So, most of us just watched the movie, now I want to know what people think of it. I know we'll talk about it tomorrow but I thought it would be a good blog topic to inculde anything that may be missed in class.
I like how Moore compared America to different countries concerning the number of deaths by guns in a year. America topped 11,000, which to me sounds crazy! I also liked how Moore looked at different reasons why such a tragedy could occur, such as violent movies, video games, music, and so on. But instead of going along with these theories Moore showed that they occur just the same in other countries, video games in Japan, Goth music in Germany, yet their deaths due to guns are significantly less. This documentary really makes you think about the gun control and violence issues facing not only America as a whole but the youth.
I think Moore puts an intersting spin on Gun Control in the U.S.. He brought up very good points such as the media, video games, and the number of guns owned by individuals in the U.S. As possible reasons for this occurance. I sometimes find it hard to take him seriously however, because he makes things somewhat humerous. Also, I can't believe the PResident of the NRA would go to places after such major events happen. It makes him look like an a**hole.
I think one of my favorite parts of the movie is when people try to blame Marilyn Manson for the problems that we have, and had, with violence. And the point that is made about, of course Manson is to blame and the president has nothing to do with it. Like Manson has more power than the president. It's just funny to see what some people actually believe.
I think Moore brought up a good point that people blame the United State's gun violence on violent video games, movies, and music, yet other countries have all the same things that are jut as violent, but they don't even come close to the same amount of gun crimes as we have. What's so different about America from other countries that we have 11,000+ deaths from gun crimes and other countries don't even come close to 11,000 deaths even if you added them all up??
Before I watched this movie, I really wasn't a fan of documentaries, but I really think that Michael Moore did a great job in making this movie informational while adding a little humor. What I thought was really great about this movie is how Michael brought up the main reasons that many people would assume as the causes for gun violence in youth, and one-by-one, crosses out each one. Then, he brings about the thought of fear in American society as a catalyst for this gun violence, examining America's news broadcasts compared to that of Canda's (where American society focuses on murder and violence, and Canada on new speedbumps). While some of his statistics focused on plain numbers instead of percentages, overall, I believe that he makes a relatively good argument.
I agree with Ariele Barton: the increasing rate of gun violence affects teens one-by-one. Moore points out the thought of fear are based on people perception of an issue and how people react. Either the government pays too much attention (newspaper, TV news, etc.) or ignores an issue; it would make people more panic and fearful about the society. There was a part shows that some states started to search each student before they went into the school after the school gun violence. Not only did make students feel more scared about each other but also make the whole society feel more panic. In contrast, if government ignores this issue, it would also encourage more gun violence by another way. For example, the president of NRA went out to the places and had speeches after the event. It makes make people their violent actions are also accepted by the society!
I think that it was really interesting the way Moore compared gun violence in America to other countries. It was clear how much more violence there is in America, even though other countries still watch the same movies, play the same violent video games, and have almost the same entertainment as we do in regards to the content. It is just shocking how we have 11,000+ deaths a year, when there are some countries with merely 60. I think a lot of it also has to do with how easy it is to access and buy guns and bullets in America compared to other countries.
I thought Michael Moore brought up very good points about gun violence in the U.S. I very muched agreed with everything he was saying as I was watching the movie, but after we had the discussion in class, I was sort of turned down. For instance, his statistic on how many deaths there are in different countries. You can't really compare a country like the United States to a country like Japan because the United States has far more people. So inconclusion, some of his information may be a little misleading, but overall, it was a great documentary. Perhaps he could have more clearly addressed why/how the U.S. is so different compared to other countries.
Also, I think Michael Moore has some sort of obsession with Canada because in his previous documentaries on healthcare called, Sicko, he also spent some time emphasizing on Canada.
