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Guns
and Ruses
Let
it bleed. That’s been the traditional route movie moguls have
taken to win the public’s heart. In mayhem-happy Hollywood,
it’s axiomatic that the road to big box office is paved with
dead bodies. But what becomes of this cinematic bleed-motif
when the blood being spilled is all too real—and the film
being screened is a withering indictment of America’s culture
of violence?
We’re about to find out, thanks to the eerie synchronicity
that has the nation’s attention riveted on the capture of
two suspects in the sniper shootings at the same time that
Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine begins its run
in movie houses across America. The horror in Maryland, Washington,
D.C. and Virginia over the last three weeks makes every frame
of Bowling, Moore’s blistering exploration of America’s
obsession with guns, resonate with relevance, frustration,
and rage.
If you’ve ever found yourself watching the news and wondering
what kind of insane country makes it so easy for a madman
to arm himself with weaponry that allows him to blithely mow
down his human prey from up to 500 yards away, take a look
at this film. Featuring Moore’s trademark blend of provocative
social satire and deadpan humor, it’s filled with memorable
moments that, in their own absurd way, make a dent in the
formidable task of answering that question.
These moments include: a stop at a Michigan bank that gives
away high-powered rifles to customers opening new account
(“Don’t you think it’s a little dangerous handing out guns
in a bank?” Moore reasonably asks a bank employee), a barbershop
that sells ammo, and an ambush interview with National Rifle
Association president Charlton Heston.
Indeed, the most trenchant—and timely—aspect of the film is
its look at the NRA’s in-your-face tactics, brought chillingly
to life with footage from a pro-gun rally the group defiantly
decided to hold in Colorado just 10 days after the Columbine
shootings. Standing in front of a cheering crowd, Heston raises
a vintage rifle over his head and bellows: “From my cold dead
hands!”
The NRA’s mindset is particularly pertinent today as we watch
the organization—and its gun-loving pals in the White House—use
every weapon in its arsenal to try to derail the sniper-inspired
push to create a national database of ballistic “fingerprints.”
Despite powerful evidence that such a system would be a boon
to law enforcement, the NRA has adopted a scattershot, drive-by-shooting
approach to mowing down the idea. The technology isn’t foolproof,
the organization’s mouthpieces argue. Ballistic fingerprints
can be tampered with. Guns get stolen. What about the 200
million guns already in circulation? And the always popular:
“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer parroted this bumper sticker
cop-out when he helpfully explained why the president didn’t
support a federal ballistic fingerprinting database: “In the
case of the sniper,” he said, “the real issue is values.”
Yeah, like the value of being able to pick off unsuspecting
victims at long range with a military-style weapon versus
the value of sending your kids to school without having to
worry about whether they’ll come home.
The debate over a bullet-tracing system has quickly turned
into what the NRA wants: a case of dueling studies. But making
the case against a bullet database is getting harder and harder.
Even opponents of the system concede that it is effective
in matching up bullets to the guns that fired them at least
some of the time.
If such a system were only able to save one innocent person
from being blown away by a crazed killer, wouldn’t that be
worth it? Why not give the idea a fighting chance by committing
whatever resources are necessary to improve the promising
technology? Does the NRA’s paranoid brain trust really believe
that millions of innocent sportsmen will have their hunting
rifles confiscated if they make this tiny, public-spirited
concession? No matter, Team Bush would rather consign the
program to the political graveyard of “further study,” a tactic
supported by many elected and law enforcement officials, including
the Governor of Maryland (one of two states that have gone
ahead and established statewide bullet-tracing databases on
their own) and the former head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms’ crime-gun-analysis division. Maybe by delaying
it, the president can give his NRA chums time to find the
increasingly rare “expert” willing to risk his reputation
by claiming there’s still a reason not to start this program.
It’s funny how the president turns into a raging Luddite when
the technology in question runs counter to his—and his financial
benefactors’—political aims. I’ll be sure to remind him of
that the next time he asks for another $7 billion to fund
his pie-in-the-sky missile defense shield. “Mixed results”
don’t seem to have given him many qualms there.
The nexus linking art and a breaking news story can be a very
volatile thing. In the wake of the D.C. attacks, Fox wisely
decided to pull Phone Booth, a sniper-themed thriller,
off the fall release schedule. But those same attacks have
made Bowling for Columbine essential viewing for anyone
who thinks schoolchildren should be able to play outside without
fear of being gunned down. I understand the White House has
a very comfortable screening room.
—Arianna
Huffington
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Columns
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