Posted by Jack Spencer Jr at ua4-p50.dreamscape.com on October 20, 2003 at 11:19:08:
Rented Bowling for Columbine and a few other movies this weekend. I found the message about America and our culture of fear, or whatever you want to call it. One of the more striking parts was when Moore interviewed some Canadians. They don't lock their doors, but it's not like nothing happens. The two people they used had both been robbed at one point or another, The woman's home was robbed and vandalized while she slept in her bed. The striking part about this is that they both just shrugged it off. Yeah. I got robbed. No big deal.
As an experiment, I decided to not lock my door last night. Immediately I felt naked. I could feel it and I couldn't shake it. The wife was panicy as all fuck. I wound up locking the door. She took the stance of it's not a question of if it happens, it's a matter of when. It only makes sense to take precautions against it.
This is the same woman who refuses to wear her seat belt.
I don't know what the statistics are for getting involved in an auto accident vs having your house broken into, but I don't think there's a significant difference or if there is, it's on the side of a car crash.
We live in her home town. ...Jesus, man. Don't ask... She talks about how they could leave their doors unlocked. They don't anymore. The indians have built a nice, big Casino (www.turning-stone.com) and "strange people" coming into the area to gamble. After all. Someone did try to break into her parent's house. They moved the chairs on the porch and tried to take the screws out opf the screen. Someone also stole her sister's bicycle out of the garage.
Oh wait. That was us. The wife wanted a bicycle and told me to take it. After it was in our possession I found out it was taken without permission. Her family still thinks it's stolen.
This is the message I took from that movie. It wasn't about guns or gun control. Pestering Chuckie Heston was unnecessary filler. It was about fear. The fear that the wife and I feel all the time, always festering at the back of our minds. And it's for no good reason. At least I don't think so.