Morgan Freeman On The CT Shooting

[mrjarrell]

I found this oh, so true and well said. From Facebook:

Morgan Freeman's statement about these random shootings....

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you kn
ow the name of a single victim of Columbine? Distur
bed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem."

 

[HavokCycle]

good post. i wouldn't have expected this from him, as a hollywood person.

 

[baldguy637]

It's nice to know at least a few "celebrities" have that rare trait known as common sense. Too bad none of the news agencies he's talking about will report a single word of it.

 

[jdhaines]

I like the quote and agree but I can't find anywhere where this is confirmed he said it. I get so many emails that quote various celebrities and always end up false.

 

[ZX-14R]

He supports Obama but has common sense....how is this even possible???

 

[Boost Lee]

I've always been a Morgan Freeman fan (as far as an actor goes)...
He may support Obongo for his own reasons but I'll be damned if I wouldn't INGO-rep him for that last line.

 

[ruger17hmr]

It has always been a frenzy feeding another frenzy.

We can't really blame the media. They are merely selling what the public craves.
Face it, the TV audiences are more likely to be attracted to gory details of bloody shootings and shady background and disturbed mental state of perpetrators than the mundane lives of faceless 20 innocent children gunned down.

Sad, but that's the kind of world we live in.

 

[rambone]

 

[Lex Concord]

I found this oh, so true and well said. From Facebook:

Not seein' it...

https://www.facebook.com/MorganFreeman

Though, admittedly, I don't do Facespace or Mybook, so maybe I just can't find it

 

[bingley]

This is very similar to what Michael Moore says in Bowling for Columbine. Guns don't kill people, Americans kill people because of our media-aided and abetted culture of violence.

 

[PaulF]

I tried to post this is response to the Pierce Morgan hit-piece on Huffpost. It was rejected:

(Oddly, no mention of the Morgan Freeman piece on huffpost...weird, right?)


"Prohibition does not work:

In the 20s and 30s prohibition (of alcohol) resulted in the largest criminal enterprise in US history. Thousands dead, jailed or missing...but people who wanted it had NO PROBLEM getting a drink.

From the 80s to today prohibition (of Marijuana and Cocaine) has resulted in cartel violence continent-wide...that spills onto the streets right here in my hometown, yet people who want it still have NO PROBLEM finding drugs.

You can't un-invent liquor. You can't un-invent drugs. You can't un-invent guns, either.

Banning guns will not reduce their number, only drive sales underground where there are no regulations, background checks, nothing...I believe the Mexican cartels would be glad to add a new revenue stream to their already lucrative business of selling prohibited material to American criminals.

Does this make our children safer? I (for all it is worth) don't think so.

It is already illegal for those with mental deficits to purchase guns, and this guy appears to fit the definition. Also, it is simply NOT TRUE that this tragedy would absolutely have been avoided if the guy didn't have guns...he could have achieved the same results with a molotov cocktail or homemade ANFO...should we ban gasoline and diesel?

It is VIOLENCE that is our national problem, not guns.

-Paul"

So much for huffpost.

-Paul

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I like the quote and agree but I can't find anywhere where this is confirmed he said it. I get so many emails that quote various celebrities and always end up false.

Right...I agree with it too. MF is a good actor...I've enjoyed many of his movies and I like him on that show "Through the Wormhole". But I'm of the impression his quite liberal. So if this is indeed his statement, it's good to know there's more common ground between liberals and conservatives such as myself.

 

[rambone]

This is very similar to what Michael Moore says in Bowling for Columbine. Guns don't kill people, Americans kill people because of our media-aided and abetted culture of violence.

Its been several years since I've seen it, but I remember a different message from the likes of Michael Moore. I mean he was attacking Charlton Heston and the store who sold ammunition to the Columbine shooters. He definitely focuses on the tools themselves as a part of the problem.

 

[mrjarrell]

Roger Ebert had almost the same opinion where the Columbine murders were concerned. Of course, the media didn't air his views. It didn't fit their message.

Roger Ebert on the media's coverage of school shootings

 

[Bigtanker]

About halfway down is the part about M.F.

snopes.com: Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary SChool in Newtown, Connecticut

 

[Expat]

We don't care what celebrities have to say when they say idiotic stuff. Now we are all getting a thrill up our leg because maybe one of them said something we agree with?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

We don't care what celebrities have to say when they say idiotic stuff. Now we are all getting a thrill up our leg because maybe one of them said something we agree with?

Hornady? Is this you?

 

[7urtle]

good post. i wouldn't have expected this from him, as a hollywood person.

he is one of few that is intelligent.i like his view on black history month

 

[Kagnew]

Freeman's publicist has announced that this was a hoax and that Freeman never made this statement.

 

[patience0830]

A fairly well reasoned statement. Shame it was attributed to such a liberal. Didn't think I believed it to start with but I'm ashamed to admit I was hopeful that an actor actually had that kind of sense.