I also haven't been a huge fan of documentaries before but I really enjoyed watching this film. I think that Moore brought up a large variety of issues that many people could possible blame our amount of gun violence on. I really liked the part when two of the victims of the Columbine shooting went to KMart and told their stories about the bullets in their bodies. I thought this was very empowering and really moved me. I was really surprised that KMart took their handgun bullets off the shelves, and I think that was a very noble thing for a corporation to do. This film really sparked a lot of questions in myself after watching it. It really opened my eyes to how much Americans do seem to live in fear, and the different ways it is illustrated through the media.
I really liked the way Moore tackled the issue and blames of Gun Control and Gun Violence. I found it intensely interesting because he told the facts and questioned the blames in a very comedic tone. With so many opinions about Gun Control, it's not surprising that there is an immense variety of blames for Gun Violence. I think Moore really asked the important questions about these fears and misconceptions people have. People may try to blame Marilyn Manson as the cause of all the violence and hatred in the Columbine boys but no one really has a good reason to blame Marilyn. I think the only person who came up with a good reason was Marilyn himself! As he said it, it's easy to blame him because he's become "the poster child for fear." Other than that, there's really no connection between Marilyn and violence. Sure his lyrics may seem questionable, but who really uses music as a literal instruction to life?
Anyways, I think that Moore has done a fair job at what issues to talk about but, as we've talked about it class, he could have done some better researching.
The most important thing about Moore's Bowling for Columbine is that there is no absolute conclusion to why gun violence occurs. After going through all of the factors such as music, poverty, and gun accesibility there was no consistency with those variables and outcomes between different countries. Bowling for Columbine however accomplished to inform and aware those who viewed the movie that it is important to try and limit gun violence as much as possible.
It was really eye opening watching Bowling for Columbine and realizing how crazy it is to see the different statistics from America to other countries when it came to gun violence. It suprises me how in the end of the whole documentary there is no real concrete answer as to why gun violence is so much worse in America. I personally think America has gone through a lot of hateful periods that has made gun violence seem okay to more people because of the violent history and past of America. The part that hit me the hardest was when the six year old boy shot a girl in his class, I just don't understand how a six year old even has the thought to bring a gun to school. It just shows how the media and the elders or people in childrens lives really influence them.
I agree with Amy. While watching the film Moore makes you really believe in what he is talking about and you would never think it was misleading but he words things to his favor. I didn’t realize that until after our discussion in class. He made legitimate arguments but I also believe he stretched the truth. I can say however that it is hard for a documentary to catch my attention and keep me hooked ,especially for such a serious topic like gun control,It was nice that Moore lightened the subject up a little. The part that shocked me the most about the movie was the little boy who took his uncles gun to school and shot and killed a little girl. When I heard that it made me think of my daughter and how that could easily happen to just about anyone. I do believe it all could have been prevented. The little boys mother wasn’t able to be around because she was working two jobs to support her family ad make ends meet. What shocked me even more about the whole thing is that she was the one getting in trouble for something she literally had no control over.
I thought the movie was very interesting and provided a lot of relevant information even for today. Moore though quite funny at times is still really passionate about this topic and presented it with feeling. I really thought the part where he took the two boys to KMart to remove the bullets was really poignent. He was passionate about it enough to travel there with the boys and try to make a change. I had no idea how easy it used to be to buy bullets in an "everything" store. Hopefully because bullets have been removed from chain stores they will be less accessible and gun killings will go down. I wonder what this movie will look like if somebody makes another in 2052.
I am also not a fan of documentaries but enjoyed "Bowling for Columbine.” Even though the topic of gun violence, I feel, is somewhat taboo, I thought that Moore did a great job of getting the subject out there. His use of humor, numbers, survivors and the NRA really made me think about gun violence’s influence on Americans. Although I was not really surprised to learn that certain types of music contributes to gun violence, I could not help but laugh when people blamed Marilyn Manson in particular. One of the scenes that moved me was when Moore confronted the head of the NRA (Sorry, I forgot his name). I was frustrated that the guy would not even look at the picture of the little girl. I really hope that he found the picture and took a moment to think about what he’s representing.
