Bowling For Columbine

Bowling for Columbine is a documentary directed by American filmmaker and activist, Michael Moore. The political documentary focuses on the 1999 school shootings that occurred in Columbine, Colorado, and Flint, Michigan and the correlation of guns to the high homicide rates in America. Moore argues that the number one problem the United States faces is gun control. Moore effectively uses ethos, pathos, and logos appeals to present an unbiased and informational view of the issue of gun violence in America. He also uses the fallacious argumentative strategy, ad hominem. Moore does not put his own direct bias into the film, he instead shows both sides of the argument to allow the viewer to decide for themselves which side they are on.

In the Breakfast Club, there are many cognitive advancements that are conveyed. The biggest cognitive advancements that takes place throughout the film are abstract thought, hypothetical thought and multidimensional thought. The movie centers on the essay that the students need to write, “Who do you think you are.” This question requires the group of students to think about their experiences, formulate ideas, acknowledge their knowledge, awareness and reflect on their experiences. The film illustrates how the adolescents thinking changes from concrete thinking- judging their peers and their own lives, to abstract thinking- viewing similarities between the characters and understanding the differences in their lives while showing empathy.

In the 2002 documentary Bowling for Columbine, American political activist and filmmaker Michael Moore sets out to explore the primary causes of the 1999 Columbine Highschool massacre, as well as the roots of gun violence in the United States in his trademark provocative yet satirical manner. Bowling for Columbine takes a deep and often disconcerting investigation into the motives of two Colorado student shooters, responsible for the deaths of over 12 people at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, and examines other gun-related issues as well. From obtaining free guns at a bank, to reviewing America’s violent history, and interviewing a variety of people, Moore demonstrates that the conventional answers of violent national history and entertainment, as well as poverty are inadequate of causing this violence, for other nations share the same factors without the same levels of carnage. In order to arrive at a possible explanation, Moore takes on a deeper inspection of America’s culture of fear, and violence in a nation with widespread gun ownership. Ultimately, the documentary implies that the high incidence of gun deaths in America is caused by the deadly combination of cultural paranoia and easy accessible firearms that is, to some extent, effectively established through rhetorical techniques of ethos, logos, and pathos.

The movie "Bowling for Columbine" was made after the shooting in Columbine high school and tries to explore the reasons for America's violent nature. Moore believes that there is one main reason for this, the fact that there are relaxed gun laws in America. Therefore, Moore uses a number of different persuasive techniques in order to try and persuade the viewer to believe that this is the case. He uses certain visuals, music, sequences the scenes in a specific order and uses facts and opinions to achieve this.

Over the past couple of decades, school shooting have seemed to occur often-- continuously shocking the nation and reminding everyone that no community is exempt from such horror. One main contributor of this hysteria is found within the media. At the catalyst of this hysteria, lies the horrific Columbine shooting in 1999. Since then, school shootings have received ample coverage-- some argue that this has romanticized school shootings, others argue that is has provided condemning coverage of the often insane perpetrators. In the first year after the Columbine shooting, over 10,000 articles were written about the event, likely setting the stage for the nationwide desire for constant coverage of such events (Elsass et al, p. 445-446).

In the film, Bowling for Columbine, the director Michael Moore takes an extent look at what could have made these teenagers to do such a thing. He doesn’t just look at the terrible event at Columbine High School, but also at the NRA's effects on people, the 2nd amendment, other school shootings, and how the United States compared to other countries gun-control explanations such as Canada. Michael Moore looks as a sociologist would such as C. Wright Mills in which he explores the outside factors of the individuals, but how the personal troubles of the two teenagers involved are related to immense conditions of our society. He doesn’t look at the intellectual make up of each person who creates a crime, but instead looks at how our society as a whole views guns and their uses.

Although, the film does center on the affects of Columbine, Moore looks deeper into the cause of gun violence. His documentary style is to hit the emotions of the public and to wrap the facts into his point of view. Some of the interviews that

The 2002 film Bowling for Columbine is a documentary written, directed, and narrated by Michael Moore. Moore has won numerous awards including the Academy Award for best documentary feature. The film explores acts of violence with guns and the primary causes for the Columbine School Massacre, where two students shot and killed thirteen people and injured twenty-one others. Bowling for Columbine takes a deep and often disturbing probe into what the motives may have been for the shooters and investigates other gun-related issues along the way. Moore explores different aspects of gun-culture such as receiving free guns from a bank, taking a look at America’s violent history, and interviewing important people like Charlton Heston, former president of the National Rifle Association. The film ultimately comes to the conclusion that the American culture of fear along with the accessibility of guns is the reason why there are so many gun-related deaths. This thesis is supported by many examples Ethos, Logos, and Pathos evidence.

"I'm angry someone would do this to us. There are lives ruined, families ruined, and our whole school year is ruined" (Brackely 1). Casey Brackely, once a student that attended Columbine High School, remembers the tragedy of the horrific Columbine shooting that killed and injured many students. Mass shootings in the United States have been on the rise since the 1980’s, especially in the last decade. These shooters motives and profiles are almost all terrifyingly alike. Many of these shooters try to imitate and parallel the tragic shooting of the Columbine High School in 1999. These shootings have made peaceful organizations, such as an elementary school; become a place of violence and death. Currently, in the United States, an epidemic of

America experiences more mass shootings than any other country in the world. Mass shootings have prompted Americans into purchasing more firearms out of fear of outside treachery or violence that is frequently shown in the media. Violence in America, as well as a "need for protection" against violent entanglements, has increased throughout history, providing properties such as gun manufacturing companies with a higher level of attention and financial elevation. In Michael Moore's documentary, Bowling for Columbine; the film portrays a strong connection between violence and the media with the latter creating a culture of fear through fear mongering; spreading terror across the country and, in turn, inspiring desperate action against violence which could eventually lead to more trouble than progress. In the United States, citizens are maintaining the status quo due to the popularity of the American image, the overwhelming amount of gun enthusiasts, the lack of gun regulations, and the large amount of heavily

Bowling for Columbine is a documentary about how guns are a bad influence and pollute the mind, rather than supplying safety, which is the real reason behind the possession of a gun being legalised. Michael Moore, the film maker, wrote and produced the film to emphasise his point on why guns should never be sold or purchased again. The main story Moore focused on was one that was absolutely shocking and could astonish you from start to finish: The Shooting at Columbine High School. The ordinary and average school was put through an attack by two absent minded children who destructively killed 1 teacher and 12 students, not including the many more they injured. Moore also tried interviewing people whose lives had been affected due to guns.

Bowling For Columbine is a well-directed documentary that informs people about gun violence in America. Michael Moore is successful in showing that America has been going through many gun tragedies; and portrays the sense that America’s problems are out of control. He conveys this through informative facts, images, and comparisons.

The point of Bowling for Columbine isn’t to be biased as Michael Moore would want you to believe, no, the point is that Bowling is purposefully, and consistently deceptive. After the tragic shooting at Columbine, the documentary shows haunting vision of distraught children outside of the school, then, cuts quickly to a billboard advertising a NRA meeting in Littleton, Denver. Moore then narrates “Just ten days after the Columbine killings, despite the pleas of the mourning community,

The Techniques of Michael Moore in Bowling For Columbine to Present the Message on Gun Control

Bowling For Columbine is a documentary that was produced by Michael Moore which focusses primarily on the relationship between the crime rates throughout various regions. After learning that Canada and the United States had a very similar ratio when it came to households and guns, Michael was intrigued that Canada had a substantially lower rate of gun related crimes. This documentary became a tool for Michael to delve into the questions that were raised; although he was unable to extract a specific answer as to why Canada had a lower rate of gun related crime, he was still able to create some life altering changes.