Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/3097

No Bourne for me

by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 6, 2004 1:29 AM EST


I couldn't make it out to see Bourne Supremacy, adding that movie to the list of things I wanted to see but haven't seen yet:

Kill Bill vol 2
Manchurian Candidate
I, Robot
and Fahrenheit 9/11

I only recently saw Michael Moore's other film, Bowling for Columbine. I actually went into seeing the movie with some very low expectations, given the amount of criticism and flaws that had been pointed out in Bowling's production since it's release. I came away from the movie with a much different experience; to me I didn't see the movie as a criticism of gun control or gun ownership, it's biggest message to me was one that I've echoed for quite a while: a criticism of the mass media.

Reading things like Ted Turner's take on big media further illustrate the problems with mass media today. I'm eager to see Fahrenheit 9/11 not because I think our foreign policy has deteriorated beyond belief, but because I'd like to see how much Moore takes the media to task on the reasons we are where we are today. Unfortunately the masses still aren't being taught exactly why things are the way they are, instead it's deemed much more important to report on vague terror alerts, the daily death toll in Iraq, etc... I'm all for reporting all the bad stuff along with the good in the world, but I think a huge duty of the media is also to educate, to truly inform and not just to drive up ratings. I spent my middle, high school learning more than I wanted to know about European history again and again, but never really understanding the middle east and how it came to be. It wasn't until I made the decision to take a class on it in college did I begin to understand the origins of why that part of the world is in such a mess in a lot of senses. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to hate and a little less easy to learn first, which definitely doesn't help the situation at all.

I've got a Macdate coming today, I felt the need to write some before I went to bed though which is where this post came from :)

Goodnight folks.

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