Bowling for Columbine - Coming out
Trust. Fear. This movie wasn't about guns. It was about a
culture of fear. (And the unexplained bashing of Charlton Heston... What was that all about?)
What is the difference between Canada and the US? Canada has 7m guns and 10m households; they have guns too. Their murder rate is much, much lower than ours (hundreds of gun related deaths vs 10k in the US... A Canadian has
1/8th the chance of an American of getting killed by a gun). Why do we kill each other with guns and why don't they?
Mr. Moore argues that the difference is fear. We have a history of fear. The Pilgrims came because they were afraid of persecution. The European settlers killed off the indians because they were afraid. To show further fear of other ethnicities, we've grown to be fearful of black people. This fear is shown again and again in our news programs.
According to Marilyn Manson, the fear is driven by corporations to drive demand for consumption. To be safe, you have to by
this.
The problem doesn't appear to be the guns but it is corporations and a culture of fear. How do we fix the problem?
This is where the movie fails. Instead of answering the question, the last act of the movie is spent disparaging the noticeable feeble and old Charlton Heston. Why does Moore spend his time beating up on this man? Earlier in the movie he had determined that the problem wasn't guns. He even has a conversation with one of the Columbine victim's father who can't understand why Canada has as many guns but fewer deaths by them.
I'm going to punt on the issue of how to fix the problem just as Moore did... It's easier to disparage old people and pin it on racism.
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