I also really liked how Michael Moore showed how American media tends to only focus on violence and other stories that promote fear. In other countries, people feel relatively safe with one another and even go as far as to leave their doors unlocked when they had already been broken into before. Because the news here shows the stories that bring good ratings, people have a false sense of how prevalent these crimes are. Americans are becoming more and more fearful even as crime rates decrease just because that is all that is shown on the evening news.
I thought James Nichols' response to Moore's question about restricting nuclear weapons being an infringement on one's right to bear arms was interesting. "Well, there's wackos out there." My first thought was, "so it's okay for a wacko to have a gun, just not a nuclear weapon?" Obviously, nuclear weapons are more devastating than a handgun, but the way Nichols puts it, it's perfectly fine for a wacko to own a handgun, just nothing more powerful. I'm all for the right to bear arms, but Nichols' logic, including his reason for even owning a gun simply being that he can, is way off to me.
One issue I had with Moore's method was his trip to Kmart headquarters. To me, this is just playing the blame game. Kmart didn't open fire on Columbine, and undoubtedly most of their bullet sales are for legitimate purposes. I don't think they should have to be a scapegoat and take the blame that should actually be placed on those directly involved, namely the two teens that actually brought the gun to school. If you're going to blame Kmart, then you also have to blame anywhere someone could conceivably buy either bullets or a gun, which, especially with the amount of hunting that goes on in the Northwest, is a huge number of retailers. A more productive use of Moore's time, I think, would have been to talk to the specific clerk that sold the two boys the bullets, to see if he suspected that they were going to use them for other than what they were intended, or maybe to talk to the parents of the teens.
I really enjoyed the documentary because it brought up a lot of good points as to why so many Americans own guns. I thought Moore made an excellent point in stating that America's history of violence is not to blame for all the gun violence that we have. If that were the cause then Germany and England would be at an extremely high rate of gun violence and that is not the case. I also agree with Kapua. I got a little mad when the RFA guy couldn't even really answer the questions that Moore was asking him, but more especially when he didn't even look at the little girl's picture. I think deep down he kind of knew that what he did was wrong, to go to that city promoting guns when a little girl just died because of a gun-that was disturbing.
I enjoyed watching Moore’s documentary, I felt that it brought up a lot of a differential aspects on why many people in America own guns. It was also interesting to know that America has the leading cause of death from guns of 11,000; as oppose to other countries owning guns be less than 1000 numbers per death. However, what really intrigued me on was how video games, movies, and music promotes these violence? when I look at my life, I’ve listened to every king of music, watched adult violence on television, and played video games as a child...and I have no intentions of owning a gun. Going along with this, Im sure other countries as well played video games, watched violence on television, and etc. However they still have the lowest number on gun owners and deaths per year!
Well folks, I hate to be the one jerk who has to play devil's advocate but I will do it anyway... I think it is essential to keep in mind with ANY documentary (particularly ones dealing with political/social issues) that many of the viewpoints and data presented are going to have a spin on them. I felt during Bowling for Columbine that Michael Moore did a good job of presenting arguments for being against gun violence in the U.S., I also felt through the entirety of the movie that I was only being showed half-truths or a spin on facts. I was left wanting to know the other side of the argument instead of being shown some crazy guy who got let off the OK City bombings and sleeps with a .44 Mag under his pillow.... Some credible sources of information for the opposing viewpoint would have been nice....
Another thing: I felt that while M.M. did a great job of pointing out possiblities of the cause for gun violence in the U.S., he skirts around having to actually state what the problem is. He does a good job of identifying problems, and disproving quite a few, but it left me wondering as to what the hell he was actually driving at. Just a few thoughts to ponder....
