...“Bowling for Columbine” Film Analysis On April 20, 1999, many people’s lives drastically changed. An incident that occurred in Littleton, Colorado created a jaw dropping event that disrupted all of America. It also stopped Michael Moore right in his tracks. Not long after the incident, Michael Moore decided to make a documentary called “Bowling for Columbine,” a film that acknowledged many important points that are usually ignored and overlooked. This documentary focused on a school shooting that never should have happened. This tragic incident lead Moore to ponder many questions and create an extremely interesting documentary. Michael Moore has been in the film industry for quite some time. He’s created numerous documentaries that have received a large amount of public attention. He is also a filmmaker, author and political activist that not only knows how to work a camera, but also an audience (Deming). In his documentary “Bowling for Columbine”, Moore uses facts, interviews, and personal stories to really get the viewers undivided attention. He also uses multiple statistics to prove his points throughout the documentary. In 2002, Moore won an Oscar for the Best Documentary Film for “Bowling for Columbine” (Ecksel 1). This film not only touched the hearts of many Americans, but also created an argument for several businesses and associations that were involved. On April 20, 1999, the halls of Columbine High School changed forever. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris altered...
Words: 1974 - Pages: 8
...The author and filmmaker, Michael Moore, insists he wants to be taken seriously as he challenges America’s gun culture with his documentary ‘Bowling for Columbine’. Bowling for Columbine was released in 2002 and addresses an issue that still exists today, seemingly more in the U.S. The film involves a mix of tongue-in-cheek interviews as well as confrontational interviews with celebrities as he attempts to deceive the audience with false statements and inaccurate data to persuade the audience. “I don’t know what truth is. Truth is something unattainable. We can’t think we’re creating truth with a camera. But what we can do is reveal something to viewers that allows them to discover their own truth.” (Brault, Michael) Brault’s statement appears...
Words: 920 - Pages: 4
...SOC 101 2/18/2014 Bowling for Columbine Response In all of Michael Moore’s documentaries, he demonstrates ironclad points with distinguishing examples. He appeals to the emotions and morals of the audience. While tugging on heartstrings and caressing the laws of society, he manipulates the viewers. In fact, every documentary is made to so do, not just Michael Moore’s. In the documentary, Bowling for Columbine, Moore uses the age old documentary techniques to lead each viewers to a more polarized battlefield; he quoted the National Rifle Association. The National Rifle Association struggles to protect the right to bear arms. The NRA gets a little extreme, like most organizations. Associations are polar, life is polarity. You will have the extreme in every one you meet. Peta for example, (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is a great cause solid beliefs that we, as a world, needs to protect the interests of animals. Who wouldn’t want to save puppies from cruel, unnecessary testing? However, when Peta activists line the streets in lettuce bikinis, people begin to see them as extremist. The NRA is the same way. When Charlton Heston expresses his extreme views publicly after the Columbine tragedy with the exclamation, “From my cold, dead hands,” the NRA starts to get a bad reputation as well. Michael Moore used Heston’s mistake of leading a rally right after the tragedy to his advantage. Moore portrayed the NRA as inhumane, cruel people who don’t care about the tragedy...
Words: 433 - Pages: 2
...The setting of the movie, “Bowling for Columbine” takes place in a little town country. Two boys are having a game of bowling when suddenly a pretty faced girl appears wielding an M-16 type of assault weapon. It is just a normal typical morning in America. Even though, the scenery is bombarded with ruins of buildings demolished after the bombing approval by the president. The USA is recording high numbers of people killed by small firearms and yet there is no civil war at present. Michael Moore then sets out to explore this phenomenon and why it is in play. Within our society today, media and stereotyping takes over human loves, people fear different ethnic races, children are growing to be more violent and America is growing to be more corrupt. His answers reveal strange and shocking findings, there is a very easy availability of shotguns and light firearms, which results to a rampant all over the States. America’s national history also proves to contain and entail a violent form of culture-imprinted into people’s way of thinking. Forms of entertainment are also partly to blame as they give the viewer a certain incitement including poverty levels, they are also to blame for this way of living but all these factors are not...
Words: 1104 - Pages: 5
...In his political documentary, “Bowling for Columbine” filmmaker Michael Moore says that fear-mongering perpetuated by American media is what supplies our endemic gun violence. Moore supports this argument by providing expert testimony of how the media attempts to make the audience fear whatever they are covering that night, citing research, citing statistics of how many guns murders that America has opposed to other major developed countries, and sharing personal anecdotes of things such as Canadians not feeling that it is obligatory to lock their doors to things like one first grader shooting another. Moore intends to lower the gun murder rate in America by showing that the problem isn’t what everybody thinks it is, rather it is the media...
