Originally posted by CatsinDenver
I think the most important point the movie made is that people in the U.S. are afraid of everyone and everything. And that fear is definitely not a recent invention of the media, because I'm 46 and it permeated the small town where I grew up.

When I was a kid, other kids used to ask me whether I was afraid to go outside at night because I lived in the "bad" part of town. This was a town of 4,000 people in the middle of midwestern farm country. There was no "bad" part of town. I lived on the side of town where the handful of African-American families lived, and where a small public housing project was located.

We lock ourselves inside our homes, we don't know or trust our neighbors. We're terrified (especially of anyone who's "different"), we're angry about being terrified, and we're armed. It's a lethal combination.
I'm not afraid! I dislike the media - any media - telling me that I am! And, by the way, I like my neighbors. I live on a pretty diversely-populated street, various ethnicities and everything from new immigrants, and people who have lived here for 80+ years. And I live in a "city," too. I wave to people when I drive down my humble little street, and they wave back.

As for Bowling for Columbine, read that site Paul pointed too. Boy, was I annoyed when I realized how much the movie twisted things and misrepresented stuff.

By the way, I am also the worst bowler in my family. Am routinely beaten by small children - and I'm trying my best! Oh well.