Sunday, March 30th, 2003

More Bowling, Different Bowling

So I defy you to find me a more contentious mainstream film in the last few years than Bowling For Columbine. Everyone either loves it or hates it, and based on which side of that particular fence a person falls on, you can probably get a good idea of how they voted in the last few elections. Me, I enjoyed it as how I reside on the same general ideological turf as Michael Moore. While watching it, I laughed at the points I was supposed to laugh, felt disgust towards the villains of the piece, empathy for the victims. I walked out of it, however, with a definite sense of having been manipulated. There’s not much doubt in my mind that Moore plays fast and loose with the facts to make his point, or that his grandstanding stunts are designed to draw as much attention to him as the causes he champions. What I hadn’t done before was taken the time to actually investigate the veracity of his claims. Thanks to an article in today’s Star, I was led to this page that rebutts and debunks some of Moore’s claims and supporting evidence. I’m well aware that the author probably has as much of a personal agenda as Moore, but I found a reasonably well-researched dissenting POV an interesting read. I would encourage fervent Moore supporters to at least have a look through some of the points presented. Don’t get me wrong – I still like Moore and I still like the fact that someone with his ideology has such a high profile in America these days when I think they need it – but I also think it’s important to remember that in all things, there’s what we believe, what they believe, and the truth, and far too often never the Twain shall meet.

Through the magic of archiving, you can see my initial impressions on Bowling For Columbine here.

np – The Cars / The Cars

By : Frank Yang at 12:19 pm
Category: Uncategorized
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  1. Valerie says:

    There are definitely some good points made on that page. Being about as left wing as you can come without being categorized as radical, I tend to question everything in the media. I will give Moore credit where it’s due, he does make you think, however, it appears he may not have done his homework on some of the issues (or maybe he just didn’t care and pushed his own agenda regardless of facts). I still say it’s a good movie (note: I did not say documentary).