No device is capable of measuring the damage Hitchcock’s “Bang! You’re Dead” has likely had eroding Second Amendment rights in the United States. It’s practically the “Daisy ad” of gun control.
But it’s nice to learn that the episode may also help undermine “progressive” policy regarding the state-sponsored euthanasia of future Terri Schiavos.
Hitchcock’s uncharacteristically straight-faced intro to “Bang!…” seems to suggest that he wanted his little movie to save lives.
Over half a century later, maybe it will, in a manner he could never have anticipated.
But that’s art for you, even middlebrow popular art: the creator can never be certain that his creation won’t take on a life of its own.
A song, a movie, a book, a television show — they’re like that stolen gun. Once it’s out of your hands, all bets are off.
