Bowling for Columbine Review

Humor, sorrow, and thrill are just a few words to describe Michael Moore’s documentary “Bowling for Columbine.” Although he is a lifelong member of the NRA he depicts the problems of owning a gun in America. Moore weaves through cartoons, interviews, including one with NRA president Charlton Heston, and heartfelt situations. Moore has bias views and believes the media is to blame for this problem for focusing on crime thus leading to a greater fear in the people, which prompts them to purchase guns. Although the documentary is primarily set in the state of Colorado and the shooting at Columbine High School, Moore travels to Canada where he realizes that the gun to family ratio in Canada is the same to the US but has a far fewer death rate. He also visits California where he asks an on duty Sergeant who he can arrest for the pollution because the Hollywood sign isn’t visible from where he is because of the smog. Moore’s appealing documentary has something interesting in it for every viewer.

Moore’s engaging film locks in viewers with its thought-provoking aspects. He visits two students who survived the Columbine shooting, one whom has a bullet between his aorta and spine and the other whom is now paralyzed from the bullet. The bullets the two students have inside them still were purchased at K-mart so both students and Moore travel to K-mart headquarters to ask them to stop selling bullets. They bring awareness to the public about how easy it is to purchase a gun and bullets because they’re available even at corner stores and there is no limit on how many one person can purchase.

Some may say that jumping from topic to topic will shorten an attention span but Moore integrates short clips throughout the documentary keeping it interesting and laying out views and historical facts not commonly known. They keep the documentary interesting throughout and help pick up speed when parts begin to get dull (although there are very few, every film has them). He uses clever techniques to get his point across although some are taken out of context.

Moore uses humor to transform gun violence, a very serious topic, into something relatable and amusing. He acts as if he is interested in the speaker’s point of view and side of the story, portraying a way of mock-seriousness. He depicts slimy techniques, tricking gun crazed NRA activists to talk to him. He then asks them simple questions, which they are unable to answer, but anyone else would supply a reasonable one. Extremists interviewed deny that it in fact was the gun law, which was the issue and denied that the gun law in the United States is outrageous. Michael Moore himself is hilarious, and has a quirky smile while snappy witty comments towards the unfortunate opposition.

I believe that the documentary was very well done. Moore wasn’t afraid to find out the truth and get “down and dirty”. He uses his journalism skills well and brings not only awareness but informs the issue of guns to viewers. I would highly recommend this documentary as the general public would greatly benefit from knowing more about guns and gun violence in the world around them.