I thought it was really interesting how most of the Canadians interviewed by Mr. Moore admitted that they usually don't lock their doors at night or really any other part of the day. Locking my door is pretty routine for me. It was funny how Moore walked around Canada for a bit to see if this was true by opening doors to find that most of them were really unlocked. One more surprising fact was that there had been probably one death related to gun shooting within a three year time period in Canada. It would be nice if that was the statistic for the U.S. as well.
Something that caught my eye when I was watching this movie was how American versus Canadian news reports seemed to be on completely opposite sides of the spectrum. I hate watching the news because I don't like hearing about all the murders or kidnappings that have taken place that day. With this thought in my mind, it was strange to see that everyone in Canada would watch the news because it wasn't something that would really, in a sense, ruin your day or make you paranoid. Another part of the movie that really struck me was when Michael Moore was in California and there was police business going on on a street and Moore was more concerned about not seeing the Hollywood sign. Because of all the pollution, the smog got so bad that you couldn't see the sign from a neighborhood across town. I thought that it was a good way to show that the pollution everyone is breathing in is hurting us just like gun violence.
I, like many other students in this course, really liked the movie. I went into the film with expectations of Moore. Whilst I do identify with a more liberal agenda, I had negative ideas about him as a person. I felt that through the media glimpses I've seen of him, he is way too pushy and arrogant, voluntarily "duping" people and making people feel stupid rather than educating them.
Whilst Michael Moore remains not entirely my favorite person, I really appreciate this film and his efforts to get at the root of a true issue in our country. I feel that we are easily persuaded, especially when presented with convincing evidence like that he presented in the movie. Therefore, I do think it is important to hear from a moderate conservative rather than the WAY right-wing crazies that Michael interviews and dedicated much of his film to.
I find it hard to remove yourself from the context of an engaging and convincing film like Bowling for Columbine. When Moore presented the statistics on how many gun-related deaths there are in the US annually compared to other industrialized nations, I was astonished. I understand that he presents his facts in this manner to stress his point and to add gusto to his argument, however, I feel to fight the enemy, you need to play your fairest game and I think he too is tricking the public like he claims conservative gun-wielding NRA members are. I would have much more respect for Moore if he were to report in percentages and to thoroughly explain the facts so uneducated citizens or even those who take things at face value (I'm guilty of doing this) aren't fooled.
All in all, Moore effectively presented a serious dilemma in the US and utilized creative tactics to do so, such as tugging at the nations heart strings with tragic and sentimental stories.
It kind of bugged me that some of his facts were a little twisted. For instance, when he was comparing the countries death rate, he didn't happen to mention that most of those countries were infinitely smaller than the U.S. Also, I felt like he was too pushy. He did whatever he had to do to get what he wanted. I think he pretty much blackmailed K-mart into getting rid of their bullets. If they hadn't gotten rid of them, they would have lost money because people wouldn't have bought them any more. I feel like some of the things Moore wanted to get across were helpful, but I also think alot of it was just used to get to peoples emotions.
Bowling for Columbine was an eye opener for me. I honestly believe that Bowling for Columbine documentary should be something that every American should watch because whether you agree with how Michael Moore presented his choices of variables to study and how he went about getting information… it really makes you think twice about this issue. It had me asking question like…Why does America have a gun related social issue? But of course the average answer any problem like this is who cares every country has issues with guns! I say Wrong, let forget about the other countries they are “big kids” they can solve their own problems, let worry about us (sometimes I feel that we as a country tend to care about SO much about other countries that we neglect our own self and our problems. Even though, we are facing huge social issues not only the gun issues they are equally as important as any other social issue around the world. As shown in the movie, there are parts of America, where some subcultures it's becoming a norm, a way of life to have guns, it been socially accepted. What do you propose for us to do to address this issue? Where do we even begin? How do we begin to go about solving this horrifying social issue?
This blog is for Fundamentals of Sociology students at Linfield College to discuss all things sociological. It is a place where students can share ideas, post a burning insight about a current event, post a relevant news article, link to a YouTube clip that illustrates a key sociological point, chat with fellow classmates, or debate the finer details of writings by Marx, Weber, or Durkheim.
