Blogtrek

Bowling for Columbine

No, this is not about strikes and spares, nor is it about flowers. It is a movie about guns. This movie, written by Michael Moore, is much better than the previous one I reviewed, The Passion of the Christ. This time I saw the entire movie. It made a lot of good points about our obsession with guns in this country. It does have some weak points, primarily in supporting material for some of the claims made in the movie, and because it had some glaring omissions. But it was a movie worth making and seeing. I give it five stars and recommend to anyone wanting a movie to see to see this one, a winner at a film festival last year.

The movie features several memorable scenes. Two children with bullets in their body from the slaughter at Columbine High School go with Michael Moore and others to K-Mart to demand a change to their gun policy. This group actually went to a K-Mart and bought ALL the ammunition at that store and bought it to the headquarters. After some discussion and some delaying, a spokesperson came out saying that K-Mart would change its policies. Michael interviewed Charlton Heston but got nowhere. A bank offered a gift of a gun for opening an account there. That's right, a gun. The best moment of the film was in comparing statistics for annual gun deaths in a number of countries. Japan, European countries, and Canada had two and three digit numbers of deaths from guns, but the US had 11,127. That's right, five digits. So big that the fact that the US is bigger doesn't matter. Further, the usual arguments for the US having so many gun deaths don't work. The US has had a bloodthirsty history. True, but what did Nazi Germany have? And the Germans have a two-digit annual gun death total, probably 68. There are a lot of guns in the US. There are guns in every block. But so does Canada, which has a much lower rate. Even Windsor, right next to gun-happy Detroit, has a low death toll from guns. The US is entertained with violent TV and video games. Where did those video games come from? Japan, that's where, and Japan has a low death toll from guns. No none of these arguments work. That baffled me at first, and a movie that does that is usually a good movie. Later on, after reading some about it, I concluded that it's the hypermedia again. They blow up anything violent, and even create fears in us that are unfounded, such as fear from terrorists, overseas dictators, and even African bees.

One important omission, one which could explain part of the toll as well, was that of illegal drugs. Many deadly shootings and prison convictions in this country result from the sale of drugs. So it seems to me that a solution to the problem of gun deaths in this country is to legalize drugs and discourage their use, as well as countering the hyperboles of the media. Overall, it is a good movie. Stay home and watch it on DVD, or go to a theater and see it, if it is still there.