...“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
...On the morning of April 20, 1999, Eric Davis Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold went into the Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado, and went on a rampage killing spree leaving 12 students and 1 teacher dead and over 20 people injured before killing themselves. This crime is known as one of the most deadliest school massacres in the United States history (Pittaro). On the day of the massacre, previously to the attack both Erick D. Harris and Dylan B. Klebold placed small fire bombs in a field three miles away from the Columbine High School and another one a couple of miles away from the fire station. They had set the bombs to explode at 11:14 to distract all emergency personnel away from the school. The two boys then headed to the school...
Words: 1521 - Pages: 7
...Columbine, by Dave Cullen, is the story of the Columbine High School Massacre that happened on April 20, 1999 in Columbine, Colorado. Cullen uses a peculiar style of writing; he alternates between the story of the aftermath and the planning details of the massacre to demonstrate how Eric and Dylan plan worked and how it affected the people that were injured as well as what caused Eric and Dylan to do the things that they did. He does an excellent job in letting the reader know what happened during the massacre and what the outcome of that action was. Cullen alternates between the planning and the aftermath to show the reader how the plan worked and what the outcome was. An example of this is in Chapter 16. In chapter 16, Cullen describes the death of a young teenager and then he alternates to the aftermath at how the teenager’s parents reacted to show the reader the outcome of Eric and Dylan’s decisions. He does this to appeal to the reader’s emotion and to make the reader realize the pain that many felt after the shooting. He does this throughout the entire book to show specific portions of the shooting and the aftermath. Cullen also alternates between the shooting and Eric and Dylan’s past to show the reader why they did the things they did. An example of this is in Part III of the book. In Part III, Cullen describes the lives of Eric and Dylan years before the incident, to show the reader how Eric and Dylan changed throughout their lives and what caused them do the things...
Words: 403 - Pages: 2
... 1 Campus Violence has escalated since the Massacre at UT Berketa L. Livingston Liberty University Online ENGL-104 April 3, 2013 CAMPUS VIOLENCE 2 Abstract America’s first encounter with campus violence was in 1966, which occurred at the University of Texas. The U.S. had not seen the last of campus violence, because the next outbreak was in 1999, 33 years later when the Columbine massacre occurred. This tragedy was an eye opener for America, to rethink the safety of its schools and campuses. As tragic as these events were and devastating to the American people, safety of its schools and campuses had not happened. In addition to these two tragic events, another deadly massacre happened on America’s campuses. The massacre of Virginia Tech, this tragic event was one of the U.S. most deadly campus violence that had occurred in America’s history of campus violence. If these tragic events did not really make America reevaluate its campus safety and gun laws, will it take another campus shooting...
Words: 1785 - Pages: 8
...regretting everything they had done or said to their loved one the day before, or what they did not tell them. Although the Columbine High School Shooting was a tragic event in history, society has benefitted by bringing about school security, practicing evacuation procedures during school, and brought awareness to the issue of gun control. The Columbine High School Shooting was a tragic event within United States history that occurred on April 20, 1999. The traumatizing...
Words: 1307 - Pages: 6
...school shootings. In particular the Columbine High School Shooting and Virginia Tech Massacre were both influenced by violent video games. In the Columbine High School shooting, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed thirteen people and then killed themselves. At Virginia Tech, Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed thirty-three people, including himself, and injured twenty-three others (School 1). Violent video games played a major role in these school shootings because the games were tools used to practice there plan and give them the ideas for the weapons they would use and how they would use them. Harris and Klebold attended Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. When the two teens had planned the attack it was intended for propane tanks to detonate that they left in the cafeteria in duffle bags. “According to the report released by the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office, the tanks contained sufficient explosives power to ‘kill the majority of students’ who would be in the cafeteria for lunch” (Columbine 1). The tanks did not discharge as the boys anticipated. When they came back to the school they soon realized things were not going the way Miller 2 they wanted so they pulled out there guns. The two boys went on a rampage, taunting students and killing without any hesitation. Similar to the Columbine Shooting, Cho...
Words: 1739 - Pages: 7
...Delinquency Theories Arache Lotfalian UMUC CCJS 350 Professor Donovan 11/29/2012 CASE STUDY PAPER 2 In the middle class suburban town of Littleton, near Denver Colorado, a 17 year old murderous fantasy is beginning to take shape. Eric Harris and a friend known as “Vulcan” or “V” intend to commit an act so violent that it will secure their place in history. The following is an expert from Harris’s Journal, mastermind behind the Columbine Shooting: “Sometime in April next year, me and “V” will get revenge, kick natural selection up a few notches. If we’ve learned anything about the art of making pipe bombs, we’ll set hundreds of them around roads, bridges, buildings, and gas stations; anything that will cause damage and chaos. It will be like the L.A. riots, Oklahoma City bombings, WWII, Vietnam, Duke and Doom all mixed together. I want to leave a lasting impression on the world.” One year later on April the 20th 1999, Eric Harris and another Columbine student, Dylan Klebold, committed the worst High School massacre in American history. They killed twelve students and one teacher; injured twenty three others and then turned the guns on themselves (Avila, 2000). Immediately following the mass shootings, media, sociologists and criminologists set about the difficult task of discovering the motives of the killers and answering the question of whether or not problems within society allowed this to happen. As early as the day after the shootings, blame had been...
