There is so much to talk about with this movie, I need to focus on just one topic.
One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Michael Moore visits the Canadians to demonstrate the trust they have in their community. These people do not lock their doors when they go out, let alone feel the need to own personal handguns. This is in stark contrast to the one town visited where the screen doors are made of iron and could be penetrated by nothing short of a spear. Or the town where it is a law to own a gun. How ridiculous is that?
Another of my favorite parts is when Moore talks to Marilyn Manson. The singer was thought to have some blame by causing the thoughts of the Columbine shooters through his music. This, of course, was the fault of extreme conservatives and is absolutely unbelievable. But it is due to these people's fear of people who are different and strange and the need for a scapegoat.
One Canadian person they interview introduces an interesting idea about how locks confine you into your house in Canada, while in America, they keep everyone else out. He actually says, "well, you must be afraid of your neighbors". I found the latter statement to be dead on. There is so much fear of others in this country or of other people's potential for dangerous activity. Everyone's a suspect. Everyone's to be feared. I find there is a lack of trust between strangers in this country, people just assume the worst. Of course, that is by no means completely unreasonable.
2 comments:
Glad you'll write more soon. Do you think his assessment of Canada's culture is accurate? It is kind of funny because I grew up in a house where the doors were ALWAYS open... 24/7 (seriously) and this was in the city (Chicago). It was so weird for me to get married and move into my own house and lock the doors because that's not what I was used to. So I understand how the lock/no lock mentality can be so different.
Two extreme cultures rather nicely juxtaposed, I'd say Moore did a good job with that contrast. But it would be unfair to say all of Canada or all of America follow those uniform ideas, at least in my opinion.
And I loved that part as well. I always enjoy listening to Manson speak, he's incredibly eloquent and I respect the man more than I respect most others. The idea of a scapegoat seems to be something no one can get past.
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