Bowling for Columbine

[ciroccoj]

Chris and I watched most of Bowling for Columbine last night. It should have been comedy, not documentary, because most of it would have been hysterically funny if it wasn't real. As it was, watching Michael Moore getting a free gun with a new bank account, buying bullets at the barber while getting his hair cut, talking to the members of the Michigan Militia... was almost nauseating. The most common comments from us were "Jesus Christ" and "Holy Fuck." Occasionally "My God", said not as an expletive but as an actual plea for help from above. And I'm agnostic; I don't normally call on God for any reason, let alone to help me understand a damn movie.

Moments that stand out (and some of the funny ones were actually were LOL funny, not just in a creepy way):

• Chris Rock doing a standup routine where he stated that he doesn't believe in gun control: he believes in bullet control. He believes bullets should cost $5,000 each. "Cause lemme tell ya - there would be no more innocent bystanders. Somebody gets shot, you gonna know they did something to deserve it. 'Look at 'im - he got $15,000 wortha bullets in him. You know he bad.' And you get mad enough at somebody, you look at 'em and say, 'You dead. I'm a gonna get me another job, start saving up - man you better hope they don't got a layaway plan for those things, or you are so dead!'"
  
  
• Marilyn Manson, talking about how he was blamed for Columbine because Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had listened to his music. Now, I hate Marilyn Manson. I find his songs offensive (and yes, I've looked at the lyrics) and his whole image disturbing.
  
  But it was bizarre to be agreeing with this guy who really wanted to know why he'd been blamed for having songs with violent lyrics, when the day of the Columbine Massacre, more bombs had been dropped on Kosovo (by the US) than at any other time during the war there. So why blame Manson for putting violent thoughts into Harris and Klebold's heads, and not President Clinton?
  
  I also got a chill when Moore asked Manson, "So what would you say to the families and friends of Columbine, if you could talk to them?"
  
  "I wouldn't say anything, man. I'd wanna know what they had to say. Nobody's done that."
  
  
• The whole section with James Nichols, the brother of Oklahoma bomber Terry Nichols.
  
  I'd read just yesterday that Nichols has sued Moore for defamation of character, libel, emotional distress, etc etc. He claimed that Moore tricked him in the interviews, and made him look like an idiot.
  
  Now, I love Michael Moore, and I believe in freedom of the press, but I don't believe journalists or filmakers have a right to make a fool out of anybody just to make a point. I was prepared to be outraged on Nichols' behalf if I saw that Moore had indeed taken comments out of context, or held him up for ridicule in any way. And I mentioned the lawsuit to Chris before we started watching the segment with Nichols in it.
  
  A few minutes into it, Chris says, "So... he says Moore made him look like an idiot? (pause) I think he's doing a damn good job all by himself. (I start to giggle) No, seriously - what was Moore supposed to do, edit everything he said and piece the words in a completely different order so that he wouldn't sound deranged?"
  
  
• The fact that the creators of South Park apparently went to Columbine High a few years before Klebold and Harris. And South Park (and shows like it) were among the things blamed for the massacre. Because it just couldn't have been the fucking guns.
  
  
• The segment on the actual massacre.
  
  Seeing the security camera videos. Hearing the frantic calls to 911 from inside the school. The calls from parents desperate to find out if their kids were alive. Hearing Eric Harris' father tell somebody on the phone, "I think my son Eric might be involved in this. He's part of the Trenchcoat Mafia they were talking about in the news."
  
  
• A speech made by the father of one of the victims, at a protest against the NRA having a grand convention in Denver, Colorado, ten days after the massacre. Despite the fact that the NRA had been asked by the mayor of Denver (and many others) to stay away, out of respect for the victims and their families.
  
  The father kept talking about how his son Daniel would have been at the protest, and would have wanted him to be there too. About how wrong it was to live in a world where a child could get a gun and point that gun at another child's face, and kill him, as his son Daniel had been killed.
  
  And I know it's silly, but... what hit home was not just that this man had lost his son. And that there was no damn good reason for that. But... the kid's name was Daniel. I couldn't help identifying with him just that little extra bit.
  
  And as I watched, I felt incredibly grateful to live in a place where at least I don't have to worry about that. My own Daniel may not do well in school, may get bullied, may even get beaten up. But mowed down by schoolmates with legally owned machine guns? It's not terribly likely. Not here. Yes, it's possible, but then so is the possibility of a lightning bolt killing him.
  
  Across the border? Nationwide, Daniel would be ten times more likely to die at the wrong end of a gun - whether owned by some gangbanger in a drive-by shooting, or a disgruntled clerical worker, or, most tragically, a classmate showing off his Daddy's legal but unsafely stored weapons.

Anyway. Off to watch the end of the film now. And then we'll probably put in something fluffy and mindless, like Shrek.

Comments

[lonejaguar.livejournal.com]

I have to say I didn't like Marilyn Manson at all when he came out, but the more I listened to him talk, the more I liked him. I really like what he's got to say and despite what some of his songs may say, there are quite a few that have very thought-provoking messages. It's just no one wants to hear them.

I still need to rent that...

bowling.....

[bast2.livejournal.com]

i'm glad you finally got to see bowling for columbine. you understand now why i say i'd rather live in canada. you left out the interview with heston--i thought it was priceless.