Lord of War

I've just watched the most disturbing movie. I'm a big Nicholas Cage fan. He often plays either the likable everyman or the quirky but somehow empathetic misfit. In Lord of War, Nichloas Cage plays an arms dealer. His character, Yuri, sells arms to buyers all over the world, all the while telling himself that he is not responsible for the carnage and genocide the weapons he sells cause.

Throughout the movie, Yuri sells arms, especially the AK-47, to countless armies around the world, but especially in Africa. Yuri is thoughtful, even philospohic about his profession, and the havoc it brings to the world. His character is almost "Tony Soprano-ish" in that he is sympathetic and yet horrible. He lives the life we all live, wishing for success, and loving the unatainable beauty queen from afar. He gets her, but squanders the life he's built becuase the one thing he is good at is evil, and fueled by his own greed. The movie is good, because Nicolas Cage is able to humanize the character, but even still you end up absolutely hating this sublime character, and understanding that the world actually does contain people just like him.

This is a thoughtful movie. Especially for someone like myself who fancies himself a "constitutionalist," and supporter of the second amendement. You can't watch this movie and still tell yourself "guns don't kill people, people kill people." Gun ownership is something I admit I am completely conflicted on. It's a genie I wish that the United States could put back in its bottle. In reality you can't though. In our society, if you banned guns, only the criminals would own them. On the other hand, organizations like the NRA which oppose simple checks and balances like waiting periods to purchase firearms are short-sighted. Sportsman and citizens looking to defend themselves will happily comply with controls like waiting periods, because they are honest citizens who believe in the law. Opposition seems nothing more of an opposition sponsored by the corporate gun lobby. There may be points of view i'm not yet considering (yes, that's a hedge). Still, that's the kind of comment you can feel free to hold me to someday when i run for office on a conservative ticket. Guns aren't black and white - they a hard issue that good men and women must make thoughtful, educated decisions on.