h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have just seen Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore. I was very impressed by it. It just had so many messages and images that made me think.
The main message is that Americans are beïng frightened by the media. By doing this they presumably give the economy a boost. Black people seem to be the victim of this. Moore reasons that this is why the number of deaths by firearms is so high in the US. I wonder how other people percieve this.

In short : the vast majority of people are stupid. They react first, and think later.

Michael Moore is a godsend to the population of the world. He definitely has a point.

"It just had so many messages and images that made me think. "

haven't you just answered your own question?

Anything that makes you think is definitely a benefit.

Unfortunately, Micheal Moore is a part of the media.

His point/aim is definately to make you think. The film, to me, sets out a lot of information, highlights the differences, and similarities, in a number of cultures and then leaves the audience to decide what the problem is and how to fix it. I think that is the best thing about Michael Moore, he doesn't try to force a solution doen your neck, just tries to educate you on the facts and then hopes you will come to a well informed decision.

I loved the book "Stupid White Men"; I really wanted to see "Bowling for Columbine", but it was only on in Aberdeen for 3 or 4 days, during which I was out of town. When I found out about it it was already halfway through its last showing.

I guess I'll just have to wait till it shows up on TV.

It was good Peet, it was in the wee screen but it was packed - so there might be a rerun. He argued that the media is increasing fear very well. I came out thinking about it, and our own media with its asylum-seeking-terrorist-crimelords obsession and wonder if it will affect the UK the same way, and how long. And I would like to see Corperate Cops Well, until later....
BCNU - Crescent

He isn't afraid to act as well though.

I was impressed that he got k-mart to stop selling bullets by 'returning' bullets used in Colombine (they just happened to be in the victims bodies)

Bowling for Columbine definitely made you think, but parts of it were wildly funny too. Like when Moore opens a bank account and gets a free gun.

JE

I thought Bowling for Columbine was excellent, and I think he does have a point about how we portray the risk of crime in the media.

I thought there were a couple of sections that were manipulative, but on the whole he gave it a fair treatment. It certainly gave me some food for thought on the gun ownership debate - looking at countries with high gun ownership but low crime - Canada, Switzerland.

Sprout

That was the most surprising point, that other countries have just as many guns, but a lot less deaths. I loved the bit where he wandered round trying doors in Toronto to see if people locked them or not.

Oh, I know, that was amazing! They just left their doors unlocked!

Is Michael Moore a part of the media? I thought he was just a film maker with an opinion.

Interesesting fact- I just had tthe introductory lecture for a Uni module on protest and Terror and one of the recommended reading texts is Stupid White Men!

Bowling for Columbine was great, but it left me feeling very uneasy.

We watched it and we laughed - that's fine, people laugh at absurdity as well as comedy. But was some of that laughter the result of a European "look at those crazy yanks" smugness?

The UK media also has the fear affect. Everything's rubbish, if you believe the media - transport, education, schools. Crime is up, and gun crime is now a major problem if you believe everything you read. Exactly the same forces of fear are at work in the UK. Just look at the portray of asylum seekers.

Otto

(The was in response to Egon, not Otto - simulpost...)

I agree that the same forces of fear are in place in the UK and in France and Belgium for that matter. It's a gathering trend and it distorts peoples perceptions of risk.

Otto- interestingly I watched Bowling For Columbine in America and some people there also laughed at the absurdity of some points, so it's not as if the "crazy yanks" point of view is an exclusively British one.