I enjoy a good documentary on an interesting subject, but there really aren't that many good ones out there. Most are biased attempts at selling a message, and that's particularly true when it's about anything politically charged.
That's especially true about the gun debate, but one upcoming documentary claims to be different. Is it?
Honestly, I don't know, but let's talk about why I'm skeptical of the claim.
First, a bit about the documentary.
Most documentaries about guns in America come in loud. They argue. They persuade. They pick a side and push it hard.
Doug Pray’s Louder Than Guns does something far quieter — and, in its own way, more radical.
“I’ve never done an overtly advocacy film,” Pray tells Gold Derby. “I always find it difficult to do polemic-type things. … My problem is I’m too sympathetic with all sides.”
That instinct — to listen instead of argue — is what defines Louder Than Guns, a music-driven documentary featuring and executive produced by musician Ketch Secor and journalist David Greene, former host of NPR’s Morning Edition, that attempts something rare in today’s media landscape: bringing people with deeply opposing views on gun ownership into the same room and asking them to actually talk to each other.
And that's my first red flag. I don't know Greene's personal sensibilities on guns, since I don't really follow most people from NPR if I can possibly help it, but we all know where NPR stands on things like, well, rights.
Secor, on the other hand, is someone who has most definitely taken anti-gun stances, particularly following the Covenant School shooting. Of course, his post-Covenant comments are framed as him simply asking if we could have the conversation differently, but that just makes this whole report more questionable.
Now, it's possible that both are personally anti-gun, but wanted to do something without bias in hopes it'll make a difference, but again, I'm skeptical.
As for Pray, I have no idea. I haven't seen any of his work, so I don't know if he's telling the truth, and I'm not interested enough to find and dig through years of his social media posts to find any hints of his own biases.
But while the reports claim that Pray just put people in a room together, told them this wasn't about conflict, and let them talk, the truth is that no matter how much of that really happened, the editing makes the difference. We've seen supposed documentarians play games with the editing to make it appear that pro-gun people have no answer for some question, when they actually did. (Looking at you, Katie Couric.)
Now, maybe that didn't happen. Maybe this is all legit, and it's really a documentary about the discussion, and no sides are taken. I can't know for sure because it doesn't come out until May 8th, and that'll be at a festival in New York. There's no way my curiosity reaches the level of booking a flight to that hellhole, just to watch a movie.
When it comes to streaming, I'll give it a watch, most likely. Especially because while I'm skeptical, there is some reason for hope.
One of the film’s most striking takeaways is how much common ground exists once the volume is turned down.
“Everybody wants safer schools. Everybody,” Pray says. “People who don’t have guns usually don't have them because they want their house to be safe. People who do have guns usually have them because they want their children to be safe. Both sides want safety.”
That shared goal — safety — becomes what Pray calls a kind of “glue” in the film.
It doesn’t erase disagreement. It doesn’t magically resolve policy debates. But it creates space for something that often feels absent in the national conversation: recognition.
“It’s not like everybody was holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya,’” he adds. “It’s a tough topic. But just seeing people listen and agree is very healthy for this country.”
Yes, we do want schools to be safe, and we own guns to keep our homes safe. Pray saying that means that he most likely listened, at least a little bit, and if he did, then there's a chance that this won't be another "Under The Gun" with Couric playing dishonest games.
I'm not holding my breath, mind you. I am willing to waste a couple of hours of my time to find out for sure, though.
