Bowling for Columbine Written and Directed by Michael Moore
“Bowling for Columbine” is a film written, produced and directed by Michael Moore, also the narrator and the protagonist of the film who is doing a research of school shooting in America. He is born and raised in Michigan Colorado, a state where everybody loves to go hunting “even the dogs”. Michael as many other people in the US know how to use a gun and almost each house has a gun. It is constitutional right in America to have a gun as a defense against violence matters. The obsession of people`s use of guns becomes the theme of the movie as it quest ionize people`s desire and need for having gun but at the same time arguing why Americans fear the obsessed use of guns. Michael sees the whole issue and peoples resolutions and thoughts of why keeping guns in the house quite ironically.
People fear the violence that is part of American culture and their excuse by defending themselves is by having a gun. But at the same time they complain why there is so much shooting in the US. The overall blaming for shootings by people and politicians are everything from American history to video games. But there are a lot of countries such as Canada, Britain who also has history of violence but still there is not much shooting, not even close to 1100 people who die each year in America. Politicians are trying to solve the problem by teaching students in school how to reveal and deal with anger. Michael is assuming that guns are too easily bought and it is time to address this problem which is that it is not gun`s who kill people but people who are using guns, killing people. “Bowling for Columbine” is a journey through America and its past of violence shooting especially associated to the massacre of Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999 where a lot of students were shot to death by to other young kids, hoping to find a solution of the problem and to make a more fearless America? It is not a film about guns but “America`s a culture of fear”.
Michael Moore is the writer, producer and director of the film “Bowling for Columbine”. He is born and raised in Michigan, Colorado and he as many other Americans especially in Colorado used to be “armed”. In the movie, he is doing a research about school shooting and the reason behind the problem of shooting. He is the protagonist and narrator of the movie and with fearless attitude he goes where nobody dears as he is doing interviews from kids to politicians, to solve the conflict.
Marilyn Manson represents what everybody is scared of and that is that he is not afraid of expressing himself and his thoughts. Despite his scary look, he is an intelligent rock star who has one and another question about Americans and their resolution of school shooting as he gets interviewed by Michael. People see him as “a poster boy of fear” because “I say and do whatever I want” and they see musicians as him as someone representing violence which is not true. Comparing to the president he is not even close to representing violence. People and the media blame him as someone tempting young teenagers to become violent. As for him when he was a young kid, music was something made him feel good and an escape from judgments.
Private militias training people how to use a gun. There point is that as an American, it is your job to defend yourself and your country and that is by knowing how to use a gun. One woman in the movie pointed out that as a mother, I believe perhaps as a single mother that it is your duty to know how to defend yourself and your children if someone breaks in the house. It raises the question if they are to blame for violent crimes or not? If a mother is training her kids how to use a gun and how to defend them, then in my point of view, she is teaching her kids how to become violent.
The Unites States as a “culture of fear” is something that I definitely agree on. The media feeds people with crimes, violence, anger which grows into fear in people which leads them to find a way how to defend themselves against violence matters. And Americans solution is to the problem matter is by knowing how to use a gun. It is a fact that a lot of violence has and still is appearing in America, especially about school shooting among kids. Although the media can dramatize feeds of fear in order to get a buck or two, but that is what people want to see.There are a lot of comments presented by the media and TV: series like “COPS” that American African people are victimized as dangerous people with violent actions. The movie is comparing bees as killer bugs that spread fear into people in America as it worries them about strangers. Black people were brought to America as slaves and when they got the same rights as white people it became a new category of people to fear. Comparing the bees to African American people then it becomes a racial matter because it is seemed that it is expressed like; look, people come to our country and now they are destroying it.
The overall theme is about school shooting as it becomes a fear matter in American culture. And there is a moral message about it in the film and that is how to deal with the problem. The film has not come to a conclusion about the situation although there has been given a lot of suggestions such as teaching kids how to deal with their anger and using guns is not a solution to defend them. That can be a part of the solution but it is not convincing. How about stop selling guns in supermarkets or how about giving more strict laws about using guns. Guns are too easily bought in America which I see as a problem. Also violence breeds violence. It is ironically to think that you can teach your kids to learn how to use a gun and at the same time do not want more violence. It does not make any sense to me.
