Preview

Bowling For Columbine: Irony Or Social Satire

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
287 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Bowling For Columbine: Irony Or Social Satire
Bowling For Columbine starts with archival footage of the National Rifle Association. It is included to imply that the film is endorsed by the NRA but as the footage is in black and white, compared to the rest of the film it seems that Moore has already begun positioning us. This archival footage implies that the NRA is outdated and the inclusion is therefore seen as another form of irony or social satire. A short sequence then plays with Moore narrating, showing milkmen, farmers doing their everyday rituals, children going to school and “the president bombing another country whose name we couldn't pronounce” This ironic understatement juxtaposes with the mundane routines established before and after the statement. By presenting this in such

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    David North,in the article “The Columbine High school Massacre American Pastoral...American Berserk” states that “installing metal detectors more police more surveillance cameras and enlisting the population as collaborators to inform on those with supposed propensity to violence”. David North, Third page seventh paragraph, North was talking about all new have to be installed. The outbreaks that happens aren’t social problems or failure to miss signals coming off of people it's the police fault. Schools are now having to pay for the security of the students by making sure that there is at least one police officer on campus due to the new rules after the Columbine Shooting.…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Daily Show is a source of controversy when its affect on democracy is analyzed. Some critics, like Roderick P. Hart and E. Johanna Hartelius who wrote “The Political Sins of Jon Stewart”, believe that Jon Stewart and his use of cynicism are harmful to Democracy. Conversely, Robert Harriman who wrote “In Defense of Jon Stewart” concedes that Jon Stewart is a cynic “for [the purpose] of coming to the key point of judgment” (274) although he considers Jon Stewart a helpful defender of democracy rather than a harmful offender. Similarly, Lisa Colletta the author of “Political Satire and Postmodern Irony in the Age of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart” feels that satire, rather than cynicism, which she believes is the form of rhetoric that Jon Stewart uses, is beneficial to democracy. In all, through an analysis of Roderick P. Hart and E. Johanna Hartelius’ “The Political Sins of Jon Stewart”, Robert Harriman’s “In Defense of Jon Stewart”, and Lisa Colletta’s “Political Satire and Postmodern Irony in the Age of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart” I feel that Jon Stewart’s use of satire on The Daily Show is constructive for democracy.…

    • 1002 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Murder Party Satire

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page

    Murder party is the low budget directorial debut of Jeremy Saulnier, which is a comedy/horror film about a man who receives a mailed invitation to a Halloween costume party from a group of self-indulgent hipsters. Who have an intent on murdering him for the sake of their art.…

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This movie goes into deep investigation on the causes of mass shootings, particularly the Columbine incident. It goes over gun laws, guns in America and other countries, and possible causes for shootings. This movie is a professional documentary film which interviews several known people, such as Matt Stone, Charlton Heston, and Marilyn Monroe. This film is unbiased and has a lot of different pieces of evidence and views on gun laws, making it a reliable source for my…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the “Zero Hour Columbine” video, the behaviors of Erik Harris and Dylan Klebold are driven or understood through three different perspectives, Psychodynamic, Behavioral, and the Cognitive perspective. Each perspective has terms that help explain the reaction and actions of the two murderous teens. These perspectives allow us to get into the minds of these two boys to try and understand them, so this event doesn’t happen again.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this trimester, I have studied Paradigm II at Mahidol University International College, which is a core course for the social science division. This course learns about the major paradigms in social sciences during the twentieth century. In the past few months, a lecturer, Eugene Jones, opened a documentary film named Bowling for Columbine. In this film, a filmmaker, Michael Moore, try to find the reason of butchery in the United States. After I watched this film, I had learned that there are numerous reasons why Americans are so violent.…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The use of satire used by Michael Moore in his docudrama “Bowling for Columbine” helps the audience engage on the concept of tackling serious issues like the Columbine massacre and the influences to enlighten or mirror the feelings of how and what society has on the thoughts of a particular environment. Moore uses a variety of technique, ranging from exaggeration, irony, parody and juxtaposition to reveal various answers to questions raised by the society involving the use of guns and to represent its concerns.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Satire In Catch 22

