyDem]

11. That's right ...

Basically, Bradbury's pissed that moore used the word "Fahrenheit" - I didn't realize that Bradbury held a copyright on the word. Someone should call Merriam-Webster so they can make note of it in their next dictionary. :eyes:

[jeff30997]

10. From now on nobody can use the word...

Martian without asking Ray first because of his Martian Chronicles.:evilgrin:

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

40. The Heidi Chronicles

Don't remember him pissing and moaning then...

[freeforall]

12. And I say a "Cheney" unto him

What a f***ing whiner. Titles are NOT copyright! As an author, he should know this. Besides, it's not the same title, and I don't believe it is anywhere near the same subject as his novel.

Spare me!

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

13. He's been pissing and moaning for what, three weeks now?

What's he trying to do, round up the torch-carrying angry villagers?

[Dookus]

14. The same Ray Bradbury

who published a book entitled "I Sing The Body Electric"?

A title lifted STRAIGHT from Whitman, with NO change.



Bradbury can go Cheney himself.

[still_one]

15. quite interesting

he is doing what the villians in Fahrenheit 451 were trying to do

[dsc]

16. Even Moore says he was wrong here

He should have asked. This was clearly using both the idea of the title as well as the word.

[QC]

23. It's what's known as an "allusion."

Authors have been doing this for millenia. As others have pointed out here, Bradbury himself does it.

What we have here is an aging author whose best work is forty yeards behind him trying desperately for some attention.

[jpgray]

24. Did Ray ask Whitman's estate about his use of his works? (nt)

[parasim]

17. What about all those porn movie titles...

such as, On Golden Blond, et al...? Why's nobody ever whined about those, huh, Ray?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

47. That's right. How about Forest Hump? Sorry, I just had to say that. n/t

[LastRobot]

18. What's wrong with some of you?

Ray Bradbury disagrees with some of you and you dismiss him completely? (this is more a response in general to the complaints about Mr. Bradbury in the past few weeks)

Consider his entire lifetime of work before you dismiss him. Yeah, he doesn't have a legal case here and is wrong but to act like he's a neo con or some such crap is absurd.

Lately I'm noticing with disappointing frequency that more and more posters here act like the you-know-whos but from a liberal slant.

Yeah we dislike the other side for what they've done and want to continue to do to this country but lets not become them in the process. We're better than that. We can still fight for what we believe in without descending to such depths of immaturity.

Of course Bradbury is one of my favorite writers so I'm willing to dismiss this poorly thought out pursuit of his...that and he had a stroke a few years ago so he might not be the same Ray who wrote all those great books.

And I'm pretty much a lurker so I'm sure my observations will be dismissed by some of the more, er, frequent posters ;-).

[BattyDem]

20. It's the hypocrisy that makes me mad

I'm a Bradbury fan - but he has done the exact same thing that he's whining about. Why is it ok for him to "lift" a line from another author, but not ok for Moore to do it? Titles, names and short phrases are not protected by copyright law, so Bradbury is not a victim of anything.

[ParanoidPat]

27. I hear what you're saying but.....

.....I see it from a slightly different POV. Is Ray a genius or a fool?
Look at it this way, Fahrenheit 451 was a book about state censorship of writings that ran contrary to the message that the state wanted people to hear and believe. Fahrenheit 911 is a documentary that by it's title pays homage to Ray Bradbury's original concept of the power of the state to censor the message that the media puts out to shape what we think.
Now R.B. has used other peoples material in the past to invoke emotions ala "Something Wicked This Way Comes" from MacBeth and "I Sing The Body Electric" from Whitman as pointed out above.

So think for a minute, knowing that he has done exactly what he's accusing Moore of doing, would he get any press where it's needed if he said nothing at all or just agreed with Moore's use of 'his' title for the documentary?

By putting out the message that he is against Moore's use of 'his' title to evoke the emotions brought about by his book, R.B. has accomplished two things. First he has garnered a receptive attitude by the media to putting just that much more (or should I say Moore?) controversy out in just the media that would not cover his opinion if he agreed with Moore's decision to use that title. IOW, FOX, MSRNC and the rest would just ignore anything R.B. said if he had agreed with the decision. By disagreeing, they will all pick up and echo the message causing people to think about it.

Second, R.B. has a very important book that has suddenly been thrust back into the top 50 bestsellers list thereby insuring that he gets more publicity and the royalties to go with it.

So is he a fool who has forgotten why he wrote Fahrenheit 451 in the first place or is he a genius who just got a new generation of readers interested? :shrug: :evilgrin:

[Rabrrrrrr]

38. LOL! I was really pissed at Bradbury before reading your post

But you could damn well be right - the 'disagreement' could he carefully orchestrated to both keep the movie in the spotlight, to stir up some controversy which seems the only to get the jaded public off their fucking asses, and in the process offer a shitload of publicity for Fahrenheit 451.

As you say, if Bradbury had agreed, or remained silent, the vast majority of people seeing F911 would never even know that there was a book called Fahrenheit 451. This way, they get the people into the theaters because of the "controversy" over both the name (and of course, the content!), and teach a huge segment of America, which tends toward cultural ignorance, that there is a really, really important book out there that they need to read.

I hope you're right, because I hate the though that Bradbury could be such an idiotic little selfish prick.

