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  • Essay / Bowling for Columbine: A Fictional Truth

    Bowling for Columbine is a documentary directed, written and produced by filmmaker Michael Moore, with the aim of opening people's eyes to the issue of gun control. The documentary centers on the vicious 1999 Columbine High School shooting, in which two former students coldly killed 16 people and injured 21. The film investigates gun regulations in the United States and the lack of law relating to the possession of firearms. Throughout Bowling for Columbine, what is displayed is an anti-political, critical, and persuasive perspective that repeatedly "lies to tell the truth" in order to help raise awareness of the problem polluting America today . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay As with most films exploring sensitive topics, viewers have various controversial opinions about the documentary. Specifically, opinions regarding exactly how much of the documentary is supported by actual facts. The film positions the audience through the use of persuasion techniques to accept the "truth" exposed in the film, even though these issues are still very real in the United States. Bowling for Columbine investigates several exaggerated depictions of its country's population and educates the public about the problems associated with current gun regulations. Moore is continually superficial in the issues he raises; the use of juxtaposition as well as his witty comments are used to Moore's advantage in order to alleviate the fact that the film is based on the issue of killing other people. From the beginning of the film, Moore begins his usual bias. The film opens with Moore at a bank opening a new account which, when opened, offers him a gun. He asks several questions to make fun of the employees, such as "don't you think it's a little dangerous to distribute weapons in a bank?" » and doesn't let employees respond via video. These techniques are used to mock the workers – thus helping Moore achieve his intentions of incompetently demonstrating the “truth” by misleading viewers. In addition to his mocking debriefings, Moore uses songs and music to influence viewers through emotion. A truly upsetting and disturbing part of the film is the "What a Wonderful World" montage, in which Louis Armstrong's famous song plays over flashed photos and videos of America's past decisions regarding war and violence . The song's use is essentially to ridicule the American government, which suggests that the world we live in, ironically, is not a "wonder world" but quite the opposite, thanks to violence and murder. Videos of people dying, being shot, and foreigners carrying American-made weapons give the feeling of a mismanaged and broken government. The filmmaker does this to turn his audience away from political leaders and towards his personal opinions making the audience distraught. Over the course of the film, Moore uses several techniques to make viewers feel unsettled and to reinforce his point that gun control is a problem. This is demonstrated in the scene with the emergency 911 calls playing on the slow motion video recording of the hallways of Columbine High. Deliberately done to position the audience as students, this scene exudes uncomfortable emotion due to the heartbreak and sorrow viewers feel for the students who have been.