those would not have to arm and defend themselvesExcept that this is also called into question within the film if Moore's stats are accurate (I haven't heard otherwise).
Guns per capita and murder per capita don't seem to be a one to one relationship, which might even be something that surprised Moore when he started researching it.
Yes, he really did ambush Clark. I was thinking "what the hell do you want Clark to do or say at this point? You have a deeply complex problem involving one subsidary company that Clark is connected to perhaps in name only. You want him to understand this issue fully and solve it right now?"
It would make for boring cinema but Moore needed to outline exactly what the problem (he thought) was and what sort of action he thought Clark should take. Hand that to him, or mail it to him, and then contact Clark later once he had a chance to look at it. But trying to do a 2 hour debate in 30 seconds outside a mini-van is silly. I would have driven off if I were Clark too. Nothing positive could come from that situation for Clark.
BTW, back to the humor, how funny were some of those interviews like the guy in the bar that was mad that the police questioned him 2nd on a bomb threat (or something like that). YEE-IIKES.
I also loved the bank/gun joke. He really set that up for a good pay-off moment I thought. I never thought there was any doubt that the total process was safe and legit, just that it was very funny to be handing out guns at a bank, period.
And he sure has balls just for walking into people's houses during the Canadian segment. I might have thought he faked this except for the reactions people had, especially at the last house.
BTW, I don't think it is so much that Americans are FORCED to defend themselves by the gov't. More like Americans IDENTIFY with such a situation, we love it I think. I think Americans want and demand that "right", which might have something to do with a predisposition toward violent behavior (justifying the defense of your own life, turf, etc by force). Moore didn't quite address that issue though, at least not directly.
He covered the "fear of the black man" angle, but I think a lot of it also ties into the historical beginning of the country. Every American kid grows up learning about the Minute Men and how keeping firearms locally allowed America to be born in the first place. I mean it's even in a Schoolhouse Rock segment.
Again, I wish he had looked at that some too, the very self-image that an American has or is raised to have (beyond being fed fear). When other cultures see a western they see an American film, but when an American sees John Wayne they see themselves, they see an American hero to aspire too.
And I'm not saying wrong or right, nor thinking of this in terms of politics. Just in terms of the nature of art and how it reflects upon the society that creates it, and in turn affects that society in perpetuating morals, myths, and culture.
Fertile ground for BFC part 2.
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