American Gun Culture and Death Wish | Renegade Cut

[Applause] [Music] Deathwish was meant to be released in November of 2017 but it was delayed until March of 2018 a few days after the mass shooting in Las Vegas one of the worst in American history MGM made the announcement of the delay they made no reference to the theory that this last-minute delay was due to the potential for bad press though a studio releasing a movie about a man channeling his rage through the barrel of a gun immediately after the Vegas Massacre might seem insensitive MGM claimed it was for something else but it doesn't really matter why the truth is there is no good time to release a movie like that in America because mass shootings happen all the time there were over 400 mass shootings in America in 2017 and that sounds high but that's because the media can't cover them all in 2017 not including suicides there were over 15,000 gun deaths in America including suicides significantly more there was no good time to release death wish the movie is the story of mild-mannered doctor Paul Kersey when his home is invaded his wife murdered and his daughter put in a coma he decides to take matters into his own hands it's lots of guns and becomes a cult figure in Chicago the Grim Reaper in death wish we see a lot of lip service debate about the ethics of what Kersey is doing popular radio show hosts Mancow and sway hold differing opinions but sways negative feeling about the grim reaper is generally there to be argued against the movie rights arguments for itself to win even Kerr sees brother when he discovers what is happening shows concern for his safety but not judgment that is made clear the film frames what Kersey is doing as generally right at worst the film presents vigilantism as dangerous to the vigilante but not morally wrong the political debate between Mancow and sway is about vigilantism with the subject of gun control or lack thereof as already settled before the first frame of the film gun control bad guns are the solution gun culture good being weak in front of strangers bad strength is the solution so if the film won't address gun control properly I will and I'll try to stick with arguments related to the film or else we will be here all day since the year 2000 more than half a million people have been killed by firearms in the United States of America and an untold amount more have been seriously injured and yet in spite of the numbers there is fierce resistance to even moderate gun control reform in America the term gun culture at least when used in America is the behaviors attitudes and beliefs about firearms particularly as a positive and especially when used by civilians gun culture does not merely influence a desire to own a gun for hunting but a desire to own a gun or many guns as an extension of one's personality beliefs about crime and personal values where does this come from well the short version is this centuries ago British firearms trade was actually a major industry until it concluded that giving guns to the wrong people the colonists might be a bad idea Americans ran with this instead the importance of firearms was strengthened by the American Revolution the Second Amendment which allows for a gun ownership was argued due to concerns about giving the states their own militias and the need for enforcement of slavery though there is some debate as to its significance in ratification Patrick Henry argued in favor of the Second Amendment due to the need to armed slave patrols most southern white men aged 18 to 45 were required to serve on such patrols in short the Second Amendment was created so that the states could form militias or armies to destroy insurrections or slave rebellions because the federal government had no standing military for a long time the founding fathers were frightened by a standing army because they feared a coup without a standing army the only protection the people and the government had were militias firearms were further drilled into American culture and law through the militia acts of 1792 the first of which gave the president power to call upon the militias and the second instructing every free able-bodied white male citizen to provide himself with a musket bayonet ammunition and other things this was due to recent losses uprisings and fear of Native American incursions gun ownership became part of everyday life it was unusual not to have a firearm gun culture is not a quirk of American society it is its foundation and because of this it has passed along over the relatively short history of the country another distinctive element of American identity that contributes to gun culture is that of rugged individualism this so-called rugged individual this American atom myth is a product of the frontier and partially falsified historical fiction about it the importance of the gun was codified by the Constitution but popularized by media America through our unique sociology media corporate values and other contributing factors props up gun culture and a connected culture of violence children particularly boys learned that violence is power from a young age that life is dispensable and that if they aren't popular athletic strong or smart they have little value common gun control proposals for America include but are not limited to the ban of sales to those on the terror watch list mandatory loss and theft reporting mandatory waiting periods for all guns the ban of sales to the mentally ill universal background checks to remove gun show and online loopholes where nearly half of gun sales happen banning bump stocks and deadlier weapons like the ar-15 and so forth most who advocate for stricter gun control one American laws to mirror laws in countries in which mass shooting are not a common occurrence common-sense measures that would not actually violate the Second Amendment gun control alone will not solve a problem that is so rooted in a culture of violence and a culture that stigmatizes mental illness but these measures would still be helpful