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Bowling for Columbine (Exposing America's Denial?)
First off, let's keep this civilized. 
I saw Bowling for Columbine last night. A fantastic film. I think everyone should see it. I don't want to reveal too much about what is in the film but I would like to discuss it.
First off, keep in mind that the maker of the film, Michael Moore, is a registered member of the NRA. The film's main point is exploring the question of why are there so many gun murders in America. Michael Moore begins by gauging the current attitude toward fire arms. He talks to various people, militia members and other mostly right-wing nuts. We find that they seem to take the right to bear arms for granted and, when pressed, cannot offer convincing justification of why they should be allowed to have an M-16 in their house. It's pretty funny. School shootings are the underlying motif in this film. He asks, why are there school shootings in the US and rarely in other countries? Why are american teenagers different? In other countries, they watch the same movies, listen to the same music, play the same video games and have a bloody history, yet they are not as prone to violence as americans. Why? While this film doesn't offer a definitive answer to this question, it does explore some interesting avenues. The main one being that american media is striving to keep the people in a state of fear. The film makes the interesting observation that if you turn on the news in the States you'll usually see a story about a murder involving a black or latino male and gunplay. Anyone remember Y2K? Nothing happened. What about the warnings after Sept. 11? Nothing happened. Yet people were still scared. In the film Michael Moore travels to Canada to try to find some basic differences between the two similar societies. He finds that most people don't even lock their doors in Sarnia and Windsor. So, americans are scared? That is what the film portrays. From there Michael Moore concludes that "a nation of people who are this scared should not have so many guns lying around." I would have to agree with this statement and it sums up the film lightly.
I have only touched on certain parts of the film. I would love to hear other people's thoughts about it. Once again, if you haven't seen it, you should go.
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