The film industry has made billions, if not trillions of dollars thanks to firearms. Action movies have always been big business for filmmakers. From westerns to modern action thrillers to police procedurals on the small screen, guns have been part of Hollywood since before it was Hollywood.
Yet for those of us ready to defend the right of people who don’t work on movies to have guns, we recognize the industry isn’t on the same page.
They don’t value the Second Amendment and will advance an anti-gun narrative at every opportunity, such as picking which subjects to make documentaries about.
Having its premiere today at SXSW, this CNN Films theatrical documentary Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down is a truly inspirational offering an almost verite kind of fly-on-the-wall account of what can only be termed as a comeback story like no other. In 2011 Giffords, an Arizona congresswoman and rising star in the Democratic party had the wind at her back with talk of possibly a Senate or Governor run in the future, even maybe a Presidential one. She was married to astronaut Mark Kelly, and was even looking at adding a new addtion to their family which included his two daughters from a previous marriage. Then it all came crashing down when at a campaign event, she and several others attending were felled by a gunman run amok. Several died that day including a 12 year old girl who was interested in civic studies and tagged along to the rally. Giffords herself took a single bullet to the head and was actually reported by media as having died. That report was erroneous and in fact doctors told Kelly that she likely would survive, but in what condition they couldn’t say.
Now, granted, part of this can be laid at CNN’s feet, but SXSW is a film festival, which means it’s on par with the film industry’s goals.
So…where’s the documentary on Rep. Steve Scalise?
You all remember him. He’s a pro-Second Amendment lawmaker who was shot by a deranged Bernie Sanders supporter engaged in an act of domestic terrorism. He, too, had to face a difficult recovery, but he did.
Oh yeah, unlike Giffords who passed herself off as at least a semi-pro-gun candidate, though, he’s still pro-Second Amendment.
Where is that documentary? If it’s made, will it get a slot at the prestigious SXSW? Probably not. For some reason, I’m willing to bet money that they’ll never show that particular documentary on their screens.
See, the film industry hates you. They want you disarmed because they believe you’re unworthy of owning guns simply because you value them. While they expect carve-outs for the guns they use to make movies, they expect you to give up everything in the name of safety.
So, they and CNN’s film division–the bastard child of both an anti-gun “news” network and the film industry itself–will push this as if Giffords is the ultimate hero while ignoring that Scalise was also shot, had significant issues because of it, and still champions the right to keep and bear arms.
It’s not about the story, it’s about the message. Scalise’s story sends the wrong one. It sends the message that there are some people who really do believe in the right to keep and bear arms, that really aren’t “bought and paid for by the NRA” as many anti-gun activists allege. It tells people that there’s another side of the coin, a coin you don’t need to hear from.
Because the film industry hates you and all you stand for.
If it makes you feel better, they hate me for the exact same reasons.
