Who here has seen Bowling for Columbine many times?

[Barney Gumble]

http://www.spinsanity.org/ is claiming that the DVD was altered from the theatrical release, in the theater there was a caption under Willie Horton that said "Willie Horton released. Then kills again" but on the DVD it was changed to "Willie Horton released. Then rapes a woman."

Can anybody verify this one?

[greyl]

1. app. when does this appear in the movie?

I'll check, but knowing that would help a bit.

edit: screw it, I'll just watch it again. :) (I have the theater release) You'll have the answer in less than 2 hours.

[AWD]

3. I have both copies...

...a new DVD, and an Oscar screener.

I'll check tomorrow.

[greyl]

5. Ok, the theater release does

show the caption "Willie Horton released. Then kills again."
The Bush Quayle ad that spinsanity links to doesn't have a caption that mentions Willie Horton - just his picture. But!...

according to Salon.com 8/25/2000, there was more than one version of the ad produced, and imo, the segment in Bowling does not misrepresent the BushQuayle campaign strategy of capitalizing on white fear of blacks.

http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/08/25/horton/

<<"In many ways, the legend of the Horton ad far exceeds its reality -- a reality that may be even more pernicious in some ways. Because, though the elder Bush and Lee Atwater received blame (or credit) for the Horton ad, according to the official books, they had absolutely nothing to do with it.

To recap: "Weekend Passes" was produced by Carmen, and was broadcast in the fall of 1988. It featured the story of Horton, a convicted murderer granted a weekend prison furlough under then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis during which Horton escaped to Maryland and assaulted a man, Clifford Barnes, and repeatedly raped Barnes' wife, Angie. While then-Sen. Al Gore, who was a conservative Democrat and presidential candidate at the time, slammed Dukakis for his role in the Horton fiasco during the primaries, neither he, nor the original ad, mentioned Horton's race.

But almost immediately after it began running, as a Brown University study of the ad revealed, GOP consultant Larry McCarthy, who worked for National Security PAC, stealthily inserted a looming mug shot of Horton in a substitute version of the ad, revealing the convict to be -- ta da! -- an African-American. McCarthy said the photo of Horton used in the ad was "every suburban mother's greatest fear."

"Weekend Passes" meshed well with an official Bush campaign ad, "Revolving Doors" -- another spot critical of prison furlough programs. Produced by Bush media consultant Roger Ailes -- a former boss of McCarthy's -- with a helping hand from Atwater, the ad also portrayed Dukakis as soft on crime. But the official campaign ad never mentioned Horton's name; and, of the 19 "prisoners" making their way through the "revolving door" of the Massachusetts penal system, 16 were white, two black and one Latino.

Meanwhile, another independent, pro-Bush group, Committee for the Presidency, funded a $2 million speaking tour headlined by Clifford Barnes and Donna Fournier Cuomo, the sister of Horton's original murder victim, around the country. The Committee for the Presidency, formed by a Los Angeles GOP consultant with -- again -- no direct or provable ties to the Bush campaign, also broadcast two ads, one with Barnes claiming that "Mike Dukakis and Willie Horton changed our lives forever," the other with Cuomo saying that "Dukakis let killers out of prison ... Willie Horton stabbed my teenage brother 19 times." Though there was no evidence of any collusion between any of these independent groups and the Bush campaign, Atwater had told GOP officials, "By the time this election is over, Willie Horton will be a household name. >>


and from aef.com:
http://www.aef.com/channel.asp?ChannelID=3&DocID=1461&location=Special%20Election%20Report

<<The 1988 ads were blatantly misleading, and the Bush team led the way. One spot criticized Dukakis for failing to clean up Boston Harbor by featuring an actual sign that read: "Danger/Radiation Hazard/No Swimming." But it had nothing to do with Dukakis. The sign merely warned swimmers to stay away from a nuclear site that was undergoing repair. But it was the Willie Horton spot that critics considered the lowest of the low.

"A procession of convicts circles through a revolving gate and marches toward the nation's living rooms," writes Jamieson. "The ad invites the inference--false--that 268 first-degree murderers were furloughed by Dukakis to rape and kidnap. In fact, only one first-degree murderer, William Horton, escaped furlough in Massachusetts and committed a violent crime.">>


So yes, Bowling is definitely makes an accurate point about racist fearmongering, and anyone that chooses to argue the point that the bush's haven't used that as a strategy is full of shit. :)

[Barney Gumble]

7. thanks. I'm disappointed in MM

You'd think he'd know better.

[greyl]

8. So, I didn't convince you eh? :) nt

[MI Cherie]

2. Only saw it on DVD

Another question: Which was used in the original political ad?

All I remember is that it was the repukes that signed the law allowing him to go free to rape or kill.

[anti_shrub]

4. Typical freep nitpicking

Even if its true, and I didn't see it in the theaters, are they saying rape isn't as bad as murder? Sure seems like it reading that site.

"Moreover, it was incorrect -- Horton raped a woman while on furlough, but he did not commit murder."

Oh well, then its okay then, as long as no murdering took place....

This continual attempt to discredit Moore by nitpickery is getting old.

Perhaps Moore brings it on himself with his melodramatic sarcasm, like about the plaque on the B-52, but why don't any of these sites that want to scream about how inaccurate the film is argue with any of the main points brought up instead of all this ticky tacky shit?

[KG]

6. with so few voices in this country willing to speak truth to power

it's dismaying to see on DU the constant whining and attacks on heroic voices like moore, hightower, palast, zinn and chomsky, mostly consisting of 'he dissed a democrat waaahhh'... :shrug:

[laconicsax]

9. I think it said "...then kills again"

I have the DVD, but don't really care to watch it again. I never saw it in the theater, and when I finally saw it, I was surprised that it won "Best Documentary"

I liked it, and some of what he did, but he lost focus really often and kept trying to reach for things that he didn't need to--shipping missiles during the night makes kids think it's ok to kill...yeah, ok.

[greyl]

10. "shipping missiles during the night

makes kids think it's ok to kill...yeah, ok."

That reality among others, was being contrasted with video games and music - the stupidass 'causes' that squares like lieberman were spouting off about.