The Critique OfBowling For Columbine, By Michael Moore

On April 20, 1999, the unimaginable occurred at Columbine High School in the small town of Littleton, Colorado. A school shooting, perpetrated by, then senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold took the entire community by storm. With 15 deaths, including the perpetrators, and 24 non-fatal injuries, the memories of this horrific massacre will forever resonate in minds of all. With a meticulously, thought out plan, the two shooters prepared guns and bombs before performing the sickening act. Families, the FBI, local officials, psychologists,

Columbine by Dave Cullen tells the events that unfolded on April 20th, 1999. That day, two boys, self-proclaimed rebels, armed themselves and proceeded to murder the same students they had walked the halls with for four years. As the stories of Dylan, Eric, and the victims of this tragic day came to light, many falsehoods also arose. Unfortunately, the myths and truths about Columbine still linger with us today. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold left a lasting impression on the world; but left behind the truth as to why they really did it. This leaves us to wonder what really happened on that fateful day.

Bowling for Columbine is a documentary directed by American filmmaker and activist, Michael Moore. The political documentary focuses on the 1999 school shootings that occurred in Columbine, Colorado, and Flint, Michigan and the correlation of guns to the high homicide rates in America. Moore argues that the number one problem the United States faces is gun control. Moore effectively uses ethos, pathos, and logos appeals to present an unbiased and informational view of the issue of gun violence in America. He also uses the fallacious argumentative strategy, ad hominem. Moore does not put his own direct bias into the film, he instead shows both sides of the argument to allow the viewer to decide for themselves which side they are on.

Many examples of Moore using incorrect information can be seen throughout the film. When he puts emphasis on the arrogance of the gun rally which was held eleven days after the shootings, to the ‘naked’ eye, it may seem that the act, was indeed ignorant and immoral, but this portrayal is not actually factual. The truth is that: The Denver event was not an act related to Columbine, but an yearly gathering, whose date and place had been set years in advance. At Denver, the NRA called off all events (normally several days of committee meetings, sporting events, dinners, and assemblies) save the annual members' voting meeting - that could not be cancelled as the state law governing non-profits made it mandatory that it be held. (There was no way to change the place, since under NY law you must give 10 days' advance notice of that to the members, there were more than 4,000,000 members - and Columbine occurred 11 days prior to the scheduled meeting).

On Tuesday, April 20 1999, Columbine High School located in Columbine Colorado an unfortunate massacre happened and many teens lost their lives. The two students responsible for this incident were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. These two senior students were responsible for killing twelve students and one teacher; they were also responsible for injuring an additional twenty one students on their rampage. A few other students were injured while trying to escape the school. Columbine is considered the fourth deadliest school massacre in history. It was said to be that there was not one target but everyone was a target on Eric and Dylan’s rampage through the high school

Bowling for Columbine isan interactive or participatory documentary directed by Micheal More ( Farenheight 911, Sicko ) in 2002. In this documentry More explores the 1999 Colimbine Masacare, he investigates what lead up to this masacare as well as how Colombine reacted to it. He reads into the violence in the United States and the fact that america has the highest gun-murder rate in the world, he questions the right that Americans have to acessing guns. It is created with many conventions of the interactive documentry genre; the documentry has direct engagment with the audience, More is a part of the events that are recorded so he has a direct impact on what is happening; we get a clear understanding of the situation from More’s point of veiw.

Moore situates to learn about the reason behind the massacre of 12 individuals at the Columbine High School on April 20,1999. He details how Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had the access to firearms in which they had a record of arrests, juvenile detention, and drug usage.