I like how Moore compared America to different countries concerning the number of deaths by guns in a year. America topped 11,000, which to me sounds crazy!
ReplyDeleteI also liked how Moore looked at different reasons why such a tragedy could occur, such as violent movies, video games, music, and so on. But instead of going along with these theories Moore showed that they occur just the same in other countries, video games in Japan, Goth music in Germany, yet their deaths due to guns are significantly less.
This documentary really makes you think about the gun control and violence issues facing not only America as a whole but the youth.
I think Moore puts an intersting spin on Gun Control in the U.S.. He brought up very good points such as the media, video games, and the number of guns owned by individuals in the U.S. As possible reasons for this occurance. I sometimes find it hard to take him seriously however, because he makes things somewhat humerous. Also, I can't believe the PResident of the NRA would go to places after such major events happen. It makes him look like an a**hole.
ReplyDeleteI think one of my favorite parts of the movie is when people try to blame Marilyn Manson for the problems that we have, and had, with violence. And the point that is made about, of course Manson is to blame and the president has nothing to do with it. Like Manson has more power than the president. It's just funny to see what some people actually believe.
ReplyDeleteI think Moore brought up a good point that people blame the United State's gun violence on violent video games, movies, and music, yet other countries have all the same things that are jut as violent, but they don't even come close to the same amount of gun crimes as we have. What's so different about America from other countries that we have 11,000+ deaths from gun crimes and other countries don't even come close to 11,000 deaths even if you added them all up??
ReplyDeleteBefore I watched this movie, I really wasn't a fan of documentaries, but I really think that Michael Moore did a great job in making this movie informational while adding a little humor. What I thought was really great about this movie is how Michael brought up the main reasons that many people would assume as the causes for gun violence in youth, and one-by-one, crosses out each one. Then, he brings about the thought of fear in American society as a catalyst for this gun violence, examining America's news broadcasts compared to that of Canda's (where American society focuses on murder and violence, and Canada on new speedbumps). While some of his statistics focused on plain numbers instead of percentages, overall, I believe that he makes a relatively good argument.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ariele Barton: the increasing rate of gun violence affects teens one-by-one. Moore points out the thought of fear are based on people perception of an issue and how people react. Either the government pays too much attention (newspaper, TV news, etc.) or ignores an issue; it would make people more panic and fearful about the society. There was a part shows that some states started to search each student before they went into the school after the school gun violence. Not only did make students feel more scared about each other but also make the whole society feel more panic. In contrast, if government ignores this issue, it would also encourage more gun violence by another way. For example, the president of NRA went out to the places and had speeches after the event. It makes make people their violent actions are also accepted by the society!
ReplyDeleteI think that it was really interesting the way Moore compared gun violence in America to other countries. It was clear how much more violence there is in America, even though other countries still watch the same movies, play the same violent video games, and have almost the same entertainment as we do in regards to the content. It is just shocking how we have 11,000+ deaths a year, when there are some countries with merely 60. I think a lot of it also has to do with how easy it is to access and buy guns and bullets in America compared to other countries.
ReplyDeleteI thought Michael Moore brought up very good points about gun violence in the U.S. I very muched agreed with everything he was saying as I was watching the movie, but after we had the discussion in class, I was sort of turned down. For instance, his statistic on how many deaths there are in different countries. You can't really compare a country like the United States to a country like Japan because the United States has far more people. So inconclusion, some of his information may be a little misleading, but overall, it was a great documentary. Perhaps he could have more clearly addressed why/how the U.S. is so different compared to other countries.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think Michael Moore has some sort of obsession with Canada because in his previous documentaries on healthcare called, Sicko, he also spent some time emphasizing on Canada.
