Independence Day celebrations are often filled with barbeques, fireworks, families and picnics. This Sunday in Hanover, however, many chose to celebrate the holiday not with fireworks of the tangible variety, but rather with those of the political kind.
Since its opening last week, Michael Moore's latest documentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11" has made political waves and dominated the box office throughout the nation, selling out almost every screening in traditionally liberal Hanover.
"I wanted to see some of Michael Moore's fireworks before I saw the ones in Norwich," said one woman buying advance tickets on Sunday.
Hanover's Nugget Theater is the only venue showing the film between Concord and Montpelier. According to M. Kaufman, a manager at the Nugget, this shortage of screenings "has people driving an hour and a half to come see it."
The movie was so popular at the Nugget last week that the theater manager decided to increase the showings to two screens -- half of the Nugget's available theater space. Nevertheless, the movie has continued to sell out frequently.
The theater expected a large turnout of patrons to add the movie to their Fourth of July celebrations, and many bought tickets in advance.
Charlotte Call of Mascoma bought tickets three hours early to avoid the possibility of missing yet another showing of the controversial documentary. Call, who considers her political leanings to be in line with Moore's, was looking forward to attending the show on such a patriotic holiday.
However, according to Kaufman, those who agree with Moore are not the only ones lining up to buy tickets.
"Today we have seen everything -- young people, old people, families and large random groups. We even had a guy come in and buy 28 tickets at once for a group of hikers today," he said.
"This is one of the most unpatriotic things I could do today by seeing this movie," said Tim Haupt, a self-declared right-wing Upper Valley resident. "To experience suffering, to subject myself to an anti-American viewpoint and see it coupled with slapstick comedy. It is guerrilla theater. Michael Moore is a buffoon but I still closed my store early so I could get in to see it."
James Wilde, a middle-aged liberal from Quechee, Vt. who saw the movie for the second time on Sunday, said he brought his young family with him this time because more "Moore patriotism" should be seen and observed, especially on the Fourth of July. His wife Karen agreed.
"This movie brought me back to the '60s and Vietnam. I want my family to understand, grow and experience like our generation did in times like this," she said.
Though many self-identified liberals waited in the ticket line on the Fourth, not all of them were there to endorse the ideas supported by Michael Moore or believed that his documentary complimented the national message of Independence Day. Likewise, there were several conservatives in attendance who thought that Moore's message was worth hearing.
One man, who was seeing the film for the second time and who voted for George Bush in the 2000 presidential election, seemed to have changed his mind in the past four years.
"Ha, I thought it was the most patriotic thing I could do today. It used to be setting off fireworks, now it is realizing that I voted for a man who doesn't deserve to be in office. The most patriotic thing I can do now is realize that I have the power and voice to change it," he said.
