American values about gun control have changed in the recent years -- events such as Columbine have the power to morph and persuade opinions to wanting stricter gun control laws. Moore provides a very compelling, however one sided argument that addresses this issue with first hand examples. His documentary connects many different events together and addresses gun control as well as political corruption, and poverty. As this documentary unfolds, the viewer gets many different opinions and sees real change being made before the documentary even was released.
America is place with an ever changing system of values. America today is a different America than it was when Columbine happened, and a very different America from when the Declaration of Independence was written. When reading the article about Japanese and American gun control laws, I found it interesting that Max Fisher connected Americans need for guns roots from its violence with Britain when it was first being made. Being able to bear arms was important to Americans In today's world, that is not really a huge part of our culture anymore, making lots of gun freedom not very important. What has become more valued is safety. Events such as Columbine have been widely known as a tragedy, and there has been many steps taken to try and avoid other events like that.
I think that overall, in his documentary, Moore did create a compelling argument. He talked to people on both sides of the argument, but did tend to stay on the side of wanting more gun laws. This did make his argument seem one sided. I think the people that he interviewed did help to make his argument more convincing. What was really impressive was that while promoting his argument, he also was able to touch on concepts of poverty. When he was talking about the mom of the boy who shot the girl, he seemed to blame it on the welfare system, and was able to get people to think about that as being a problem as well. At the end of the documentary, the viewer is really left with the impression that steps need to be taken to avoid any more gun related tragedies, and they can see some of the corruption in the system.
Hey Sam! I like how you brought up the topic of how he was being very one sided. I think it would be interesting to know more about the people who are for gun laws. I think it would have made this movie more reliable for people if he would have clearly stated both sides. That would make a good edition to his movie.
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Sam! I liked how you compared our values in America today to our values when Columbine occurred and also when the Declaration of Independence was written. I agree with you when you say how the right to bear arms is not a huge part of our culture anymore. I think that we need a new system to getting a gun; make it a little more difficult so not just anyone can get one. This could eventually prevent tragedies such as school shootings from happening.
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