I also haven't been a huge fan of documentaries before but I really enjoyed watching this film. I think that Moore brought up a large variety of issues that many people could possible blame our amount of gun violence on. I really liked the part when two of the victims of the Columbine shooting went to KMart and told their stories about the bullets in their bodies. I thought this was very empowering and really moved me. I was really surprised that KMart took their handgun bullets off the shelves, and I think that was a very noble thing for a corporation to do. This film really sparked a lot of questions in myself after watching it. It really opened my eyes to how much Americans do seem to live in fear, and the different ways it is illustrated through the media.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the way Moore tackled the issue and blames of Gun Control and Gun Violence. I found it intensely interesting because he told the facts and questioned the blames in a very comedic tone. With so many opinions about Gun Control, it's not surprising that there is an immense variety of blames for Gun Violence. I think Moore really asked the important questions about these fears and misconceptions people have. People may try to blame Marilyn Manson as the cause of all the violence and hatred in the Columbine boys but no one really has a good reason to blame Marilyn. I think the only person who came up with a good reason was Marilyn himself! As he said it, it's easy to blame him because he's become "the poster child for fear." Other than that, there's really no connection between Marilyn and violence. Sure his lyrics may seem questionable, but who really uses music as a literal instruction to life?
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I think that Moore has done a fair job at what issues to talk about but, as we've talked about it class, he could have done some better researching.
The most important thing about Moore's Bowling for Columbine is that there is no absolute conclusion to why gun violence occurs. After going through all of the factors such as music, poverty, and gun accesibility there was no consistency with those variables and outcomes between different countries. Bowling for Columbine however accomplished to inform and aware those who viewed the movie that it is important to try and limit gun violence as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteIt was really eye opening watching Bowling for Columbine and realizing how crazy it is to see the different statistics from America to other countries when it came to gun violence. It suprises me how in the end of the whole documentary there is no real concrete answer as to why gun violence is so much worse in America. I personally think America has gone through a lot of hateful periods that has made gun violence seem okay to more people because of the violent history and past of America. The part that hit me the hardest was when the six year old boy shot a girl in his class, I just don't understand how a six year old even has the thought to bring a gun to school. It just shows how the media and the elders or people in childrens lives really influence them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amy. While watching the film Moore makes you really believe in what he is talking about and you would never think it was misleading but he words things to his favor. I didn’t realize that until after our discussion in class. He made legitimate arguments but I also believe he stretched the truth. I can say however that it is hard for a documentary to catch my attention and keep me hooked ,especially for such a serious topic like gun control,It was nice that Moore lightened the subject up a little. The part that shocked me the most about the movie was the little boy who took his uncles gun to school and shot and killed a little girl. When I heard that it made me think of my daughter and how that could easily happen to just about anyone. I do believe it all could have been prevented. The little boys mother wasn’t able to be around because she was working two jobs to support her family ad make ends meet. What shocked me even more about the whole thing is that she was the one getting in trouble for something she literally had no control over.
ReplyDeleteI thought the movie was very interesting and provided a lot of relevant information even for today. Moore though quite funny at times is still really passionate about this topic and presented it with feeling. I really thought the part where he took the two boys to KMart to remove the bullets was really poignent. He was passionate about it enough to travel there with the boys and try to make a change. I had no idea how easy it used to be to buy bullets in an "everything" store. Hopefully because bullets have been removed from chain stores they will be less accessible and gun killings will go down. I wonder what this movie will look like if somebody makes another in 2052.
ReplyDeleteI am also not a fan of documentaries but enjoyed "Bowling for Columbine.” Even though the topic of gun violence, I feel, is somewhat taboo, I thought that Moore did a great job of getting the subject out there. His use of humor, numbers, survivors and the NRA really made me think about gun violence’s influence on Americans. Although I was not really surprised to learn that certain types of music contributes to gun violence, I could not help but laugh when people blamed Marilyn Manson in particular. One of the scenes that moved me was when Moore confronted the head of the NRA (Sorry, I forgot his name). I was frustrated that the guy would not even look at the picture of the little girl. I really hope that he found the picture and took a moment to think about what he’s representing.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked how Michael Moore showed how American media tends to only focus on violence and other stories that promote fear. In other countries, people feel relatively safe with one another and even go as far as to leave their doors unlocked when they had already been broken into before. Because the news here shows the stories that bring good ratings, people have a false sense of how prevalent these crimes are. Americans are becoming more and more fearful even as crime rates decrease just because that is all that is shown on the evening news.
