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Bowling for Columbine

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Bowling for Columbine
General Bowling for Columbine Notes

SYNOPSIS:

The Academy Award winning documentary film “Bowling for Columbine” by Director Michael Moore attempts to find a reason for the Columbine High School, Colorado shootings and leads to an investigation into gun laws and gun violence. Through a series of interviews, stunts, cartoons, commentary and media pieces, we are left at the end of a blunt and revealing journey wanting the answers to the various moral and ethical questions raised. Moore travels across America and Canada to get a broad pool of opinion and not only takes the trip to find a reason for the gun violence in the first place, but he takes the long road by not blaming the usual suspects (video games, angry music, and a bloody history as a nation) and investigating other investigations. Moore reveals disturbing and frightening truths about the US’s gun possession statistics and gun related death figures. Moore shows his skill as a filmmaker in “Columbine” in his ability to keep the audience, not only attentive, but entertained also. Although the film is based around the tragic Columbine Massacre, Moore makes the best of a bad situation and tries (when appropriate) to make the film humorous and light hearted.

TRUTHS REVEALED:

The film delves into several truths about problems in America at the moment, for example crime, unemployment, violence, media and economic influences on society, poverty, hypocrisy of US Government and racism. But the most prominent truth Moore reveals is that America is a society driven by fear, a fear that is fuelled by the massive bombardment of media. Moore concludes that the reason for such ludicrous terror is the media’s selection and presentation of material for the news. This media overload reports the dangers in the world and thus encourage citizens to “protect themselves” by purchasing guns for “self defence”. It is out of this mass security armament that we see the extreme tragedies like Columbine and the

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