[rednek_Liberal]

49. Do I smell a special edition DVD/Book release....

hmmm

[LastRobot]

46. interesting

Hmmm. You pointed out some things that I'm going to think about, esp. the whole RB getting attention for his book from this.

Its more that some people just outright dismiss an entire person when they disagree with one thing they do and I don't like that.

And I'm probably taking this personally because of how much I like his books.

But wouldn't put it past him to try to use the controversy to create publicity for himself...after all, he IS a science fiction writer and one who hasn't had the output he used to have (last book was out in 2000 I think).

[shance]

19. So Bradbury has the copyright on the word *Fahrenheit*?

Doesnt work that way. If he has an ideological issue with Moore, then he should simply have the guts to air it and not act like some entitled king.

Also, why doesnt Matthews bring up the Body Electric book?

Bradbury, although talented perhaps, has no class in bringing this up, not to mention is a *has been*.

[Senior citizen]

21. Bradbury is an ingrate

His book is starting to sell again thanks to Michael Moore, and he can't even say thank you.

[LoZoccolo]

22. Look at the Amazon sales rank for /Fahrenheit 451/.

:nopity:

[tigereye]

25. yeah it should benefit him in the long run

the movie made me think about getting out the book to reread.

[Lorien]

26. I had lunch with Bradbury once, and I don't think

this is really about Moore's film. Ray is the friend of a friend of mine. He seems to need a lot of attention and recognition, and like a lot of creative people in their golden years, he's become a bit insecure . The movie title brings attention to his book, and thus presents an opportunity for him to promote himself and his other works. Indeed, Fahrenheit 451 has moved up on Amazon's sales rankings significantly since Moore's film was announced. Cut the guy some slack, he's doing us a favor by keeping F-9/11 in the headlines (all publicity is good publicity!)

[AlFrankenFan]

28. Wait he's still alive? Seriously, but sounds familiar

does anyone recall an incident of FOX News, Fair and Balanced, and an Al Franken book?

[JohnKleeb]

34. yeah hes 84 I think

Yes I recall the incident, and that book is missing.

[LibertyorDeath]

29. Fuck Ray Bradbury

[SideshowScott]

30. As a Fan of Bradbury....

Ive been keeping out of these treads but I feel after he went on Hardball to bash Moore about the title I have to chime in. It saddens me greatly that Bradbury would adopt to take this tactic. Though ive never met the man but since Jr High school ive always thought he might be a person who is a free thinking left leaning writer. Someone would tell his agent to tell him that the film is helping his book sales and his rantings contradicts one of his greatest works. Maby he should see the film. Just a thought.

[Democat]

32. He's a Freeper, he doesn't care about sales, just bashing Clinton

Bradbury has gone over the deep end in his old age. It's a shame.

[uhhuh]

37. Yep, he's a solid, ignorant winger

Read members of his discussion forum talking about him.

Especially the interview posted by Beery:

http://www.raybradbury.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000951.html

[Seabiscuit]

31. Unless he has a copyright...

..which includes "9/11" he has absolutely no beef.

What a friggin' freepin' asswipe. And wouldn't you know Tweety would indulge this idiot. Fuck him, and fuck Cheney and his crowd which put paid him to be on Tweety's show with our taxdollars.

Fuck 'em all!!! I want my tax money back!!!!

[Tom Kitten]

33. Compare Bradbury to Orwell...

I always thought "1984" and "Farenheit 451" had similar themes....
I can't see Orwell as an old man ranting and raving about infringing on his use of the title "1984", though, as 1984 drew near...
And what about Aldous Huxley's whole "Brave New World" thing? Should any mention of that phrase or idea get it's oK from his estate first?


Why is Bradbury being so petty and crochety in his old age? After all G W Bush doesn't exactly read, does he?

[Seabiscuit]

35. Because apparently...

Bradbury's become a right-wing a-hole willing to whore himself on Tweety's a'hole whorin' show. End of story.

Get it?

[Tom Kitten]

36. Thanks for the insight...

your explanation covers all the bases...

[Enraged_Ape]

39. Well, that does it. I'm a Celsius man from now on!

I didn't know Ray Bradbury held the copyright on Gabriel Fahrenheit's last name. Fuck that Freeper.

[TexasSissy]

41. He's a Repub, I think. He's suing Moore, isn't he?

Copyright infringement?

[Enraged_Ape]

45. I seriously doubt he can sue him; this is all just publicity...

for a senile old fool who hasn't written a significant work in nearly 40 years.

It's well established in law that titles are held above the copyright standards. How else would we get so many books and movies with the same titles, not to mention those ridiculous porn parodies? Maybe Harlan Ellison will eventually tell him to shut up.

[Killarney]

42. Did Bradbury ask Shakespeare if he could use

Something Wicked This Way Comes?

That wasn't even an allusion, just a steal.

[sendero]

43. Dear Mr Bradbury...

... I sure hope I don't turn into a tittie baby in my declining years as you have.

[Loonman]

44. Shaddup, Ray

Nobody cares.

[Monte Carlo]

48. What the hell is his problem, anyway?

You should be glad that Moore is bringing so much attention to your book, Mr. Bradbury, and as a writer you should know that you can't copyright a book title, so get over yourself.