ReplyDeleteI thought James Nichols' response to Moore's question about restricting nuclear weapons being an infringement on one's right to bear arms was interesting. "Well, there's wackos out there." My first thought was, "so it's okay for a wacko to have a gun, just not a nuclear weapon?" Obviously, nuclear weapons are more devastating than a handgun, but the way Nichols puts it, it's perfectly fine for a wacko to own a handgun, just nothing more powerful. I'm all for the right to bear arms, but Nichols' logic, including his reason for even owning a gun simply being that he can, is way off to me.
ReplyDeleteOne issue I had with Moore's method was his trip to Kmart headquarters. To me, this is just playing the blame game. Kmart didn't open fire on Columbine, and undoubtedly most of their bullet sales are for legitimate purposes. I don't think they should have to be a scapegoat and take the blame that should actually be placed on those directly involved, namely the two teens that actually brought the gun to school. If you're going to blame Kmart, then you also have to blame anywhere someone could conceivably buy either bullets or a gun, which, especially with the amount of hunting that goes on in the Northwest, is a huge number of retailers. A more productive use of Moore's time, I think, would have been to talk to the specific clerk that sold the two boys the bullets, to see if he suspected that they were going to use them for other than what they were intended, or maybe to talk to the parents of the teens.
I really enjoyed the documentary because it brought up a lot of good points as to why so many Americans own guns. I thought Moore made an excellent point in stating that America's history of violence is not to blame for all the gun violence that we have. If that were the cause then Germany and England would be at an extremely high rate of gun violence and that is not the case. I also agree with Kapua. I got a little mad when the RFA guy couldn't even really answer the questions that Moore was asking him, but more especially when he didn't even look at the little girl's picture. I think deep down he kind of knew that what he did was wrong, to go to that city promoting guns when a little girl just died because of a gun-that was disturbing.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching Moore’s documentary, I felt that it brought up a lot of a differential aspects on why many people in America own guns. It was also interesting to know that America has the leading cause of death from guns of 11,000; as oppose to other countries owning guns be less than 1000 numbers per death. However, what really intrigued me on was how video games, movies, and music promotes these violence? when I look at my life, I’ve listened to every king of music, watched adult violence on television, and played video games as a child...and I have no intentions of owning a gun. Going along with this, Im sure other countries as well played video games, watched violence on television, and etc. However they still have the lowest number on gun owners and deaths per year!
ReplyDeleteWell folks, I hate to be the one jerk who has to play devil's advocate but I will do it anyway... I think it is essential to keep in mind with ANY documentary (particularly ones dealing with political/social issues) that many of the viewpoints and data presented are going to have a spin on them. I felt during Bowling for Columbine that Michael Moore did a good job of presenting arguments for being against gun violence in the U.S., I also felt through the entirety of the movie that I was only being showed half-truths or a spin on facts. I was left wanting to know the other side of the argument instead of being shown some crazy guy who got let off the OK City bombings and sleeps with a .44 Mag under his pillow.... Some credible sources of information for the opposing viewpoint would have been nice....
ReplyDeleteAnother thing: I felt that while M.M. did a great job of pointing out possiblities of the cause for gun violence in the U.S., he skirts around having to actually state what the problem is. He does a good job of identifying problems, and disproving quite a few, but it left me wondering as to what the hell he was actually driving at. Just a few thoughts to ponder....
