Some thoughts on "Bowling For Columbine," Michael Moore's slept-on documentary film (I'd be slept on too, if fewer than five theaters in the Chicago metro area were carrying me):
Moore does an excellent job of branching off of two school shootings to ask bigger questions about the violence in America. Though the film sometimes seems to jump around and never really go anywhere, things actually get pieced together rather nicely.
The main question the film seems to pose is this: What makes America so much more violent than other free nations? Gun-murder totals in the US dwarf those of all other democratic nations put together, yet they have largely the same culture and laws that we do.
Some of the mythical theories that Moore debunks on the way...
- The US has a more violent history. More violent than Germany? Russia? Not really.
- They don't have guns in other countries. Of the 10 million households in Canada, it's estimated that roughly 70 percent are armed.
- They don't have Marilyn Manson or hardcore rap. Hip-hop heads in Japan are arguably more into the music than Americans are, and Manson was treated like a god on his trips overseas.
So what's the deal? Moore basically boils it down to two things: A violent government and sensationalized media, both of which make a killing off of instilling fear in Americans.
The top stories on the news are almost always murders or some sort of violence, usually depicting a disproportionate amount of black males. (Moore's sidebar on racism and America's fear of blacks, by the way, was the highlight of the film.) Race relations in this country are horrible, largely because the white populace has been taught to fear those brimming with melanin.
Bush and his illegitimate administration have made a political killing off of selling fear, whether it be bin Laden, Hussein or whoever. His friends in the defense industry, likewise, make billions when the populace is scared into demanding more weapons. No matter what agenda Dumbya has, he has found a way to tie it to 9/11 and convince people he needs to do it.
Never mind, as Moore points out, that we are guilty of more violence than any of the so-called "evildoers." Our nation has deposed democratically-elected foreign leaders, causing civil wars that we then do nothing to stop. We gave weapons to Hussein AND Iran during the 80s, and now we are supposed to fear Iraq because of the chemical weapons that they got FROM US. We trained Al Qaeda "freedom fighters" when the Soviets came into Afghanistan, gave money to the Taliban, and then embarked on a campaign to eradicate both when it served our needs (read: oil pipeline).
The overall thrust of the film is focused on the Columbine massacre and a shooting in Flint, Michigan that claimed the life of a six-year-old girl. In Michigan, we find that the mother of the shooter is stuck in a welfare-to-work program from sunrise until well past sunset, and that despite working two jobs she couldn't make the rent -- forcing a move to a relative's home, where the boy found an unattended gun and brought it to school. Mom wasn't home to stop him.
In Columbine, we note that Marilyn Manson was blamed for the incident -- but, as Moore and Manson both note, that same day was the day of the biggest bombing campaign in Kosovo. As Manson says, who is a bigger influence, the president or his music. "I'd like to think me, but I'm gonna have to go with the president," he said.
It's hard to get into all of the things that Moore covers, because the film is somewhat all-encompassing -- from his forays into stores, showing how easy it is for anyone to buy weapons, to his interview with the completely detached Charlton Heston (who held pro-gun rallies in both Denver and Flint within a month of each respective tragedy), Moore's film is a scathing indictment of America's obsession with being the tough guy.
Basically, I can't cover it all. If the film is playing anywhere near you, go see it. It's a wake-up call.
A side note: On the way out, I heard another moviegoer voice his one complaint: that Moore didn't tell the other side of the story. Two thoughts...one, Heston and a lot of other pro-gun folks got to speak their mind, even if Moore made them look stupid; and two, the other side is told EVERY DAY by the mainstream media and our government. It's about time someone with a forum showed us reality.
Go see "Bowling For Columbine." Then tell your friends, and have them tell their friends. It's something that everyone needs to see if any meaningful changes are going to be made.
-- O
1:22:46 AM 
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