let's go over some common arguments that the gun lobby and the people who parrot their words use we can actually find a lot of them sprinkled throughout Death Wish when kursi enters the gun store bethany first shows him knives before any guns gun advocates sometimes say guns don't kill people people kill people if guns are banned criminals will use knives and other weapons instead it's true that tighter gun control will not prevent a murderer attempting to use say an axe instead but guns are a lot more effective and can be used at a longer range even Kersey who initially uses his gun incorrectly eventually becomes adept at murder through simple training statistics from the CDC show that of the homicides committed in America every year the vast majority are committed using firearms why give murderers better and more effective options counter arguments usually go like this well what about bombs bombs are illegal and people still make bombs in 2016 there were over 10,000 deaths via gun violence in America in the same year there was one death due to a bomb building a bomb and using it correctly is far more difficult than walking into a Walmart and buying a firearm and because of this it is not as commonly used as a murder weapon also America has made it difficult to buy a bomb which is why the terrorist attack in Texas in 2018 was so incredibly rare large purchases of certain ingredients that are potentially dangerous are monitored heavily regulated or reported when purchased the whole why not just ban cars then actually brings up arguments for gun control not against it greater regulation helped cars we mandated seatbelts and airbags we got rid of metal dashboards and we changed gas tanks to prevent explosions greater car regulation did help another argument is simply gun control will not work so why bother in Deathwish Kersey is able to obtain a gun illegally by stealing it from someone in his hospital showing the audience that gun control will not prevent anyone from obtaining a gun he is also able to form an instant bond with arms merchants Bethany who seems to be immediately willing to cover for Kersey the film gets a few things wrong here but gun control does work in nearly every country it has been implemented countries with stricter gun control laws than America have fewer gun related deaths and a lower murder rate the exceptions are countries in which government and law enforcement are so ineffective that they would be considered failed States what about Illinois Deathwish takes place in Chicago Illinois a city known for its high crime rate gun advocates often cite Chicago in their speeches to prove that gun control does not work because Illinois has strong gun control laws and still has the issue of Chicago it is not a coincidence that this film takes place there because the movie is trying to make the same argument that our president has made the truth is that American states with the least gun laws actually have the worst rate of gun murders not Illinois according to crime statistics out of all 50 states 50 being the most safe and number one being the least safe as it relates to guns Illinois is ranked number 34 so it's actually one of the best at least by comparison law enforcement speculates that the recent Chicago has so many guns is because they can be obtained and transported from nearby states like Michigan and Indiana if the strict laws existed in all states this would not be possible another argument banning drugs didn't solve the problem the same will happen with guns in Deathwish the criminals are able to obtain guns very easily suggesting that they got them illegally or through loopholes they show up to cur C's home with gun the criminal bartender has a gun this guy has a gun they all have guns by showing this in the film it reinforces what gun advocates already believe stricter gun control will only negatively affect law-abiding citizens because the criminals will always be able to get illegal guns as easily as they get illegal drugs again in other countries this has proven to be untrue but let's focus on America drugs are much easier to produce and smuggle than guns most are grown drugs are lighter and don't set off metal detectors and can be smuggled inside someone's body yes it will be difficult to stop illegal trafficking of guns but it is significantly easier than stopping drug traffic now this is a big one I must protect my family in death wish curses home is invaded by criminals one wants to sexually abuse his daughter and his wife is murdered it's the terrifying scenario that runs through the minds of gun advocates who believe that only a gun is proper protection here are some uncomfortable statistics gun ownership increases the risk of both gun-related homicides and suicides guns in the home are especially dangerous for victims of domestic violence the presence of a gun in a home with a history of domestic violence increases the risk that a woman will be killed by 500 percent now Kersey is a model husband up until the point he becomes the grim reaper anyway but he is a fictional character and not the norm Deathwish presents us with someone who under different circumstances would be a responsible gun owner that's what gun advocates want us to see they say he needs a gun for self-defense right well maybe maybe not guns intended for self-defense are commonly involved in fatal accidents studies have shown that across states higher levels of gun ownership are linked to higher rates of unintentional firearm deaths people don't just become a pistol-packing perfect shot like Kersey through sheer force of will alone guns are used far more often in criminal homicides than in justifiable acts of self-defense in 2014 for every self-defense gun death in the United States guns were used in 34 criminal homicides the idea that more guns equals more protection is the monster belief false Kersey is told by this character that if a man wants to protect what is his he must rely on himself alone all while holding a firearm the desire to need a