I thought it was really interesting how most of the Canadians interviewed by Mr. Moore admitted that they usually don't lock their doors at night or really any other part of the day. Locking my door is pretty routine for me. It was funny how Moore walked around Canada for a bit to see if this was true by opening doors to find that most of them were really unlocked. One more surprising fact was that there had been probably one death related to gun shooting within a three year time period in Canada. It would be nice if that was the statistic for the U.S. as well.
ReplyDeleteSomething that caught my eye when I was watching this movie was how American versus Canadian news reports seemed to be on completely opposite sides of the spectrum. I hate watching the news because I don't like hearing about all the murders or kidnappings that have taken place that day. With this thought in my mind, it was strange to see that everyone in Canada would watch the news because it wasn't something that would really, in a sense, ruin your day or make you paranoid.
ReplyDeleteAnother part of the movie that really struck me was when Michael Moore was in California and there was police business going on on a street and Moore was more concerned about not seeing the Hollywood sign. Because of all the pollution, the smog got so bad that you couldn't see the sign from a neighborhood across town. I thought that it was a good way to show that the pollution everyone is breathing in is hurting us just like gun violence.
I, like many other students in this course, really liked the movie. I went into the film with expectations of Moore. Whilst I do identify with a more liberal agenda, I had negative ideas about him as a person. I felt that through the media glimpses I've seen of him, he is way too pushy and arrogant, voluntarily "duping" people and making people feel stupid rather than educating them.
ReplyDeleteWhilst Michael Moore remains not entirely my favorite person, I really appreciate this film and his efforts to get at the root of a true issue in our country. I feel that we are easily persuaded, especially when presented with convincing evidence like that he presented in the movie. Therefore, I do think it is important to hear from a moderate conservative rather than the WAY right-wing crazies that Michael interviews and dedicated much of his film to.
I find it hard to remove yourself from the context of an engaging and convincing film like Bowling for Columbine. When Moore presented the statistics on how many gun-related deaths there are in the US annually compared to other industrialized nations, I was astonished. I understand that he presents his facts in this manner to stress his point and to add gusto to his argument, however, I feel to fight the enemy, you need to play your fairest game and I think he too is tricking the public like he claims conservative gun-wielding NRA members are. I would have much more respect for Moore if he were to report in percentages and to thoroughly explain the facts so uneducated citizens or even those who take things at face value (I'm guilty of doing this) aren't fooled.
All in all, Moore effectively presented a serious dilemma in the US and utilized creative tactics to do so, such as tugging at the nations heart strings with tragic and sentimental stories.
It kind of bugged me that some of his facts were a little twisted. For instance, when he was comparing the countries death rate, he didn't happen to mention that most of those countries were infinitely smaller than the U.S. Also, I felt like he was too pushy. He did whatever he had to do to get what he wanted. I think he pretty much blackmailed K-mart into getting rid of their bullets. If they hadn't gotten rid of them, they would have lost money because people wouldn't have bought them any more.
ReplyDeleteI feel like some of the things Moore wanted to get across were helpful, but I also think alot of it was just used to get to peoples emotions.
Bowling for Columbine was an eye opener for me. I honestly believe that Bowling for Columbine documentary should be something that every American should watch because whether you agree with how Michael Moore presented his choices of variables to study and how he went about getting information… it really makes you think twice about this issue. It had me asking question like…Why does America have a gun related social issue? But of course the average answer any problem like this is who cares every country has issues with guns! I say Wrong, let forget about the other countries they are “big kids” they can solve their own problems, let worry about us (sometimes I feel that we as a country tend to care about SO much about other countries that we neglect our own self and our problems. Even though, we are facing huge social issues not only the gun issues they are equally as important as any other social issue around the world. As shown in the movie, there are parts of America, where some subcultures it's becoming a norm, a way of life to have guns, it been socially accepted. What do you propose for us to do to address this issue? Where do we even begin? How do we begin to go about solving this horrifying social issue?
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