sarc

I just watched Bowling for Columbine. Umm, wow... What a powerful film. It's very rare that a single film will make me laugh one minute, cry the next, and yell vehemently at the screen. This film made me do all three more than once. Even if you don't agree with Michael Moore's views, you have to respect him for bringing to light the controversies we usually shy away from concerning gun violence, the abuse of power, lying politicians, etc, etc.

He's a social commentator foremost, and his role as journalist, comedian & filmmaker take a backseat to that in my opinion. Like Bill Hicks before him, he uses the other three roles as a means to an end to get across his main concerns about our culture and what we seem to be doing wrong. I'm not saying he's a complete philantropist, but he seems genuinely interested in finding the cause of our problems and wanting to help fix whatever those problems might be. I don't agree with everything he says, but I once again respect his right to say it. And that's what this country is all about: allowing each of us to have an opinion and express ourselves without getting trampled on by the status quo for saying the "wrong thing."

The one scene in the film that really got to me was his interview with Marilyn Manson. This one scene should be mandatory viewing for EVERY parent who has ever denounced Manson as evil, satanic, a bad influence, blah blah blah. I've always respected Manson for being able to articulately defend himself against all the right-wing/religious people that want to "save our children from the evil that is he." This one scene shows Manson at his most vulnerable, and it's touching to see him as a real person expressing empthy for the Columbine victims, and saying he would have done the one thing no one seemed to want to do: listen to what they had to say. And this after he was named as the #1 scapegoat for the tragedy. You go, Brian Warner.

If anyone hasn't seen this film yet, I highly recommend it. Even if you don't agree with everything that's said, at least it will give you something to talk about, to discuss with your family and friends. And maybe, just maybe, we'll work together and find a solution to the problems that plague our society. In the end, I think that's what Moore was striving for in the first place. And I believe he has succeeded tenfold.