nothing's shocking

I know I'm late on the train, but I finally got around to watching Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine last night, and yes I was floored. Aside from wanting to move to Canada (only about an hour and a half away..), I wanted to throw away my guns. I wanted to join an anti-war protest. Such is the power of a good documentary, and it still resonates within me today. However, I'm undecided as to the answer to Moore's query: Are we a nation of gun nuts or are we just plain nuts? I think his analysis of the symptoms of our violent society are correct: media-driven fear, widespread violent entertainment, hubristic warmongering, etc. Especially fear -- even here in little 'ol Ada people lock their doors and have vicious dogs and can be just as unneighborly as anyone on skid row. Watching the film gave me a profound relief in knowing that I am not afraid, that my optimism, like Moore's, is alive. While I felt the film left out a lot of other factors in examining our lust for violence, I was absolutely taken by Moore himself. What a humble, brave man. My favorite part was watching him shuffle up to Charleton Heston's house and secure an interview over the comlink. And they single-handedly got Kmart to phase out handgun bullets! (I'm going to check on this when I drive into Lima tomorrow) Anyway, if you haven't seen this very controversial film, do yourself a favor. You can see his response to the inevitable criticism at his Web site here.