Bowling for Columbine

Bowling for Columbine is a film directed by and starring Michael Moore. It won an Academy Award in the category of documentary film and has received both praise and criticism, both for the genre which it occupies (creative documentary), as well as what it claims. The film opened on October 11, 2002, and internationalized Moore's previously cultish American status.

Summary

The film's purpose is to explore what Moore suggests are the reasons and causes for the Columbine High School massacre, and other acts of violence with guns. Moore focuses on the background and environment in which the massacre took place, and some common public opinions and assumptions about different particular points. The film takes an informal, artistic and up-close-and-personal look into the nature of violence in the United States, focusing on guns as the controversial symbol of both American "Freedom" and its paradoxical self-destruction.

Related Topics:
Columbine High School massacre - Violence - United States

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It also looks at the claims and beliefs attributed by some to the perpetrators, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and their ideological associations, as well as the progress of the surviving victims and relatives in dealing with their personal tragedy. Aside from the political points and jabs, the film is about the healing of the nation in the wake of "Columbine" in coming to an understanding of the event and its meaning for the culture at large.

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The film draws heavily from self-incriminating clips from gun advertisements, corporate training videos, news clips, and political speeches. Depending on perspective, the clips chosen either represent disastrously common American archetypes, or they simply catch a few people unexpectedly. For example various talking heads who carelessly spouted out their verdicts for why the massacre was the fault of everything from "Satan" (Jerry Falwell), to South Park (Byron Dorgan), eventually many agreeing to villainize heavy metal music, and Marilyn Manson's music in particular, which some claimed was an influence (though reportedly Harris and Klebold disliked Manson's music). Another clip shows a local Michigan TV journalist reporting on the death of a child by gun violence, who seems more concerned with his cosmetic appearance and being syndicated on national networks. The apparent dichotomy between those who care about common people and those who do not, and how these categories tend to line up with socio-economic status, is a central focus in Moore's films.

Related Topics:
Gun - Advertisement - Jerry Falwell - South Park - Byron Dorgan - Heavy metal - Marilyn Manson

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There are three parts in the movie when Michael Moore goes up to a person to take an interview but they walk away. The first person was a cop in LA (who when asked about the pollution didn't say anything), the second was Dick Clark (who was in a car leaving when Michael Moore came up to him and asked him about welfare problems. Dick Clark told others to shut the door and then the car drove away.) The third person was Charlton Heston, the head of the NRA, who let Michael Moore take an interview with him because Michael Moore at first sounded like an NRA fan (he told Heston that he was a member, which is true), but when the interview started and Moore started asking about Columbine-related events, Heston got up and walked away.

Related Topics:
Dick Clark - Charlton Heston - NRA

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Bowling for Columbine also features what is intended as a simplified satirical cartoon about North American history. The cartoon discusses how 'the scared white folk' started a fight with most people. Originally the native americans, then black people, and finally themselves. The clip ends with showing how the 'white folk' were so 'scared' that they 'just had to have guns' and ends showing an ordinary family where every member is holding a gun--even the baby.

Related Topics:
Satirical - Cartoon

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Moore's discussions with various people, including South Park co-creator Matt Stone; the National Rifle Association's president, Charlton Heston, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and was allegedly interviewed under false pretenses; and musician Marilyn Manson. Moore seeks to answer, in his own unique style, the questions of why the Columbine massacre occurred, and why the United States has higher rates of violent crimes (especially crimes involving guns) than other developed nations, in particular Germany, France, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, and especially Canada.

Related Topics:
South Park - Matt Stone - National Rifle Association - Charlton Heston - Marilyn Manson - Germany - France - Australia - Japan - United Kingdom - Canada

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