Words: 1385 - Pages: 6
...Bowling for Columbine En dokumentär av Michael Moore Den tjugonde april 1999 kliver två tonåringar, tungt beväpnande, in på Columbine high school i Littleton och dödar hänsynslöst tolv elever och en lärare. Skolmassakern blir uppmärksammad världen över och är utgångspunkten för Michael Moores dokumentärfilm om den amerikanska vapenkulturen. I Australien mördas 65 människor med skjutvapen varje år. I England är siffran 68, i Japan 39. I USA skjuts varje år 11 127 människor ihjäl. USA är med andra ord ett av de länder i världen där flest människor mördas, hur kan det komma sig? Moore själv verkar tro att Amerikanernas rädsla är en förklaring. För att minska rädslan och känna större trygghet bunkrar istället Amerikanarna upp med vapen. Massvis med vapen. Tryggheten ökar knappast, menar Moore, istället skjuter de ihjäl varandra. Frågan som fortfarande återstår är varför de är så rädda? Michael Moore nöjer sig inte med ett svar utan pratar med poliser, med banker som delar ut vapen och med tv-producenter i jakten på det korrekta svaret. Nöjer sig dock inte med ett svar utan… Regi och Dramaturgiska Grepp Bowling for Columbine anspelar mycket på publikens känslor, då den upprör, medvetandegör och engagerar, allt för att Moore ska få fram sitt budskap. Det finns ett flertal exempel på detta. Moore intervjuar bland annat överlevande från skolmassakern i Columbine, som mer än gärna visar...
Words: 1031 - Pages: 5
...Bowling for Columbine This movie is a documentary of what the narrator Michael Moore believes is the cause for the Massacre in Columbine high school in 1999. This movie was written and released in 2002. The Massacre in Columbine high school was committed by two students: Dyan Klebold and Eric Harris. These two students attended classes for bowling and were absent from school the day they murdered 12 students and a teacher. This also left 21 people injured at the scene. The narrator Moore starts off the documentary talking about “bowling” in Massachusetts could be a big factor in these two seniors’ students committing this crime. “Bowling” is when shooters use bowling pins as their targets and helps target vital points on the human body in case you ever had to shoot one. Furthermore, Moore went through out the documentary assuming that anger and being in the suburban environment when bomb making etc. is very popular could have caused the very shocking murder act. Therefore, Moore believes the problem in America’s society is that guns and weapons are too easy assessable, shown early on in the documentary by the use of a skit from Chris Rocks standup comedy saying “the price of bullets should be increased because there would be a smaller killing rate and less innocent by standers”. This quote reveals that Moore agrees with Chris rocks point and it conveys messages that if you are going to keep guns so easily accessed then at least have the decent to increase the prices. Although...
Words: 333 - Pages: 2
...Review Bowling for Columbine: -by Kasper Jørgensen Rating: Michael Moore’s documentary “Bowling for Columbine” is inspired by the school massacre at Columbine High School back in 1999. The film explores what Michael Moore suggests could be the reasons behind such a tragedy. An early scene of the movie shows how Michael Moore gets his hands on a hunting rifle, simply by opening a bank account (!) Just before leaving the bank, Moore asks, "Don’t you think it's a little dangerous handing out guns at a bank?" A clear indication of his point of view, so early in the documentary. Michael Moore uses several effects to affect us, the whole setup of the movie is so messy and cleverly cut, that you have to be a true-blood American and blissfully unaware about things around you, not to feel that he has a point with this documentary. He uses the shock effect many times, best illustrated by the video montage of some of the awful American foreign policy decisions. Along with this montage of video footage, the song: What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong is playing, which of course is ironic as hell. His strongest argument for all the gun violence in the U.S.A. is the fear that gets thrown at the Americans, throughout their entire lives, all broadcasted by the media. He also shows the American history, through a hilarious animated movie, with a bullet as the narrator. All in all, if you want a good laugh, try to understand other countries mentality or just want some possible...
Words: 280 - Pages: 2
...America, We Have A Problem We have a problem, America. People versus people. People killing people. Yet, somehow, America’s governing bodies simply send their prayers, send their love, and get on with their day. People are dying. Columbine, Parkland, Sandy Hook, and many more were all symptoms of a bigger, crippling sickness. Michael Moore, a filmmaker and long–time NRA member, uses a series of rhetorical techniques to confront pro-gun advocates about the right to bear arms and to demonstrate why there should be several restrictions on what that right entails. Moore successfully addresses the flaws in the Second Amendment and the impact that these flaws have on American society in his documentary, Bowling for Columbine. In the first handful...
Words: 621 - Pages: 3
...Rhetorical Analysis Michael Moore’s documentary “Bowling for Columbine,” was an eye opening look at violence and the causes of it in America. Before watching this film I was already aware that there is a problem in America when it comes to gun related violence and watching it helped to reiterate this fact to me. However, because of the overall confrontational style of this film and all of the facetious undertones implied by Michael Moore, the message it carries with it could have more of a negative than positive effect on the viewer, as it did on me. To start, I would like to focus on what was positive about the film. As a whole, the film focused most on connecting with the audience on an emotional level, the “Pathos” side of things. The most heart-wrenching and pitiful examples are the interviews of victims and those most personally affected by each gun related tragedy. The level of emotion expressed by each victim was enough to make any viewer feel a lump grow in his throat, the most poignant include a realtor choking on his words mid- sentence at the very mention of the Columbine Shooting (:23), live footage of children running and screaming in a cafeteria while listening to distressed 911 calls (:30-:32), and interviews with individuals and victims involved with each of the tragic events focused on, one being the Columbine shooting (:34), the other being the incident in Flint involving the death of a six year old girl (1:23-1:25). Every one of these interviews included...
