Bowling For Columbine

OCTOBER 28, 2002

My grandpa loved this film. I visited him yesterday and we went to see this, despite him being a bit skeptical. He, like most people I know, is now telling everyone he knows to see it.

The movie is about gun violence in America, with Columbine as a focal point. The central question asks why America has so much gun violence when we don't have more guns, a more violent history, or more violent movies and videogames than other countries. Amazingly, he is able to give a fairly concrete answer, which I completely agree with. I'm going to tell you, but don't worry, it won't spoil the film. He explains that the media and the government work to instill fear in the public, so that they can easily control them. An offshoot of this is that people tend to become more violent, since a lack of control often leads people to their most primal instincts.

My point is, duh. He makes the answer so easy to understand but tells it to us without any condescention. In fact, it is fairly clear that as he shot the film he was coming at the question without a clear answer in mind.

So, as you can tell, I agree with my grandfather. Moore does an incredible job of weaving a interesting and often humorous narrative into such a difficult and often perplexing issue, which makes the film very easy to watch, even with a 2 hour running time. Please go see this film, and if you don't have time convince everyone you know to see it. For the sake of the country.

Posted in Film at 3:29 pm.