Bowling for Columbine

[sexualbanana]

I seem to be doing a lot of these recommendations lately, but this was a great movie/documentary. A bit propogandic (don't know if that's actually a word) but what documentary isn't.

Very informative and parts were quite disturbing. There was even a part where Michael Moore goes into a bank where he can open an account and get a free rifle from the bank which also happens to be a licensed firearms dealer.

[Dope Dealer]

Yeah, I saw that movie in the theatres when it first came out. I like it a lot. Charton Heston seems like a big asshole and so does Dick Clark. Marilyn Manson seemed like a cool guy though, although I hate his music and his style.

[4wheeldrift]

Going to pick up a copy on DVD today after work, was just released.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by 4wheeldrift
Going to pick up a copy on DVD today after work, was just released.

I love that movie...they need to play it in every classroom in america...4wheedrift who in town sells it Ive been looking to buy it for my dad..thans

[MYKN]

Seen it at futureshop

[Gonein60...ft.]

I personally think that from what i saw of the movie (which i admit was not all) i thought it was pretty stupid, and i think Michael Moore is a complete jackass. As for his whole stance against guns..whatever....he s entitled to his opinion. But i fail to understand where america/canada is going with this whole logic that "guns are bad".....please. Not once in history has a gun pulled its own trigger to kill someone....ya sure there have been accidents etc, where maybe a gun has fallen and went off, but that wasn t the guns fault. Society has convinced itself that gun are the enemy......that couldn t be further from the truth. Its the people and the lack of education thats the problem. When do people see guns these days? Well lets see.....you see them in movies, you see them on tv, you see them in newspapers, and magazines. And how do you see them? Usually as murder weapons, or at least people being shot with them. A whole generation is growing up not knowing what their intended use was for......hunting and protection. All we see are 10 year olds in the middle east waving around AK-47's like they were water guns and we think "oh thats sad" and ya it is..... but society s view of guns are now warped. I was 12 when i got my first .22. I was taught to respect it, and i was shown what it was capable of. I was taught its uses, and what it was NOT meant for. The problem i think, is that the only thing people learn about a gun today, is how to pull the trigger. And the only exposure to guns is in the media. People like Michael Moore and Rosie Odonnell who are so dead set against guns, are people who just need a cause, something to get them in the spotlight, they know no more about guns that i do about making movies or being fat and obnoxious. They both blame Columbine and kids playing with guns, on the guns themselves....... try blaming the parents and the lack of guidence instead. In canada the law was passed to "register" all firearms...what a joke. There is no way that ALL the firearms will ever get registered....they said "it will allow the police to know if there is a gun inside the building if there is an altercation". What a load of crap..... so what if the cops think there is no firearms, and they storm in......they storm into a loaded arsenal of guns pointed directly at them...... talk about UNprepared....... thats even worse than not knowing.... And then there s the billions that its cost us the taxpayers..... Good thing there are no people starving in Canada that we need to sink billions into the gun registry...

[K271]

That's a great documentary. Best is when they talked about gun deaths in Detroit then crossed the river into Windsor and the cop said Windsor had one gun death in 5 years and it was related to Detroit. It's a great doc.

[AquamosH]

I loved this movie, esp. when he showed how the U.S. was tied with coups in Latin America, and other mass deaths to the tune of "What a Wonderful World".

[kevie88]

Originally posted by Gonein60...ft.
I personally think that from what i saw of the movie (which i admit was not all) i thought it was pretty stupid, and i think Michael Moore is a complete jackass. As for his whole stance against guns..whatever....he s entitled
*snip*
starving in Canada that we need to sink billions into the gun registry...

I think Mike Moore wasn't really attacking guns, he' s attacking the "gun culture" (ie shoot first, ask questions later).. He shows in the documentary that there are more guns in Canada per capita than in the states, and there is only a miniscule amount of gun crime. I think the show is more of a statement on American culture than it is guns.

[Gonein60...ft.]

if people REALLY cared about saving lives in North America..... before banning guns (which isn t even on the top ten list of causes for death) I suggest banning cars, alchohol, smoking, french fries, etc. How so much time and money can be spent registering and banning guns and just plain talking about it.........

[kevie88]

here's some interesting stats on gun deaths in the states, before and after the "Brady Law" (ie a gun control law)

http://www.bradycampaign.org/press/r...ts/112901c.pdf

Btw, I love guns, and have a gun safe full of them at home. Again, I think this documentary is more of a question of US culture than it is about guns.

*edit* if you look at the stats in the US, Homicides for the 18-30 age group are usually around the #5 leading cause of death, and firearm homicides make up 70% of those homicides.

[Gonein60...ft.]

oops i forgot my main point....you want to get rid of violence in North America?...... ban TV, movies, and violent video games.... kids are growing up knowing violence as a part of life and are numb to it. Compare violence and murder number to the 50's when they didn t have exposure to what we have exposed our kids to..... Guns aren t the enemy, WE are the enemy, because we support it. We support it by accepting it, and believe me, i m as guilty as anyone....I love action movies, and ya i m even numb to violence on tv etc..... Now I don t have any numbers to back me up, but i would bet money that you could trace the rise of violence and murder with guns to the rise of those acts on tv and movies.

