May/June 2003 Living Now
The Movie Mystic

by Stephen Simon

Stephen Simon
Film is one of the facets of our society that creates impressions of who we as Americans truly are. With the War in Iraq looming large in the media, my thoughts are on the very nature of violence as depicted in current American Cinema. I keep hearing President Bush calling America a "peace-loving" country while much of the rest of the world (and many here at home) regard us often as arrogant marauders.

What are our current major films saying about us?

We could certainly look at a large number of films from the last several months, but I’ve chosen two that were nominated for Academy Awards this year, GANGS OF NEW YORK and BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE. They both look at the nature of violence in very different ways. Unfortunately, neither portrayal will win us many friends around the world.

GANGS is a truly brutal and bloody film about the gangs who ruled New York in the 19th Century. The basic story deals with a revenge-seeking young man (Leonardo di Caprio) who, as a young boy, saw his father killed in a gang confrontation by Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day Lewis). Years later, the boy returns to avenge his father’s death and gains the confidence of his father’s murderer until he can exact his revenge.

The film is a paean to a violent culture from the first frame until the last. Even though the violence clearly proves nothing and gains nothing except a temporary individual advantage over an adversary, the actual acts are graphically and brutally portrayed. Truly, there is no one for whom to root and the "epic" spins out violent death after violent death with only the pretense of individual "honor" as a motivation. Even at the end, when the revenge is complete, we are left only with the empty feeling that one violent act has triumphed over another…..and…so what?

Those of you who have read this column over the last year know that I am not opposed to violence per se in films. For instance, I thought that ROAD TO PERDITION handled its violent world and premise with restraint and artistry. GANGS, however, simply glorifies the entire violent culture which it illuminates and, to the rest of the world, the image of America is of a country with a violent past and culture that it still reveres, even today. As an Academy member, I deeply respect every individual’s practice of his or her craft (Daniel Day Lewis, for example, gives a truly brilliant performance), but I was truly depressed to see that the film received both Best Picture and Best Director nominations. Although Martin Scorsese is a brilliant and gifted American director, I’m concerned that the film then will be another confirmation for the rest of the word of America’s love affair with its own violent culture.

BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE is Michael Moore's brilliant and disturbing film that looks deeply into the soul of the gun culture of America, and contrasts it with the rest of the civilized countries in the world. Sadly, we don't exactly set a standard for others to follow here either.

By criss-crossing the country, Moore illuminates the violent nature of American society and shows us a view that mainstream media sources hardly ever even mention. Those same media outlets are greatly responsible for the fanning of the flames of violence in America because, as it is often said in the film, these sources have a vested interest in our fear.

Most intriguingly, Moore demonstrates that Canada has as many -or more- guns per capita as the United States but that our murder rate is close to 200 times the rate in Canada. As one young Canadian says, "In Canada, maybe we'll tease someone mercilessly if we disagree with them--in America, you just shoot them!"

In an odd and disturbing way, this conclusion of the film somewhat contradicts anti-gun sentiment because the impression that we, as viewers, are left with is that, guns or not, we are indeed the most violent society in the world. The challenge is in our own hearts and psyches, and I believe that Moore deserves our respect and gratitude for tearing off the mask of our own complacency.

Both GANGS and COLUMBINE seem to contradict our image as a "peace-loving society". As a film maker whose exclusive focus is now Spiritual Cinema, I look forward to the challenges and opportunities of contributing to the healing of that image and I invite you to join me.

Stephen Simon has produced such films as Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Come. His book The Force is With You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives, published by Walsch Books/Hampton Roads, is now available. For more information, go to: www.MysticalMovies.com. Stephen welcomes your comments by email: Stephen@MysticalMovies.com