weapon to feel like a man to feel like a protector is strong in American culture but the statistics suggest that this machismo is not helpful and finally the biggest myth that Deathwish perpetuates the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun this quote is made manifest by the narrative of this film Kersey sees injustice bad guys with guns so he an alleged good guy must be the one to stop them he walks the streets gets into shootouts becomes famous shoots more bad guys and so on an FBI study of 160 active shooting cases showed that only about 3% were stopped by armed civilians and most of them were security guards not vigilantes like in death wish more were stopped by unarmed civilians so it's actually the opposite of what gun advocates think armed citizens can exacerbate a mass shooting during the 2011 shooting in Tucson Arizona an armed bystander misidentified the perpetrator and almost shot the wrong person Kersey keeps his gun hidden as he walks the streets of Chicago but concealed carry permit laws are linked to an increase in violent crime not a decrease a 2017 study by researchers at Stanford University found that 10 years after enacting of these laws States experienced a 13% to 15% rise in violent crime in this scene an old man chases off thieves from his cementing his beliefs to kursi with direct evidence but using a gun for defense during a robbery has no significant benefits you would think it would be but a 2015 analysis by researchers at the Harvard th Chan School of Public Health of the National Crime Victimization survey found that the likelihood of sustaining an injury during a robbery was nearly identical between people who attempted to defend themselves with a gun and those who took no defensive action Deathwish is a gun-toting middle-aged man's wish fulfillment it avoids the gun control debate and instead props up its message with the dangerous part of masculinity and eschews everything else when the film opens we get the message right away cursey is unable to save the police officer but he may be able to save the life of the man who allegedly shot him a surviving police officer questions this but Kersey at this point in the film does not understand what death wish wants us to believe about justice that justice is found at the end of a gun Kersey the film tells us is just a big wuss who backs down from fights because he's too reasonable and that's just not good enough for real America a manlier man would have knocked out the complete stranger at the soccer game and would have been strong enough to save his family but now his eyes have been opened and he's gonna clean up the streets of Chicago with his gun even though firearms are the cause of and not solution to some of Chicago's problems gun culture is propped up on paper by the gun lobby and the politicians they have bought but socially we accept it in America because of another societal ill that we never really believe is actually an ill a culture that places greater value on strength and cowboy antics than on problem solving and solutions that actually have demonstrable results our long romance with violence makes movies like death wish seem cool and I'm not completely immune here only in America can we see Kersey as the hero in nearly any other movie made in nearly any other country he would be the villain all the statistics in the world won't convince some that we require greater restrictions firearms because the basis of their belief in guns has more to do with instinct and cultural norms than it has to do with facts convincing an American that guns should not be glorified and fetishized is convincing an American that their very culture is wrong and no amount of school massacres and research that proves our society would be better with stricter laws will be enough to make some Americans face that because if the culture of guns is wrong and people attach their egos to that culture admitting it feels like a personal defeat the resistance to change is emotional more than it is intellectual so much so that when the NRA feeds us lies some Americans are not only willing to believe them but eager to believe them our culture of violence so affixed in our lives for social political and economic reasons makes gun ownership so appealing I'll leave you with this quote from The Economist following the Charleston massacre in 2015 the regularity of mass killings breeds familiarity the rhythms of grief and outrage that accompany them become for those not directly affected by tragedy ritualized and then blend into the background noise that normalization makes it ever less likely that America's political system will grown into action to take steps to reduce their frequency or deadliness those who live in America or visit it might do best to regard them the way one regards air pollution in China an endemic local health hazard which for deep-rooted cultural social economic and political reasons the country is incapable of addressing this may however be a bit unfair China seems to be making progress on pollution hi everyone if you like what I do please click on the orange patreon link below that's how this show happens it's also the only way to request an episode also please like share subscribe and click on the notification Bell so that you never miss an episode I'll see you next week

Channel: Renegade Cut

Views: 149,152

Rating: 4.7460814 out of 5

Keywords: death wish, death wish trailer, death wish trailer 2018, death wish full movie, death wish review, death wish gun culture, renegade cut, american gun culture, gun culture, gun nation, why so many americans love their guns, a history of guns in america, gun control, death wish scene, death wish bruce willis, death wish action scenes, death wish final shooutout, death wish ice cream man scene, the politics of gun rights, guns in america, america's gun problem, film, movies

Id: 0Bbf3GX0rc8

Length: 19min 44sec (1184 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 20 2018

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