"Bowling for Columbine" - Film Review.

Essay by nkewlUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, September 2005

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1. Michael Moore's documentary, "Bowling for Columbine," is a powerful mix of humor and tragedy. He explores the culture of violence in an America traumatized by terrorism, teenage killers and economic inequality and focuses on America's gun culture, an exploration provoked by the Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999. According to Mr. Moore, there is something wrong with America. He presents startling facts in every topic he goes into. For example 11,000 Americans are killed by guns each year, and this digit is higher than Germany, Japan, and especially Canada combined. Mr. Moore tries to answer his question of what is causing this problem of why America still poses a discreet mystery on its civil war.

2. Unfortunately, to answer who is to blame for this madness is vague. Everyone that Mr. Moore interviews did not have an answer. Though Mr. Moore finds no definite answer, he proposed America's culture of fear as a root cause of gun violence.

Why fear and paranoia are so pervasive in America is not clear, though Marilyn Manson shows up with a plausible explanation, "Keep everyone afraid, and they'll consume" this is where the media plays an important role in advertising fear. Mr. Moore suggested that enhanced by the media's obsession with death and violence is to blame. They live in gated communities and lock their doors at night. They sleep with loaded guns under their pillows. Fear makes people jumpy and apprehensive, and more prone to resort to violence. And there's no cure for it. And it is all perpetuated by the evening news and reality TV shows such as "Cops".

3. Mr. Moore put an example of a humorous but plausible long-term solution from comedian Chris Rock to make bullets cost five billion dollars, or...