I have seen Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" before. I've actually seen it, or at least parts of it, several times. It is definitely one of the most informative documentaries that I have seen that is completely relevant to the culture of the United States, and I think it would benefit a majority of Americans to watch it.
What I really remembered from seeing it years ago was Michael Moore's interviews with Marilyn Manson. The Marilyn Manson interview really stands out to me because of how "normal" he comes off, and also completely informed and rational, yet we see him as such a "freak" in our society. He sounds far smarter to me than half of the people interviewed for this movie who claim they understand what the "problems" in America are. He himself acknowledges that we are taught to fear and consume. I completely agree that it is all too easy to blame those in the entertainment industries for the "problems" with youth in this country. Those boys from Columbine who shot up their school didn't do it because they liked Marilyn Manson's music. They did it because they had a lot deeper problems than we'll ever be able to understand.
This really is seen when Moore goes to Canada to check out the violence there. People are so much more trusting of their neighbors, their news isn't covered in stories about violence and anger, and yet the youth still go see the same movies, play the same video games, and listen to the same music as the youth in the United States. Clearly, this is a United States problem. It is also apparent when the statistics about gun violence in Europe, Japan, and Australia are listed. The highest gun crime rate for all three is in Germany, and it was roughly 300-something crimes a year. Yet in the United States, we have over 1,000 gun crimes a year. If this isn't proof that the United States has a gun control problem, then I don't know what is. It seems blatantly clear to me, and just aggravates me that others can be so blind to this issue.
What has always stood out to me about this documentary is how the NRA and Charlton Heston kept going to towns that had been directly affected by massacres and school shootings, almost immediately after these attacks had happened. I just always can't believe the level of disrespect that both Heston and the NRA are demonstrating when doing this. It's like adding insult to injury; while community members are grieving those lost and injured due to gun violence, Heston and the NRA are glorifying the right to own and use guns. It's just absolutely ridiculous and completely insensitive. I also find it ironic, as should everyone watching this film, that the NRA was formed after the KKK was deemed illegal.
The accessibility in this country to guns is appalling. The fact that youths can go to KMart in certain areas and buy bullets for such a cheap amount, and that you can get a free gun when opening a bank account, is just insane. There is no way, to me, that anyone can say the United States doesn't have a problem with gun control. It is blatantly out there. We are promoting this violence, glorifying it, and claiming it is our right. I find this absolutely irresponsible on the part of so many Americans and feel we absolutely need to fix this problem.
Alaina,
ReplyDeleteMarilyn Manson's interview definitely stuck out to me too. It showed how much our society judges people without giving them a chance to beat they expectations you already establish for them based on appearance only. It is definitely heartbreaking to me to know that some parents still teach their kids that it is ok to criticizes people who may be different from them. This film doesn't only need to be viewed by Americans to learn more about gun ownership and perspectives on the right to bear arms in the United States, but also that interview was a lesson in itself that we shouldn't be so quick to assume that people aren't intellectual. Marilyn Manson understood exactly why Moore was making his film and he had one of the best answers in response to the school shootings, which was that we need to listen to these kids to understand where they are coming from. That interview also did something else for me, judging people based on their appearance has been fatal in the United States in some situations. Whether it be penalizing the wrong people based on the color of their skin on crimes they didn't commit, and in specific example when Amadou Diallo was shot 41 times by police when he was unarmed and reaching for his identification. Other examples would be extreme bullying in schools throughout the country that have also lead to unfortunate deaths that perhaps could have been avoiding if someone would have only listened. Maybe it is wrong to blame the media entirely because adults are taking this information and not doing anything to change what is happening, just reinforcing the wrong beliefs onto children.
-Laura