Words: 908 - Pages: 4
...# 2) Statistic source:The montage continues (with martial music playing under Michael Moore’s voice-over. Then he goes on to wonder about all the people in other countries—they go bowling, they listen to rock music, they watch violent movies, play violent video games, etc. Now he really gets wound up. Is it poverty? Is it our Western tradition of clearing the land and destroying indigenous people? But wait—look at other countries and the violence they have wrought. Cut to Hitler as a graphic on the screen says, “Germans exterminate 12 million,” and “Japanese occupation of China,” and “French massacre in Algiers,” and “British slaughter in India.” His voice-over: In spite of all this, how many people are killed by guns each year? As he recounts the figures, the graphics pop up on the screen (across images from movies, tourist travel films of the countries, and other archival footage: 381 in Germany, 255 in France, 165 in Canada, 68 in the UK, 65 in Australia, 39 in Japan, and 11,127 in the USA. this particular source strengths Moore's position because he shows actual statistics on the screen. Interview source: Michael Moore uses interviews as a source for his film. He keeps the cinema verite style moving: we keep seeing the people he is interviewing and hear him ask the questions before they answer them. He finds two people in bars and asks them if they lock their doors. Nope. He learns that both of them have suffered break-ins. But do they lock their doors...
Words: 1543 - Pages: 7
...Year 10 English – Perspective and Bias My target audience for this Documentary review is people that are 15+ this is because teenagers and Adults are the once that are interested in this kind of things. Bowling for columbine was made in 2002 and this was an American documentary that was made by Michel Moore. In this documentary Michel is trying to convince all citizens in America that having guns is dangerous and they shouldn’t be allowed and other acts of violent with guns. At first, it seems his answer will be obvious: readily available guns. But what appears to be a simplistic anti-gun polemic broadens in scope, to tar the media, racism, greed and US foreign policy. Michael Moore clearly and convincingly expresses his rage at the way...
Words: 395 - Pages: 2
...when and where” of a story that is actual fact. Michael Moore presents himself as a person of the people His very nature is that of an unassuming common man, from his oversized clothes to his frumpy walk to the typical ball cap, Michael Moore seems like a person that anyone could know from his or hers’ own neighborhood. (Wilshire, 2004) The man takes pride in making sure that he states he is one of the people and claims to represent the people. On the contrary Mr. Moore makes sure that he tells people he meets for the first time that he is from Flint Michigan. Actually Mr. Moore is from a little town close to flint called Davison Michigan a sleepy suburb of the run down city of Flint Michigan. (Spence, 2010) In the movie bowling for Columbine Mr. Moore portrays all Americans as a gun wilding, violent and heartless as a society with no care for the common person. Mr. Moore targets Charlton Heston then the president of the National Rifle Association (NRA) as the person that should be responsible for apologizing to the family of a six-year-old who in February 2000 used a gun that took the life of classmate at Buell Elementary School in Beecher district Near Mr. Moore’s Hometown of Flint Michigan. The most famous or for better words infamous portion of the story was how Michael Moore...
Words: 623 - Pages: 3
...Marilyn Manson’s Response to Columbine Blame In the June 1999 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, rock and roll idol Marilyn Mason writes to defend himself on his alleged role in the now infamous Columbine shooting. He states that although the media has labeled him as the primary reason that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed all of those high school students, nothing could be further from the truth. While Manson does have a couple of good points in his argument, he falls short of truly getting across to his readers. This is true for several reasons. In his writing, Marilyn Manson is sorely lacking in seeing other points of view that are not the same as his own, and then goes on to present his own point of view in a way that could be highly offensive to a large portion of readers. Moreover, Manson does not ever use any statistics or expert opinions to support and prove his points. In all fairness, it is necessary to first determine what is good about Marilyn Manson’s argument. There are a couple of things that Manson does do well in his article. He must first be credited for using the element of pathos to draw the audience toward his side. This is most obviously seen in the way he continuously makes statements about the “stupidity and ignorance” of the media which causes one to feel like only a moron would not agree with him. This sets the tone of the argument, and that is the second thing that Manson does with fair success. Every article has some sort of tone...
Words: 1127 - Pages: 5
...The Columbine High School massacre in Littleton Colorado will always be remembered as an unforgettable horrific event that still leaves a mark on the town today. The controversial filmmaker Michael Moore took his take on it and ventured into the creation of events that took place that day. The documentary that was produced, directed, and written by Moore deconstructs the events of this particular decimation and uses his techniques to compose a use of visuals, sounds, editing, and political messages. He portrays his viewpoints as well as cultural perspectives through archival footage, interviews and intertextuality. He makes sure to have a purpose for each shot to leave a harsh yet defying impression in our minds. "In Moore’s eyes, the Columbine...
Words: 446 - Pages: 2
