OT: Bowling for Columbine

Skulky · #1 November 12th, 2002, 07:39 AM

When I went out to see this movie i wasn't quite sure what to expect, i mean MM (michael Moore, not malfador) has done some great things, but i was a little apprehensive. However, it was an awesome movie, great jokes, serious content nonetheless, great message and really eye opening. BTW, im moving to Canada, it really is better there.

O and until americans can stop being angry and scared they can't have guns, or just go with the chris rock solution of $5000 bullets "Damn i would blow your ****ing head off but i just don't have the money. I'm gonna go get me a job and a savings account and then you just wait, i'll buy myself a bullet."

Jmenschenfresser · #2 November 12th, 2002, 07:04 PM

Went up to Lincoln Sq. Friday night to see it, but the damned thing was sold out....

Ah well, maybe next time.

Askan Nightbringer · #3 November 13th, 2002, 09:22 AM

I'm been hanging out for this movie but it doesn't open in Australia until Boxing Day (December 26th for the foreigners) which also coincides with the next Lord of the Rings so maybe I could just see both and give myself really square eyes.

I liked his book "Stupid White Men" and now I too cross the street when I see a white guy coming the other way. (OK, maybe not).

Askan

jimbob · #4 November 14th, 2002, 04:00 AM

It was an amazing movie in many ways - he's far more compassionate/real with people than say the '60 minutes' crew.

And while it is far less slanted than what you'd get from 60 minutes, there's plenty of places where (as a Canadian who has more than a few American relatives) I could see that the whole truth wasn't really being told.

For example, he gave total numbers of deaths by gun by country, which is fine I suppose

, but it's far less dramatic when you recalculate in percapita... for example Canada has about 1/10th the population of the U.S.A., and so of course our gun related death values will be lower. And yes, while we do have a whole swack of guns in Canada, the ratio is far lower than that in the U.S. - he really should have done a comparison of number of guns per household US vs # guns/household Canada. Additionally our type of gun matters, our % handguns is radically lower.

I do agree with his general premise however, that the root cause has more to do with fear than any other factor. The one that really got me was the Anthrax scare. Does joe-trailer park really think he's important enough to get an anthrax letter? I mean honestly, short of having major celebrity status, we're all pretty safe.

Just my 2 cents. I really liked the movie.

Skulky · #5 November 14th, 2002, 07:42 AM

Truth about the anthrax scare, my mom was tripping something crazy, i was just like, "look unless they spread it around in the Rolling Stone shipping room its not going to be in our mail, and plus at least its not like smallpox or something that's contagious."

O, and i have no respect for my heritage either.

now i have 4 cents.

geoschmo · #6 November 14th, 2002, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jimbob:
The one that really got me was the Anthrax scare. Does joe-trailer park really think he's important enough to get an anthrax letter? I mean honestly, short of having major celebrity status, we're all pretty safe.

Uh dude, how many of the five people killed during that thing were celebreties? Only one, and that's only if you count that first guy that died as a celebrety which is a stretch. He was a photographer for a tabloid newspaper. How many people outside of his little circle knew him before he contracted the disease. And how many of the five were even the targets of the peson sending the antrax? Again, maybe just him. Two postal workers that handled one of the letters, and two other ladies that just got it somehow. Probably by cross contamination with mail containing antrax spores.

The Antrax scare was about fear, yes that is correct. But you didn't have to be a famous person to be afraid of it. Like the sniper killings in D.C. it picked it's victims pretty much at random. But unlike the sniper killings you didn't know immedietly you'd been picked. All they could tell you was it caused flu-like symptoms in the early stages. It's no wonder everybody that came down with a runny nose started thinking about it.

Geoschmo