Words: 1999 - Pages: 8
...Youth violence in America is an ongoing discussion that has been in the news for quite some time now. Kids are so easily influenced that it is normal to see them in some type of negativity. This matter causes children in our society to engage into violent crimes in school and in their communities. Some say the reason for this is because lack of attention in the homes or parents just not being available for their children. Are these reasonable excuses and why do our kids act in such violent behavior? For many years we try to get our youth involved into extra-curricular activities to stay out of troubles. Sports teams, educational activities, and tutorials can keep children busy when they are not in school. Many factors are mentioned when the media discuss youth violence including: video game interaction, trouble in our schools, and dysfunctional communities. Parents should be aware of signs that their child can be in danger of either committing a crime or being a victim. Something should be done to convince the kids that trouble is so easy to get into but so hard to get out of. The research will continue to grow in the upcoming years to investigate the youth violence and to find ways to keep our children out of trouble. During the teenage years of a child’s life, they are exposed to quite some violence in the media. The main source is video games. Every child loves to play these fast-paced games that contains three-dimensional graphics. The parents do not know if they are safe...
Words: 2316 - Pages: 10
...Gun Control Hypothesis Paper By Christopher Fields Intro to Sociology Prof. Hennington Outline Hypothesis/ opening statement My opinions Love-hate relationship Crime rates Democrat Opinion Republican Opinion Evidence 1 Evidence 2 Evidence 3 Closing statement References After recent school shootings in America, the American people are starting to wonder when is the government going to stricken the gun control laws. After recent studies I will tell you which party republican or democrat is for the stricken the laws and which of them is not. Personally, I feel like you should be judged by your actions. If your criminal background portrays you as violent you should not be allowed to have a gun. On the other hand, if your have never shown any act of violence you should be allowed to have a gun. Crimes such as fraud, drug possession, and other mediocre crimes should not count. Everyone deserves the right to protect themselves, their family or even a stranger. If gun control laws are stricken gun violence will decrease. I’m going to prove this by using the Social Conflict approach which is a macro-oriented paradigm in sociology that views society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and social change. Guns have a love-hate relationship with society some people fear guns and some people feel safe around guns. Most people fear guns because people think that they are going to get shot and killed for no reason. While others use guns for safety which is...
Words: 1193 - Pages: 5
...On April 20, 1999, two high school seniors, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, put the fear of God into Columbine High School and Jefferson County, Colorado. Eric and Dylan were two high school senior who were trying to fit into the cool crowd and be poplar in school. Regretfully, like many teenagers now days, they were picked on and bullied by their classmates. Most students who were picked on and bullied would eventually overcome this obstacle but Eric and Dylan were unable to. Ultimately, they took their revenge out on all those at Columbine High School. One will never be able to understand why such tragedy occurred. People have looked at Eric’s and Dylan’s make up and how they connected to get a glimpse into how such a tragedy could take...
Words: 737 - Pages: 3
...Research Paper On April 20th, 1999, 13 people were killed and more than 20 others were wounded in what is now referred to as the Columbine High School Massacre. As one of the first major school shootings, the Columbine High School Massacre prompted a national debate on school security. Since then, many other shootings have happened, including a recent shooting in a high school in Florida. In other words, school security has become a serious issue. Because of recent shootings and attacks, schools have continued debating on whether or not increasing the amount of security is a good idea. Security changes such as uniformed officers, cameras, and check in and out policies, are some of the things being considered. Increasing security, even though...
Words: 1138 - Pages: 5
...School shootings have begun to take the United States by storm, leaving behind a path of destruction. Children as young as six years old partake in gun violence (Rosenblatt). The most widely remarked school shooting of this generation is that of Littleton,Colorado. Columbine Highschool Massacre marks a strong turning point in the gun violence being brought into school across the United States (Roberts). Since the year 1999, 262 school shootings have occurred across the United States (Roberts). The largest of these events occurred on April 16, 2007, tragedy struck on the campus of Virginia Tech College. It was nearly 8 years to the day after Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris put Columbine High school under attack. Seung-Hui Cho brought injury...
Words: 1168 - Pages: 5
...sport, personal defense, or just plain gun collections. So there are always debates on whether there should be stronger gun control enforced. However before anything is discussed, what is gun control? Many people can say gun control prevents the sale of firearms to regular people. However other people can say gun control is merely just restricting sale to people who are mentally healthy. Gun control is defined as “efforts to regulate or control sales of guns”. Therefore, gun control just regulates the sale of firearms. There are two sides to every debate, in the debate of gun control; it’s whether or not to increase gun control. The reasoning behind increasing gun control would be shooting related tragedies. The school shooting in Columbine High School is a prime example chosen by pro control people. However now the top example chosen would be the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The people who are against gun control base their reasoning on the constitution and common reasoning. People believe that gun control goes against the second amendment of the constitution of the United States. The second amendment states “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”. While the people against gun control use phrases like “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. The article “Connecticut shootings: guns don’t kill people, lack of gun control kills...
Words: 1813 - Pages: 8
...It was an early, bright morning on April 20th, 1999 during the peak hours of Columbine High School located in Littleton, Colorado. The sun was shining and all the kids in school were about to go enjoy lunch. The day seemed like an everyday normal day as the normal fluctuation of kids entered the cafeteria, sat down to eat, and chatted with their friends. That is, until two heavily clad students in trench coats and weapons approached the school. Without much warning and time to prepare, the kids heard from a teacher to “Get down” and take cover. The time was 11:15 A.M. and silence tapes over the mouths of dazed kids as they hide behind whatever they can find. Minutes go by slowly until the cafeteria doors fling open and gunfire from across the...
Words: 805 - Pages: 4
...classmates walk in with guns, shooting you and your fellow peers. The idea might sound far off, but that is what happened at the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999. According to a school safety timeline, “Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, go on a shooting rampage and kill 12 students and one teacher, wound 23 others and then kill themselves” (School Safety Timeline). Weapons were not allowed at the high school, but that did not stop the students. However, there is a large debate going on about whether or not teachers and college students should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on school grounds for self-defense. If teachers and university...
Words: 1600 - Pages: 7