Birdman, get your gun . . .

Rating: 10/10 (28 October 2014)

. . . is the main theme of the current release, BIRDMAN. A wonderful spoof of Broadway, BIRDMAN updates that old "Things go better with Coke" ad line for the 21st Century to "things go better with guns." In a week where many at the Real Life aggrieved shooting site high school in Washington state are tweeting that the shooter "was just a misunderstood angel," BIRDMAN deftly captures the zeitgeist of today by showing that guns are the answer to many of America's pressing problems, whether you're talking Ebola, borders, or Broadway critics. But there's good news and bad news on this front. The good news is that we already have more than one firearm per capita in private hands. The bad news is that they're unevenly distributed. When Ed Norton makes fun of Michael Keaton's original stage gun in BIRDMAN and orders him to get another one, I was very worried. Keaton's BIRDMAN character did not seem to have the wherewithal to pick up a decent replacement weapon. In a typical Hollywood ending, however, he finds a serviceable six shooter on the top shelf of his dressing room just in the nick of time. Unfortunately, in Real Life, many poor Americans do not benefit from such a Deus Ex Machina. Last month the United Nations ordered the city of Detroit--bankrupt because most have not paid their water bills in decades--to turn the spigots back on since "free water is a basic human right." Well, our Declaration of Independence says the same thing about guns in the second paragraph, so please support your local chapter of BANGS (Broke Americans Need Gun Stamps) today! (If you're hesitant, ask yourself: What Would BIRDMAN Do?)