Movies glorify U.S. gun culture

I was as bloodthirsty as the next guy when Harrison Ford shot the swordsman to kingdom come in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. You remember the scene. A menacing man dressed in black robes and red sash, smiling as he wields a fearsome blade, advances on hero grave robber Indiana Jones (Ford). Indy takes one tired look at the guy, pulls out his revolver and shoots him dead. Bang. Hurrah! Pass the popcorn. The scene was one of the most memorable movie moments of the 1980s. It got a huge laugh and a round of applause from the crowd I saw Raiders with at the old University Theatre, the week the film opened in 1981. What exactly were we applauding? What was so funny about killing a man in cold blood?

This guy has a bee in his bonnet about movies using guns to move the plot along, but he's missing the point. Movies (like many other types of stories) are usually depicting extraordinary events, not ordinary events. A certain amount of violence is often a component of stories about extraordinary events. While it can often be used improperly, they get it right occasionally.

And as for Indiana Jones... well, when a man is attacking you with a sword, it's hardly cold blood to shoot him. That's a proper use of firearms in a movie; self-defense.