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Bowling For Columbine Documentary Essay

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Michael Moore, director of the world-famous documentary, Bowling For Columbine is notorious for his truth-twisting and ultimately biased filmmaking ways. Through his arrangement of other successful films, the impression of whether or not the truth he puts forward is really the truth at all, becomes increasingly evident. So much so that columnist and author, Christopher Hitchens, believes that his films are “a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of "dissenting" bravery.” Though perhaps, that is a little harsh. Journalist, Maddy Basham reports on the truth and lies of Moore and his ability to produce a version of the truth that audiences blindly accept. In today’s society, there is no doubt that along the ‘grapevine’ of futility, there will always be some element of truth amongst the lie. From horror films based on a “true story” to documentaries that present their opinion …show more content…

However, despite the many elements of truth, Moore continues to uphold his philosophy for only including evidence that supports his argument, which can be seen through his choice to only focus on arguments that share the same opinion as him. Upon first watching this documentary I found myself intrigued by the choices he made in regards to what made it into the film. Within the first 10 minutes of it, he is purchasing a gun from a bank in Ohio. This clever foreshadowing of the documentary’s message becomes clear as Moore begins to delve into the topic of gun control and the ease of accessibility to buy weaponry in the United States. Shortly after, snippets of Charlton Heston - gun lover and president of the National Rifle Assosciation, see him portrayed as a gun-obsessed, callous maniac. Between the short videos of Heston in this documentary, it largely flips between segments from anti-gun rallies where mourning families plead for gun laws to change, to Heston proudly holding a gun above his head crying “from my cold dead

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What you see can be altered by what you know. Authors fabricate and establish selective truths in their pieces,such as novels, films and poems this is shown by the director, Peter Weir,with The Truman Show, Author Ayn Rand’s Anthem and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. They conveyed this through the use of figurative language such as irony, symbolism and metaphors. Together they bring the larger idea that oppression creates a new truth, which means there isn’t one truth but multiple, therefore the truth does not exist. To begin, oppression creates truth.

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Moore exhibits how, “… few lives hinge on any single moment or decision or circumstance,” and that there was not defining difference between him and the incarcerated man who shares his name (182). The main difference between him and the other Wes Moore is the collection of family, culture, and experience that Moore had in his upbringing. His mother and grandparents, by providing structure and the opportunity to go to private and military school, “… made it clear that they cared if [he] succeeded, and eventually so did [he]” (115). His mother and grandparents, through their constant attempts to keep Moore looking beyond his seemingly hopeless future, created expectations for him that he would ultimately want for himself. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore never seemed to have any meaningful expectations that he could seek.

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Throughout history literary texts have been a vehicle for social commentary and political ideas. Both Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” and Michael Moore’s political documentary “Bowling for Columbine” exemplify this notion, utilising their own political perspectives to create unique and evocative interpretations of their time’s political situation. Miller presents “The Crucible” as an allegorical piece that is a commentary of the mass hysteria and paranoia that engulfed American society surrounding the McCarthy era. In “Bowling for Columbine” Moore creates a comedic, yet chilling documentary attempting to unveil the causes for the Columbine High School massacre and violence more generally in America. Both composers cleverly criticique the political circumstances of their time through a range of literary techniques and themes.

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