Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine

Bowling for Columbine is Michael Moore's attempt to uncover the reason behind America's significant number of annual gun deaths. He explores various aspects of American and Canadian culture, comparing them and looking for any differences that would contribute to the vast gap in the number of gun deaths in each of the two countries.
Moore's thesis is thought-provoking and interesting, and provides a good foundation for the documentary.

Initially Moore explores the hypothesis that blames the availability of firearms in the United States for the high murder rates. Moore constantly seeks to place blame on the NRA, which is depicted in this documentary as a gang full of unorganized rednecks which are the equivalent of a modern Ku Klux Klan. Moore certainly fails at this point in the movie. By painting every gun owner as irresponsible and ignorant, not only does he undoubtedly outrage many viewers, but it also takes away from his argument.

Sweeping generalizations are never good, and especially in an informative documentary. Moore uses some of his infamous editing techniques to solidify his point. Several of Charlton Heston's NRA speeches are cut and combined to form what appears to be one seamless speech. However, this is not the case. The speech is actually a compilation of lines that Heston had said at one point or another, creatively spliced to enforce Moore's weak point. In a documentary, the audience is relying on the director to provide them with fact to base their own decisions on, regardless of the opinion being presented by the film.

When unorthodox editing techniques are involved, it severely detracts from the authenticity of the film. People can no longer be sure of what is a product of Moore's liberal spin, and what is actually factual.

Another shortcoming in Bowling for Columbine would be the lack of attention paid to the importance of gun responsibility by gun owners. When he discusses the murder of a 6 year old girl by a peer in her class, he embarks on a crusade against a work-for-welfare program. His success is limited in linking the two, and his complex logic doesn't make very much sense. If the uncle of the boy who murdered the girl had simply secured his firearm safely, the tragedy could have been avoided. Moore overlooks this simple point and instead tries to shift the blame to the welfare-for-work program which is clearly not the primary contributing factor.

Despite his shortcomings, Bowling for Columbine does raise many good points which may have not been apparent to the viewer. Moore studies the undercurrent of fear in our media which keeps American citizens perpetually afraid. The cycle of fear and consumption Moore discusses as a method of control for corporate media outlets is downright scary if you've never realized it before.

Many people will seek to blame violence in entertainment for the tragedy at Columbine, but these hypocrites never look to the President, who consistently bombs other countries and causes much more death and destruction than a proper role model should. I thought this was a particularly strong point of the film.

All in all, Moore balances out his one-sided editing and stretched accusations with some solid points and consistent entertainment. Bowling for Columbine is an important and informative documentary.