In 2002 Michael Moore, an American filmmaker, directed, wrote, produced and narrated Bowling for Columbine, a film about the United States that was both humorous and horrifying at the same time. This film talks about the state of the Union and the violent soul of America. This movie is not about the gun control in America, but it is about the fearful heart and soul of America. This 2002 movie was aimed to open the eyes of Americans and people all over the world to gun control. This film investigates gun control and the lacking law and regulations of gun ownership. In this paper we will be concentrating on whether Moore was effective at converting minds of people, or if he was just preaching to the converted.
This heartbreaking film talks about the school shooting that took place on April 20th, 1999 in Columbine, Colorado. Where two High school senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, came into Columbine High school at 11:18 am with 2 gym bags that they placed in the cafeteria, each containing a 20-pound propane bomb in attempt to kill as many people as they could1. When the devices failed to detonate, Harris and Klebold began to shoot their fellow students and teachers with a shower of bullets resulting in the deaths of 15 people while critically injuring 21 others1. The film begins with a montage of images of a peaceful America, using voice-over narration describing the everyday life of the average American, all the while talking about the day of the Columbine high school massacre. These images begin to build doubt in the viewers mind about the American culture and their foolish usage of guns. Michael Moore actually emphasizes this by showing us a shot of bombsites in the Middle East saying, “ The president bombed another country whose name we couldn’t pronounce.2” Along with a woman wearing little clothing and carrying a gun paired with a shot of the Statue of Liberty, implying American ignorance, this film shot shapes the audience’s perception of the American culture. Throughout the movie Michael Moore goes on a journey filled with heartache and humor trying to answer the underlying question “Why does America have a higher rate of firearm related homicides than any other country in the world?” In his attempts to discover the hidden cause of the nation’s bloodlust, Moore interviews Marilyn Manson and Matt Stone (creator of South Park), he also travels to Canada, to Columbine, as well as to his hometown Flint, Michigan. Also, in an attempt to answer the underlying question, Moore even meets with the president of the NRA, Charlton Heston.
After the film came out, people had many various controversial views on the movie, especially on how much of the movie was actually supported by facts. In his movie, Moore uses a technique called “voice-of-god” to make the audience accept the “truth” presented in the film, although all these issues presented are very real in the United States. Bowling for Columbine explores various exaggera...
