# Bowling for Columbine SPOILERS! (or..Not a Ring Thread!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2002, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-for-columbine-spoilers-or-not-a-ring-thread/133058 "2002-10-20T03:32:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-for-columbine-spoilers-or-not-a-ring-thread/133058/61 "2002-10-27T00:55:56Z")
> [@](#): > > I was actually thinking of starting a BfC thread in Great Debates. Of course, it would probably be swamped immediately by pro-gun posters and Moore bashers who haven’t seen the movie and have no intention of doing so, but I think it could be fun to explore some of the issues Moore brings up, particularly that media stauration/culture of fear notion. Anyone care to join me? Hey, this is the only thread i’ve seen that has a chance of jumping from Cafe Society to GD, and you’re gonna ruin it!!! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-for-columbine-spoilers-or-not-a-ring-thread/133058/62 "2002-10-27T02:22:48Z")
I’m on Michael Moore’s mailing list - got this in an e-mail the other day. I think it makes a good point > [@](#): > > _an exerpt_ > Yesterday, Larry Bennett, a 16-year old, was shot in the head after he was > involved in a minor traffic accident. You probably didn’t hear about it > because, well, how could he be dead if he wasn’t shot by The Sniper? > > Yesterday, an unidentified woman was shot to death in her car in Fenton, > MI. You probably didn’t hear about it because she had the misfortune of not > being shot by The Sniper. > > Two nights ago, Charles D. Bennett, 48, an apartment security guard, was > shot to death after confronting two teenagers in his parking lot in > Memphis, TN. You probably didn’t hear about it because the sniper was too > busy sleeping in his car that night, and thus, poor Charles was not shot by > The Sniper. > > Yes, The Sniper has apparently been caught, so we can go back now to NOT > reporting the DOZENS of gun deaths that occur every day, the ones that just > aren’t newsworthy because they happen in all those old boring ways – > unlike the ways of The Sniper, who was interesting and creative and > exciting and scary! He played so much better on the news. ---
**Author:** ![Hickory6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@Hickory6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hickory6)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-for-columbine-spoilers-or-not-a-ring-thread/133058/63 "2002-10-27T04:41:29Z")
Ok, I’m a conservative, tend to be pro-NRA, and just got back from seeing the movie, which I actually enjoyed very much, on the whole. Moore is a gifted filmmaker and demonstrates a very keen sense of irony and a knack for demonstrating the human costs of violence. On the other hand, he is an exceptionally poor reporter, and there were a few glaring factual errors reported in the movie. One that lept out at me was the statement that Eric Harris and Dylan Kliebold’s firearms were “legally bought.” Wrong. I specifically remember one of them was under 17 at the time. He had therefore stolen the firearms, or bought them illegally. I also remember one guy was brought up on weapons charges for making the weapons available. Second was his assertion that the U.S. military killed 4 million people in Southeast Asia between 1965 and 1975. I would very much like to see a cite for that, because that number is 400% higher than the highest estimate I’ve ever seen for the number of Vietnamese dead in the Viet Nam war–and many of these would NOT have been killed by the U.S. military. Third was his inferrence, in the animated segment, that the pilgrims killed off the Indians because of that ‘culture of fear.’ Well, OK, but what he left out, and what a modicum of reporting would have caught, was that in colonial America, extermination went both ways–there was a series of extraordinarily brutal wars in and around Massachussetts–culminating in King Philip’s War in around 1675, during which time entire settlements were destroyed, and perhaps a quarter of the white population of Massachussetts was killed. So maybe there’s something to that culture that wasn’t so absurd. I also thought the connection Moore made between the NRA and the KKK was gratuitous, insulting, and just plain wrong. You have to look at the movie as an exploration of some of the absurdities within our culture. As such, the movie is successful. But if this were your only exposure to the gun debate, would you understand it? No. Would you be equipped to think critically about it? No. Would you come away with accurate and reliable factual information? No. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-for-columbine-spoilers-or-not-a-ring-thread/133058/64 "2002-10-27T05:37:01Z")
I saw the movie last night and enjoyed it very much. I wish he had left the cartoon out in the middle as the only purpose of it seemed to be to vilify the pro-gun side. For me, the movie did raise a few interestesting questions. I am wondering why is it that this country has so many gun deaths compared to other countries in the world? The movie didn’t really answer any of these questions to my satisfaction. I also found it interesting when he went into the culture of fear that pervades the U.S. and he claims is caused by the nightly news. I hadn’t really thought about that. I did find it strange when all those Canadians said they didn’t lock their doors. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-for-columbine-spoilers-or-not-a-ring-thread/133058/65 "2002-10-27T06:14:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by brujo \* > \*\*I did find it strange when all those Canadians said they didn’t lock their doors. \*\* Apparently, there was a bit of editing invovled. From what I’ve heard, Moore did come across some locked doors. He just choose not to show those. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-for-columbine-spoilers-or-not-a-ring-thread/133058/66 "2002-11-04T08:05:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gex gex \* > \*\* > > I can think of one direction you could go in to begin solving the problem that would certainly not violate every right _I_ have. And I’m living in a western democracy, not communist China. \*\* I’ll bite. What? ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-for-columbine-spoilers-or-not-a-ring-thread/133058/67 "2002-11-04T22:13:29Z")
I am assuming it is meant i shouldn’t go on a killing spree. Which is pretty lame considering i have no current plans to go on killing sprees (apart from GTA related mayham) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-for-columbine-spoilers-or-not-a-ring-thread/133058.md?page=3)