bowling for columbine

wow. i just watched Michael Moore's Oscar winning film, Bowling for Columbine. it was very...poignant.

i know lots of people dislike (hate?) him because of the ass he made of himself during his acceptance speech during the ceremony, but this documentary is very good. moore exposes all of the excuses people like the NRA use to defend their right to bear arms.

why does america have such a high death-by-gunfire rate? canada has just as high of a gun per family ratio, yet less than 200 people die there every year. they watch the same tv, the same movies, listen to the same music. why are americans so violent?

another theme is the fact that we as americans live in constant fear. and if you're not afraid of enough already, the news is likely to find something else for you to fear. sharks, snakes, prescription drug reactions, murders, rapes, car defects, stock market crashes, burgularies, unhealthy food, etc. etc. etc. why is this? i'll admit. i'm afraid of being attacked. afraid of being murdered. afraid of being approached by a homeless man. afraid of heartattacks and obesity and sharks and snakes and even car defects. and yeah, i do largely blame this on the fact that i love watching the news and MSNBC. i have this need to be knowledgable of current events. people in freakin TORONTO don't even lock their doors at night. or when they're not home. how bizarre is that? i lock my car doors when i'm in the car driving down the highway at 80mph. there are neighborhoods where i don't feel safe sitting in my locked car at a stoplight. why is this? because i've taught myself that neighborhoods in which the streets are numbered (28th street, 65th street, etc) are not good neighborhoods and i'm more likely to be raped, murdered, carjacked in those neighborhoods than i am in my fancy white rich folk side of town with french sounding named streets (chenal, rahling, hinson, etc).

there's this hilarious cartoon "brief history of america" in the film too. mostly concerning how the white man has always lived in fear of things, which is why they have guns. they were afraid of the indians - killed them. afraid of the british - killed them. afraid of slaves - killed them. slaves were freed - white man very scared. rosa parks - white man afraid. it's a different light to see things in than the textbook perception i was fed in junior high school.

anyway. i've always been for gun control and ammunition control and WAAAAAY anti-NRA. i don't even like watching charlton heston movies just because i hate him so much as a person. bowling for columbine provides statistics for people like me, and maybe will open a few eyes to people who don't see eye to eye with me. Michael Moore is a lifetime member of the NRA and look what he does. he and two disabled students from the columbine massacre managed to convince KMart to stop selling ammunition all together. why can't walmart do that?

obviously owning a gun (or two or three or four) isn't making this country safer. i don't care if you have one to hunt with. do you really need a Tech 9 semi-automatic to shoot deer with? there's too much money involved with the NRA and the goverment to ever put a stop to this. republican or democrat, they are all waist deep in campaign funding from the deep pockets of NRA members.

i finally found something that gets my mind working and my heart pumping again. who says i need school to go on tirades?

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