After watching We Are Traffic, it seemed that Critical Mass was just a group of people that joined together on bicycles to go for a ride. I don’t think it was really a protest movement because, from my experience and knowledge, protest movements are usually organized and have a specific leader and purpose. Critical Mass was not organized and had no leadership, so it didn’t really seem like a protest with the way it was designed. It seemed it was just like a bunch of people having fun riding bicycles at random times instead of driving their cars. Furthermore, there didn’t seem any centralized purpose to it. Everyone joined for different reasons, whether it was to save the environment or have fun. If I had seen something like the Critical Mass, I probably would have cheered them on, except when I’m running late to a class or something. Then, I’d probably be annoyed that they were being selfish and blocking other peoples’ traffic, but then again, that’s probably a normal reaction that everyone would have.
The one thing that stood out to me after watching the movie was when the police started getting involved. I have to admit that I was as annoyed by that as much the people in Critical Mass. I don’t think they were doing anything illegal that needed the escort of the police. I don’t like that the police and the mayor tried to interfere with the peoples’ freedom. There is nothing wrong with riding a bicycle with other people, and arresting people for riding the way they want to is, to me, a way of imposing the freedom of the people. Furthermore, I think the involvement of the police kind of made the activity not as much fun and carefree as before, and you could feel that the people in the Critical Mass thought the police was trying to undermine what they were doing. In my opinion, Critical Mass was just the name for the activity they were doing, not a protest movement, so the police and the mayor should never have gotten involved. I understand that they were doing it for the public safety, but I don’t think that is a good enough excuse to interfere with the freedom of others.
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4 comments:
Good points! Of those who criticize Critical Mass (or become disillusioned with it) make some of the same arguments that you've presented, especially the lack of a leader and a unified purpose.
To play devil's advocate for the sake of discussion, what if we define protest as something that creates change? Couldn't we consider this action a protest because of its effects on traffic, bystanders, etc.? Or not? Also, what do we do with the fact that the riders disrupted traffic enough that the city felt inclined to get involved (via police escorts) - that might point to the riders having some kind of effect. Were they trying to draw attention to themselves via their rides?
I also found it disturbing to watch the action of the police. Critical Mass encouraged following the rules of the road, so I think they were within the rules of the law. Shock about something so radical and different may have caused some public officials to feel forced to react, to "control" this movement that continued to grow.
I agree with you that Critical Mass does not really seem like a protest but I still think that in a way it is. These people are all getting together for a specific purpose. And some of them are for issues.
I think that critical mass is a protest, despite the fact that it doesn't have a central leader or one clear reason to protest. I agree with what Erin said that protests create change, and since critical mass creates change it is a protest. It makes people realize that they don't always have to drive a car, and allows for more people to feel comfortable riding their bikes on the road.
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