By Gabby
I couldn't sleep the other night, so I began shuffling through HBO's offerings and a documentary caught my eye. It's called "Gun Fight" directed by Barbara Kopple. The cover image (pictured right) proved to me that the film makers had done, at least, an iota of research into the pro-gun perspective, so it might be a fare discussion.
"Gun Fight" begins with the Virginia Tech shooting. The film uses one of the victims of that crime, Collin Goddard to carry the story from beginning to end. It uses no narrator, only the voices of both sides, Second-Amendment-folks and gun-control-folks. (I describe the two sides thusly, because I prefer to keep "pro" and "anti" labels out of my explanation of the film.) Without a narrator, the viewer is able to judge each opinion offered for themselves.
The filmmakers contrast protestors in Washington DC as well as leaders and members from organizations on both sides of the issue. Often the side of "gun-control" is played by a sympathetic parent mourning a child or a victim of gun-violence. This makes it an uphill battle for the other side, but don't judge just yet.
The end of "Gun Fight" clearly aims to depict gun-rights-organizations in a poor light, when they focus on the tension between NRA leaders and leaders of the Second Amendment Foundation. However, the middle of the film was the part I found most compelling. Philadelphia PA is the setting for the film makers to interview a range of people living with a scary version of American life, one that I, personally, am unfamiliar. A poor man trying to keep his family alive, a couple of "thugs" and leaders of a theater group for underprivileged children, were some of the people included in the interviews. I found these people most interesting to the the discussion since they were not representing either "side" but they were depicting a cause and affect relationship that should be part of the conversation.
No comments:
Post a Comment