GUNLAND: TOPICAL DOCUMENTARY

The amount of gun violence in the country today, in particular Chicago, is frightening to many. While some cite statistics that show a decrease in gun violence others share research that show a rise. One thing learned from the discussions to and fro concerning any topic these days is that research and statistics can be manipulated on both sides of the issue.

From the concern about the amount of gun violence in this country comes GUNLAND, a documentary concerning that very topic. Focusing in the Chicago area it discussed the problems associated with gun violence there and comes up with several options to solve that problem. Not all are good but not all are bad either. And in a city that has come to be called Chiraq (a combination of the Chi-town nickname with war torn Iraq), it’s time someone addressed the problem seriously.

A point made in the movie that makes this documentary all the more important is when it talks about the fact that news reporting on the issues merits sound bites only. Running anywhere from 30-90 seconds, you can never do justice to a story about the problem at hand. It becomes a pieces that tells who was shot and what the police are doing to follow up. But what about the deep rooted causes behind the shootings? Not the turf or drug wars but the entire story. Few is any news agencies are covering that tale and little will be done to change things until they do.

The movie consist of numerous interviews with various people in the community and a few outside who are willing to do what it takes to change things. The topics discussed range from the initial reason for the violence which most associate with the drug trade. Cartels employee thousands in their illegal activities and arm them all. This sets up the battlefield mentality between rival gangs that now stake out turf for drug wars instead of the protection of innocents that those gangs were originally conceived to do. The only thing not discussed with this concept is that a teen taught to work hard for a reasonable wage doesn’t think it’s the way to go once they learn the amount of money they can make selling drugs. It has to go deeper than that.

One interviewee talks about the fact that we live in a culture that glorifies guns, where the macho instinct we witness in film and television shows heroes settling disputes via showdowns. While I might concede that there is a small amount of justification in this why is it that this doesn’t affect the country on en masse? Is it the difference in education that causes this or the family structure? To claim this is the only cause feels a bit ingenious at best.

Better are the concepts of returning the community to community held standards, where everyone joins in to make where they live a better place. Some speak of a time when the mothers of one child were basically the mothers of all in the neighborhood, where everyone watched out for one another. Another suggestion is giving young people a place to go where they can receive training and education, something to do rather than walk the streets seeking trouble. But that can only go so far. They have to want to be there first. And if one thing we’ve learned in the past from spots like Cabrini Green, you can’t just build a structure without someone there to man it and make sure the concept for its construction carries through.

There is no simple answer to the problem of gun deaths in Chicago. To say the legal sale of guns is the cause is a false narrative since all guns legally sold must have their serial numbers registered. Illegal guns are the problem when it comes to guns on the street. Saying that people don’t care isn’t true either when you recognize the number of people interviewed in this film who care as well as numerous people who speak out against the violence. What is apparent is that a discussion needs to take place where all possibilities are brought to the table and talked about to find a solution.

The fact that I can sit here writing about this topic shows that there are many ideas out there and that people care. That I was receptive to some ideas presented here and saw flaws with others shows that there is room for discussion. But most importantly when it comes to this film is that it starts that discussion. I would highly suggest that this film be shown to high school teens across the country in the hopes that it would bring them to the table as well. Until we look at all aspects and all possible solutions the possibility of the violence ending are slim.

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