| Oscar Will Ignore It |
10 March 2003
|
Michael Moore's Anti-Gun Film Wins Best Picture
The Writer's Guild of America handed out its movie awards last week, and the best picture according to that august body is Michael Moore's documentary "Bowling for Columbine," a documentary about America's obsession with guns. Regrettably, the film garnered no nominations for best actor or actress because it was all true.
Mr. Moore has already given us "Roger and Me," a film about General Motors' betrayal of its home town of Flint, Michigan. And his TV ventures on cable have provided some delicious critiques of American society. However, with this award, Mr. Moore has put a bigger cat amongst the pigeons than he normally does.
America is gun-loving, a huntin' and shootin' place where thousands die each year by the bullet. The National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment (often misread to claim that Americans have the unconditional right to weapons of non-mass destruction) fight tooth and nail with victims families and the police every election over the issue. This film will change no minds, but it will force the debate into the spotlight. It is especially important in a terrorist-worried America that something be resolved.
Mr. Moore will not win an Oscar for Best Picture, but then the WGA is not the same crowd as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- they are literate.