The original purposes of this sub-forum

[Oleg Volk]

1. Critique and fisking of anti-gun TV, videos and movies. Counters to their moves may be discussed.

2. Constructive critique of pro-gun videos and movies. The purpose is to determine which are worth promoting, and to devise improvements for the existing pro-gun content.

3. Planning, coordination, fund-raising and reviews of pro-RKBA content produced by GRM members.

4. Discussion and reviews of movies, Internet and TV programming, and TV news media, content in which gun use is incidental or neutrally presented. This will be more of a chit-chat direction but would serve to promote well-done titles and also promote learning of techniques by observation.


Am I missing anything?

[KodiakBeer]

Oleg,

I hope the forum won't be too narrowly focused. A forum is also a community of friends who at times are going to want to discuss more general items such as popular films and TV shows. If these are off topic in Media Review, then perhaps a more general media sub-forum is indicated where members could discuss crime films, westerns, zombie flicks and so on?

[Johnny Dollar]

Oleg,thank you for addressing this situation.

More than 24 hours have passed and only one responder. Quite remarkable.

I am not upset though.And even though it is somewhat gauche to try to carry your own water I simply say this:

I believe that poll that I ran was gun oriented and should fit into the parameters of the Media forum.

That to make the forum more viable leeway should be given to some expansion of expression to make contributions more invitable.

And reviews,criticisms and reflections on media driven agenda should be considered fair game and commentable.

So,respectfully,I ask that my gun oriented crime poll be re-opened and be made available to the forum membership.

Always remembering that without your foresight Oleg,this forum (and THR) would not exist.

Of course,you are the final arbiter. I accept whatever decision you make with equanimity.

Johnny

[Oleg Volk]

The delays in my responses are due to the number of tasks I am doing at once. I have to give this thought and that requires down time between deadlines. Will try to decide soon.

[Johnny Dollar]

Understood.10-7..

[Carl N. Brown]

Critique and discuss pro-RKBA and anti-gun movies, TV programs, publications and web sites. Coordinate GRM's own pro-gun productions.

If you read stated the purpose of the subforum Media Review closely, it is to promote discussion of non-fiction media. Other than threads like "The Gun Obsession by Donald Mccarthy" or "Another piece of antigun fluff", most posted treads tend toward reviewing fiction that sometimes just contains guns, although "Harry Brown (2009)" and some others touch on gun rights / gun control / self defense issues.

Should this be limited to non-fiction media that touch on the issue of gun control / gun rights as either news reporting, issue documentary or editorial op-ed or debate (like the Great Gun Debate at Kings College London between Rebecca Peters and Wayne LaPierre, available on DVD or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmg_zMuQEDk )? Or is that too narrow?

How about movies that try to deal with guns as an issue within a fictional story (like the three different films named American Gun (2002, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0270197/; 2005, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416471/; or 2011, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1929182/)?

Or even a seperate forum for media that includes firearms without clearly raising gun rights / gun control / self defense issues, since a lot of us like movies with guns and can't resist the temptation to play Roger Ebert.

[Fargazer]

I think fictional media is appropriate, but only in the correct context - how does it affect the "real world" and our society. For example, take the movie "Road to Perdition", starring Tom Hanks:

• Whether or not the guns shown in the film were accurate - out of scope
• Does the movie promoted an anti-gun agenda from its portrayal of the use of firearms - definitely in scope

Distinguishing discussions on media's impact on RKBA, vs. discussing the media in and of itself, is going to be a fine line for many people; I think it's going to be a tough one to moderate.

[Oleg Volk]

>>Whether or not the guns shown in the film were accurate - out of scope

I don't even think this would be out of scope. Accuracy of props, customs and events bears considerably on the effect of a film.



Non-fiction media, especially the current videos, are important to review. No one has the time to watch all new materials that come out daily, so a digest would help steer us to the most interesting, effective and/or important content.

[juice]

a forum with a purpose... hmmm!

[syntheticturf8]

Good idea for sub-forum.

[Carl N. Brown]

I would like to see more critiques over accuracy/inaccuracy of non-fictional portrayal of guns and gun related issues in new reports, opinion/editorials and documentaries. Which I still suspect was Oleg Volk's wish.

My pet peeve was everytime TV discussed the "Assault Weapon" ban on semi-auto rifles, they showed stock footage of machineguns blazing away on full-auto (and Fox was as guilty of that as CNN). Brainwashing as blatant as the opening of "Triumph of the Will" showing the savior of the German people descending from the clouds.

However, fictional portrayal of guns and gun related issues (war, revolution, crime, self-defense, sports hunting, subsistence hunting, wilderness survival, etc.) are also important to a lot of us. Sometimes fiction about guns seems to impact public perception of gun ownership more than the news, op/eds or docs.

I'll face it: which would I rather do, dissect the 2003 Donohue/Lott exchange of articles in Stanford Law Review, or analyze Zoe Washburn's selection of arms in Firefly? Which is it young fella?

[DRZinn]

Which is it young fella?

Heh. I see what you did there.

But yes, the purpose as I see it is to discuss not just accuracy or inaccuracy of fact, but also sympathetic or anti.

[armoredman]

Mmm, Firefly, available on NetFlix...

[bombgames01]

Does the movie promoted an anti-gun agenda from its portrayal of the use of firearms - definitely in scope?

[Oleg Volk]

Sure. Deconstruct and refute what they do and we have something useful for others to read.

[Lanius]

Sometimes fiction about guns seems to impact public perception of gun ownership more than the news, op/eds or docs.

Correction: Nearly always fiction about guns seems to impact public perception of gun ownership more than the news, op/eds or docs.

Edutainment and all that. People rarely seek to educate themselves, most of the time they consume entertainment. You know people who don't do that at all? Very rare ones.