The book Columbine by Dave Cullen has been banned for its content about the Columbine School Shooting and the psychology behind the shooting. It was censored from students because of this content that, while being sensitive and triggering to those who are against gun violence or have PTSD from a situation like this, can help spread awareness about school shootings in a world where events such as the Columbine School Shooting are slowly becoming more and more common. This book, having graphic details about the shooting that can upset people who read it, is a book that can be taught, as its merits, literary qualities, and educational value justify it as a book that teachers can use to bring up valuable points in discussion and teach valuable

The 2002 film Bowling for Columbine is a documentary written, directed, and narrated by Michael Moore. Moore has won numerous awards including the Academy Award for best documentary feature. The film explores acts of violence with guns and the primary causes for the Columbine School Massacre, where two students shot and killed thirteen people and injured twenty-one others. Bowling for Columbine takes a deep and often disturbing probe into what the motives may have been for the shooters and investigates other gun-related issues along the way. Moore explores different aspects of gun-culture such as receiving free guns from a bank, taking a look at America’s violent history, and interviewing important people like Charlton Heston, former president of the National Rifle Association. The film ultimately comes to the conclusion that the American culture of fear along with the accessibility of guns is the reason why there are so many gun-related deaths. This thesis is supported by many examples Ethos, Logos, and Pathos evidence.

The Columbine High School Massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 20th, 1999 in Columbine, Colorado. It was a highly planned attacked that included a bomb to confused firefighters, propane tanks that were made into bombs to blow up the cafeteria, 99 explosive device, and some car bombs. The masterminds were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, they were both seniors. Collaboratively they murdered 12 students and 1 teacher. Aside from the kills they injured 21 other people, and an additional 3 more while trying to escape the horrendous event. After their killing rampage, the murderers committed suicide.

The first misconception is that the social cliques that occur in high schools across the nation has a role in this tragedy. Columbine is not simply a school shooting but is rather a shooting that the gunmen chose the school as their tool. School shooters tend to act impulsively and attack the targets of their rage mainly the students and faculty. Harris and Klebold planned for a year and dreamed much bigger. The school served as a means to a grander end, to terrorize the entire nation by attacking a symbol of American life. The shooters talk in numerous video tapes about their act being bigger than the Oklahoma city bombings. They boasted about making sure there bloody performance was bigger and more memorable. Klebold is particular was quoted as bragging about inflicting “the most deaths in U.S. history. Columbine was

Moore’s response to the cause of the deaths from the columbine massacre is fear, however he spends little time on his documentary compared to the time he spends proving that blaming bowling could be as dumb as blaming Marylyn Manson or violent video games or America’s past. He even goes to the length of interviewing Marylyn Manson reviling that there is indeed more to Manson that what the “pro-gun nuts” proclaim. Moore travels around to towns and cities where gun violence is prominent and analysing everything from poverty to pollution to major corporations creating bombs that would be dropped on a foreign country and trying to link how this could generate violence. Moore also argues that America itself could be the instigator of Columbines

Michael Moore was born on April 23rd 1954. He’s An American film maker, author and a liberal political commentator. He has directed and produced four of the eight highest grossing documentaries of all time. In 2005 Time Magazine named Moore one of the world’s ‘Hundred most influential people’. The documentary ‘Bowling for Columbine’ explores the possible causes for the Columbine High School massacre. It has won the ‘Best Documentary feature’ at both the Academy and Independent Spirit Awards, together with the César award for ‘best foreign films’.

Michael Moore is a writer and a filmmaker and he is well known for criticizing American politics and the society in general. Moore had a specific bias against gun control and it allowed him to consider the biggest controversies surrounding the topic. Bowling for Columbine is a one of Moore’s famous documentaries, he decides to make this after the Columbine high school massacre that occurred in 1999. Something he looked for in this film was how the violence in the society has an impact on the children and how they would be different if raised in a safer area. In “ Bowling Columbine” Moore uses various codes and conventions to discuss the link between America's obsession for guns and how it connects to their murder rate. The use of animation, interviews with the victims and witnesses helped call attention to social criticism, which Americans should be ashamed of.

In Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore, an award winning writer and director takes a look at some of the many social problems that plague America to this day. Moore starts his documentary by briefly talking about the Columbine High School shooting and then moves on to discuss things that may have truly been a factor in some the aggression that the two students so aggressively took out on their peers. Many issues are talked about in this movie including but not limited to: The Oklahoma City bombing, the presence of a leading tactical weapons provider located near the small town of Littleton, and many others. Not all of the things brought up in the film directly relate to the incidents at