    • 1584 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Aldridge, John W. "THE LOONY HORROR OF IT ALL- 'CATCH-22' TURNS 25." The New York Times ON THE WEB. 26 Oct. 1986. Web. 5 Mar. 2016. .…

    • 1584 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Even looking at this murder issue through the lens mentioned earlier regarding taking the population gap and gun possession gap into consideration, the fear is a major influence in the paranoia surrounding ‘the land of opportunity’ regarding the murders, if not a factor in the gun murders themselves. The author of the ‘Culture of Fear’ says as much in the documentary when talking about his favourite statistic: “In all the research I did, discovered that the murder rate had gone down by 20%. The coverage – that is, how many murders are on the evening news – it went up by 600%.” The marketing strategy conveyed, “keep everyone afraid, and they’ll consume”, was mentioned by Marilyn Manson in his interview with Moore regarding the blame media companies and experts pinned on him. During this interview, Manson says “The president was shooting bombs overseas, yet I’m a bad guy because I, well I sing some rock and roll songs, but who’s a bigger influence, the president or Marilyn Manson?”. The argument is quite difficult to argue against and makes the audience agree with Manson’s point of view. Manson also says that “in the end, I’m a poster boy for fear”, implying the media found a scapegoat in him because it best suited their interests. Moore’s discrediting of the fear tactic is effective because it shows the funny side and presents well-chosen interviews to best suit his interests. By using a news segment of Killer Bees coming to ‘the New World’, the absurdity of the media and the extent to which Americans are pumped full of fear is highlighted. Yet despite raising issues about the fear tactic used widely by the US media, ‘Bowling for Columbine’ ends its screen time without giving a solution to the mess highlighted. Moore attributes the difference between American and Canadian gun murder rates to the fear tactic used by the US media, a very compelling result at first until the…

    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The lives of many were to change on the day of April 20th, 1999, at Columbine High School. With the death of twelve students and one teacher, it was to be the deadliest mass murder committed on an American high school campus. The massacre, committed by senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, sparked debate over gun control laws; whether the availability of guns across the United States, especially to young people such as these, was socially acceptable. This event is what sparked Moore to create his documentary, ‘Bowling for Columbine’.…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Columbine High School while the audio consists of a intertwined variety of voices for example parents, reporters, teachers in the school, and 911 operators. A documentary technique that Moore uses is found material which is used to convey fear and the horrors that occurred in the Columbine massacre. Moore extensively uses footage from the…

    • 147 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Michael Moore's documentary, 'Bowling for Columbine', highlights the devastating state of gun violence within the United States. He also examines the events leading up to the tragic events that occurred at the massacre at Columbine High School as well as the impacts this had on society. The film was released October 11th, 2002 and was met with both critical and commercial success. It is now considered to be one of the best documentaries to ever be created, according to The Guardian.…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Society's Perfect Satire

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages

    But that is the dance of the birds, that is not how we should be.…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    11,127 is the number of Americans killed in the United States last year with a gun. 381 is the number of Germans killed with a gun, which is the closest statistic country to the U.S. Why is there so much gun violence in the U.S? What is so different in the U.S. that gun crime is so prevalent? What can we do to change it? All questions Bowling for Columbine poses in the film documentary by Michael Moore. Like the documentary, there is not one simple answer and there are no easy solutions.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The columbine shooting that happened April 20, 1999. Twelve students and one teacher were killed by the students of Dylan Klebold, 17, and Eric Harris, 18. Eric labeled as psycopath and knew how to control it, and Dylan labeled with depression and didn’t care about life anymore. Based off their motives, they were lead to kill all the victims because of bullying and confusion that they had in high school.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays