The Way Of The Gun (Bowling for Columbine (DVD))

Member Name: utero

Product:	Bowling for Columbine (DVD)
Date:	08/12/03 (96 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting, Involving

Disadvantages: None

I can't say I'm familiar with Micheal Moore's previous work, however I was aware of his reputation in the world of documentary filmmaking. Moore is an American who isn't afraid to show up his countries inadequacies and this film highlights one of the biggest of all.

Bowling For Columbine is based on the American fascination with guns, the amount of deaths that arise from them in the country and also how gun freedom lead a few teenagers to indulge in a school massacre. I had wanted to see the documentary for some time after it's accolades and the fact that it was met with mixed reaction at this years Oscars when it won a gold statue.

Moore adopts an interesting approach with this documentary; he is the host but also allows newsreel footage and even animation to get the message across. Primarily what I got from this film was the fact that America constantly quotes it's basic ideals of freedom yet ultimately it's a repressed country in some ways where the poor are still in some way slaves while the rich keep on getting richer. I also got other things from it and I was in complete amazement as to how easy it is to buy a firearm and ammunition in the local supermarket. Early on Moore walks into a bank and opens an account, the bank's incentive is to give new account holders a gun. It's a bizarre ideal in my eyes and one that just shows up the gun happy nature of some Americans.

For the majority of the film Moore concentrates on the reasons behind Columbine and also subsequent tragedies. He gets opinion from people concerned and the general consensus from people in the town. But he also expands but detailing America's terrible statistics of gun related murder compared to other countries. He shows the reaction of some people who blame it on people like Marilyn Mason and his music. This blinkered view is blown apart by the fact that other countries have the same music, the same films but significantly les
s gun incidents. Moore even talks to Marilyn Manson who actually gives one of the more dignified and sensible reactions to the opinions of his music in the affair.

At times this documentary also affected me, there is a part which deals with a school shooting where a six-year-old boy brought a gun to school and shot an six-year-old girl dead. Moore shows the welfare system that could have contributed to the event, the mother had to hold down two jobs to barely make ends meet. However this meant a long journey to another town and back every day, she barely saw her children and still the money wasn't enough to make the rent. What stuck in my throat more was the fact that there were companies participating in this welfare scheme where they got tax breaks and paid poor wages in return to those that had no choice. The people behind these companies then don't give Moore the time of day, instead they sit back in Hollywood and let the money roll in.

One of the film's constant subjects is the National Rifle Association, a group that carelessly held pro-gun rally's mere weeks after the gun tragedies. With no thought the president Charlton Heston would gee up the troops and bleat on about the positive nature of the gun. In the films finale Moore actually sits down with Heston to discuss gun control, Heston has no real answer for why guns are so easy to own and he has no response to his organization's actions in the wake of the tragedies. It's somewhat chilling as Heston walks away from Moore?s questions and doesn't seem interested.

Bowling For Columbine makes a good point about Guns in America. They're far too easily accessible to everyone, supposed gun control is pretty lax and it's a situation that will probably never change while everyone in power is in each others pockets.

Summary: