Michael Moore

I thought I'd share with you what I've been watching on Netflix lately. For those of you not familiar with Netflix, it is a way of renting movies from the internet. Basically you browse the movies they have and put the ones you want to see in a list. Then they mail a few at a time to you with return postage included. Movies are rated by users and I find it pretty easy to find movies I like, and it is cheaper/more convenient than renting from the local Blockbuster.

My latest fad is watching documentaries. Recently I've seen a lot of movies from Michael Moore like "Bowling for Columbine", "Fahrenheit 9/11", and "Roger & Me". Calling these documentaries is a little misleading even though that is how they are classified. Moore certainly uses heavy handed editing to make his point more persuasive, and he does carry a very liberal agenda. That said I find his movies somewhat educational and very entertaining. You just need to remember that he's coming at you with a very one sided approach even though he does a decent job at hiding it. I suppose being a liberal person and agreeing with much of what he is trying to convey helps make the movies more entertaining.

I think the biggest revelation I've had in any of his movies is from "Bowling for Columbine". In this movie Moore reminds us that the United States has 10-100 times the murder rate of other nations with similar economic standing. He then goes on to show that other nations watch violent movies, have had violent pasts, and some own more guns per person than the United States. Why then does the United States have so much more gun violence than these other nations? Before I watched this movie I don't think I would have had any good ideas. I don't want to wreck the movie for those who haven't seen it so I'm not going to mention the revelation here. Also I'm sure my blog wouldn't do it justice. Go rent the movie and find out for yourself. If you know you hate liberal based commentators like Moore, or you just don't want to watch the movie send me an email and I'll tell you the gist of it.

Peace!