The Dynamic Duo

Yesterday I went and saw Michael Moore’s new documentary “BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE”, and was once again blown away by the man’s talent. He is superb at making his point while at the same time looking at an issue from all sides. As he is not trying to be an objective reporter, he of course gives extra weight to his view on things, but he gives the other side a chance to express their views.

BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE is about, for the most part, the issue of gun violence in America, particularly gun violence in schools. He discusses the fact that the difference in the number of gun murders in America and in other countries is staggering, and tries to look into possible reasons for the difference. One thing that they pointed out that was, in my opinion, very valid was the fact that the media in America shows murder and crime all the time. “Cops” has been on the air for over ten years, you almost can’t turn on the news without seeing a murder case being covered, the same goes for newspapers. On the other hand, while we see murders on TV in Japan, they don’t take up the majority of the news hour. You can argue that a large reason for the difference here is that guns are hard to get, but they are readily available in Canada, and it isn’t the same. The news reports a lot of murders because there are a lot of murders, and because there are a lot of murders on the news, people are frightened; because people are frightened they get guns, and because frightened, emotional people have guns and have gun violence at the front of their minds, there are more gun murders. It is a vicious cycle, and I don’t know how to end it, but I think a good start would be reducing the sensationalism in the reporting of these stories in the popular press. Make the story into something sad and unacceptable rather than a big highly emotionally charged press circus.

One of the best parts of the movie for me was that Moore went and talked to some victims of the violence in Columbine High School. One boy was in a wheelchair, and the other was barely able to walk again after multiple surgeries. Both of them still had bullets lodged in their bodies. The kids that carried out the attacks had bought the bullets at a nearby K-Mart, so Moore and the kids went to the K-Mart headquarters, and tried to speak with the CEO of K-Mart. They never got to speak to the CEO, but did obtain a promise from K-Mart to stop selling handgun ammunition within 90 days. That was great publicity for K-Mart I think, and I was happy to see it take place. I am actually not against gun ownership, but I think Americans need to take it more seriously. I grew up with guns in my home, but they were never within my reach, they were never loaded until we were ready to use them, and we were ALWAYS taught that guns are dangerous and to be respected. I think that is what is really wrong in America is that respect is lacking, not only respect for guns, but respect for human life. The other thing that is missing is responsibility. People tend to not take responsibility for their own actions, and blame it on their upbringing or situation or whatever. True some people are disadvantaged, but that doesn’t excuse you not trying to improve it. If we could get a grip on those two things, we could get a grip on many of society’s problems.

I’m sorry, this sounds like an elementary book report, but I just can’t seem to write eloquently tonight (not that I ever can). I would recommend this movie to anyone, and it is still playing in Japan. It has won 22 awards so far, and is nominated for an Oscar for best documentary film. I really think it should be required viewing for Americans, but that would be propaganda and indoctrination wouldn’t it?