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!!! 
I’m on Michael Moore’s mailing list - got this in an e-mail the other day. I think it makes a good point
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.
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.
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.
I’ll bite. What?
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)