Bowling For Columbine - Review

       Is it ethical to bring a picture of a six year old that was shot and killed to the president of the NRA’s house and put the blame on him? "Bowling for Columbine”, is a compelling documentary by Michael Moore. It is a very thought provoking movie that touches on many tough subjects for America. Specifically Moore is very concerned with the gun laws and attitude towards guns and violence in the USA. Moore thinks that America is run by a campaign of fear, he has many great examples of this: the Y2K event, the African bees, and the 911 attack, but the film mostly revolves around the Columbine massacre and the NRA. He carefully selected guest speakers that agreed with his views which helps motivate viewers that have yet to pick a side. Moore’s use of humour, music and short clips make the film an entertaining watch.

Moore’s interesting take on journalism takes him around Colorado as he focuses on controversial subjects. The subject he spends the most time covering is gun safety. Moore shows how simple it is to obtain a gun by opening an account at a bank and receiving a fully functional rifle for signing up. The fact that he can get a free gun and then get cheap bullets at the local K-Mart helps prove his point on how safe guns really are. The people he chooses to interview are also very specific to gun control. Especially the members of the NRA, National Rifle Association, whom have semi and fully automatic guns loaded in their houses. Moore really aims in on the NRA and their reactions to events such as the Columbine massacre and other school shootings, holding pro-gun rallies days after.

Although his techniques can be seen as unethical or immoral, Moore really gets to the heart of the problem by using similar propaganda as his opposition. In his uncomfortable interview with James Nichols, a suspect connected to a bombing in Oklahoma City, Moore asks odd questions but gets straight to the point. He tries to do this with every interview in the movie. He displays a very one sided view of problems within America and its foreign affairs. Even the way the interviews are edited is quite a captivating experience. They will start off with the introduction of Moore speaking to them and then cut to a clip of them to show why they are relevant to the documentary. After the clip he goes back to the interview. It holds the watchers attention throughout the film, which is hard to say about many movies.

This may not be the, “go out on Friday and watch it with your friends,” kind of movie, but it certainly is a very interesting take on certain problems pertaining to America. In my favourite part of the movie, Michael Moore interviews heavy metal icon, Marilyn Manson. In the wake of the Columbine Massacre people sought out something that they could blame for the tragedy. They blamed many things including drugs, video games, media, and even Marilyn Manson. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold listened to Manson, so people pointed fingers at him as the cause. But when Moore sits down and talks with Manson, he proves to be a very intelligent person, with many positive outlooks on what could have been done and what should have been done. Irony was a strong point in the documentary and I personally loved that moment. Even if you don't have time to watch the entire film, I recommend at least listening to the Marilyn Manson interview. It is an exceptional documentary and completely worth every minute watched, even if just to understand the references people make to it.