Sorry for the lack of posts. I haven’t had much surf-time in the last few days. Tonight my friend Sharon and I went to see Bowling for Columbine. The experience reminded me of seeing Wag the Dog when I was in London. It’s just weird to sit in a theater and listen to people from another country laugh at the United States. It’s like when somebody else mocks your family. You know them, you know their faults, but it still smarts to hear it from someone else. That’s how I felt. When Charlton Heston postulated that America’s violent tendencies were due to our “greater mixing of ethnicities” there was an audible gasp and chuckle throughout the audience. Australia has racial tension, but they’re still light-years ahead of us in terms of multiculturalism.
Anyway, yeah, I thought it was good but felt that Moore went on for too long. He should’ve stuck to the personal level instead of trying to relate it to our government. It felt like he was reaching. I just don’t think the Columbine killers were much influenced (whether consciously or not) by the war in Kosovo. And how about Charlton Heston and Dick Clark? How could you go on camera and then behave like that, knowing everyone in the world’s going to see it? Sure, the Kmart thing was a PR stunt, but at least they reached the right conclusion in the end. I couldn’t believe Dick Clark just slammed the door and drove off. I am hereby boycotting his “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”.
Oh, and for, like, the fifth time, I was forced to admit that Marilyn Manson is really smart and articulate and cool. Too bad I can’t stand his music.
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i was equally surprised to discover that MM is one smart cookie with a sharp, dry wit. while i’m pretty “eh” about his music (the mister does like that “Beautiful People” tho), he obviously knows how to market himself well.
Seriously, what does it say when Marilyn Manson comes off smelling sweeter than Dick Clark? Don’t people know who Michael Moore is yet? Don’t behave like an ass around this guy. I just couldn’t help sneer a little while watching the Golden Globes (not to mention wonder if BFC was/will be nominated for a documentary award).
Jeez… I’ve never even heard of Bowling for Columbine!
Okay, okay. I looked it up, and it’s showing in the nearby Lowes in Dupont Circle. That might be my Friday afternoon thing. 😉
You totally should, Moire. Even if you don’t agree with Moore, his stuff is always entertaining.
Did you read Stupid White Men yet?
Doesn’t (where does that apostrophe belong?) matter what you think of the guy, the facts speak for themselves. A real eye-opener. Like learning politics from Rory Bremner et al.
I now think of Condoleeza Rice only in megatons…
Unfortunately I think of her as a fellow alumnae. She went to my university. 🙁
Haven’t read it yet, but I’d like to. Moore is a bit of a schlump, but at least he’s trying. Did you see the video he directed for “Rage Against the Machine”? They put on an impromptu free concert in front of the New York Stock Exchange and he filmed it. At the end the cops arrest them all. (Actually, does anybody know if that was fake or if it all really happened?) Regardless, it was pretty good.
Michael Moore commented on it (somewhere in between my obsessive watching of the “I Love the 80’s” marathon on VH1), and it really happened. He was at the MTV awards when the member whose name I can’t remember climbed up the platform thingy. He blames himself 🙂
And I really liked Stupid White Men. Makes an excellent coffe table book.
Yup. Stupid white men is quite good. Though like Naomi Klein in No Logo he has a habit of boring you slightly by going over the same thing again and again. Still he has a point.
As some American wrote in the Guardian yesterday, “I’d like to see regime change in my own country, but I don’t advocate bombing the white house.”
Did you see where Nelson Mandela ripped Bush a new one today? That cracked me up.