[hjr]

Originally posted by Gonein60...ft.
if people REALLY cared about saving lives in North America..... before banning guns (which isn t even on the top ten list of causes for death) I suggest banning cars, alchohol, smoking, french fries, etc. How so much time and money can be spent registering and banning guns and just plain talking about it.........

I sudgest that you watch the movie before spewing crap from you mouth. Its VERY informative on the topic of ^*'Gun Culture in America'*^. There was something like (from memory) XXX gun deaths in:

250 - germany
175 - france
140 - canada
17800 - USA

what does that tell you? Per capita, America is WAY more violent with their guns. Its a cultural mindset, not the actual firearms, so in that case you are right, its the person who pulls the trigger, but moore never said otherwise.

[Gonein60...ft.]

BTW...the Brady Law was a great idea.....it chould even be longer as far as i m concerned (the waiting period)

[Dr. Evil]

I have to agree & say that American culture denies the idea that WE (humans) are the problem and blame guns. As mentioned above, there are countries with higher gun per capita rates or more lax laws, and they have LOWER gun crimes.

For example, this movie could have been about the neglected oucast students & what we should do to not ignore youth in trouble... but NO, they focus on the guns. Guns were the symptom not the disease. I know I felt just like shit in high school because I was an outcast, so I rebelled and broke stuff. The teachers punished me which made it worse. If I actually asked for help, some old dude would just say "Oh, you're young... it will pass." What help is that?!

[Gonein60...ft.]

"Spewing crap from your mouth"???? I thought we were discussing.....take it easy hjr.......I didn t realize Mr. Moore was your lover when i called him a jackass..... its an opinion, you have yours I have mine....everything was civil until you started in on this... and by the way..... you just said PER CAPITA.....do you know what that means? Mr. Moore DID NOT use the numbers on a PER CAPITA basis.......

as per http://arizona.indymedia.org/news/2002/11/4589.php


In the film "Bowling for Columbine", Michael Moore provides statistics indicating the total number of gun murders in several countries but failed to provide statistics on a per capita basis. By comparing those numbers with the population figures for those countries from the CIA World FactBook 2002, I discovered the following:

A citizen of the U.S. is:
-- 8.7 times as likely as a citizen of Germany;
-- 9.3 times as likely as a citizen of France;
-- 7.7 times as likely as a citizen of Canada;
-- 35 times as likely as a citizen of the U.K.;
-- 11.9 times as likely as a citizen of Australia;
-- 129 times as likely as a citizen of Japan
to be murdered by a gun

[Super_Geo]

Originally posted by Gonein60...ft.
I personally think that from what i saw of the movie (which i admit was not all) i thought it was pretty stupid, and i think Michael Moore is a complete jackass. As for his whole stance against guns..whatever....he s entitled to his opinion.

Well, maybe you should watch the movie before forming such a adoment opinion about it.

But i fail to understand where america/canada is going with this whole logic that "guns are bad".....please. Not once in history has a gun pulled its own trigger to kill someone.... [/B]

Maybe it's because the gun is a tool used to kill things. I don't care if you're hunting (which I personally think is a pretty cowardly "sport." You can kill a deer with that big fucking rifle of yours, boy your dick must be big) or shooting Mary Jane down the street with it, its purpose is to maim, disable, or kill... that's why society as a whole doesn't have a favorable opinion of it. I don't see what's so hard to understand about that. Usually it's only used in last case scenarios (by the cops, in wars, etc), and it shouldn't be something that the average citizen has.

I don't want to branch off into hunting, which is a totally different can of worms, but who uses a handgun to hunt? Anyone? There arn't people out there busting caps in a moose's ass? Ok, so that rationale for owning a handgun is out...

And there's statistics that show that, with a gun in the house, you're more likely to shoot someone innocent and NOT someone burglarising the house.

I personally don't understand why people want to keep guns in the house. And they act like some unbelieveble thing has happened when their little kid finds it and accidently shoots someone

[hjr]

sorry, that was harsh. My bizad. but that doesnt chang the fact that you didnt watch the movie, yet felt compeled to lable is a bad. If you did watch it you would see that he wasnt bashing guns, just the gun culture. Alrighty, im out.

[accordboi_02]

Originally posted by Gonein60...ft.
oops i forgot my main point....you want to get rid of violence in North America?...... ban TV, movies, and violent video games.... kids are growing up knowing violence as a part of life and are numb to it.

Time for rant:

Just so you know the whole learning from TV thing is absolute bullshit. I know people can cite thousands of studies that show kids who watch power rangers and shit are more aggressive, etc... but if this is true, how come there are no studies on other types of shows?? Will a girl watching Sex & the City want to go out and be a slut? Will a guy watching Will & Grace want to be gay and live with a female roomate? The answer: NO. The only reason why people use violence so much is that it is sensationalistic and it will get their papers published faster (espeically if its a Psyc paper - they'll publish anything).
If you want to know the real problem, it is the self control of the people who have the guns. If they have none, they will be idiots and shoot other people; if they do have self control (like you seem to have) they will be responsible, and use guns in the way in which they were intended. Eliminating violent shows/games, etc is not going to fix the problem. Teaching kids self control when they're young will. Not only should there be gun-registration, I think there should also be licensing for parents, so we can keep the poorly raised kids to a minimum.

---End of Rant---

[air_mikey]

i personally hated this movie. it was so long and boring. ended up walking out of the theatre. the only part i found interesting was when they showed the footage inside of colombine. other then that it was really boring.