Bowling for Columbine Summary

Bowling for Columbine Summary The documentary Bowling for Columbine is Michael Moore’s exposé of the United States’ government in terms of gun control and how American capitalism takes precedence over human, even the smallest of children’s, lives. Moore begins the documentary by showing off how easy it is for one to get a gun of any kind in certain parts of the U.S.; Moore even gets a gun for free simply by signing up for a bank account at North County Bank located in the Midwest (Moore 00:03). We then see footage of the “Michigan Militia”, a group of men and women in Michigan that became well known due to their connection with Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols (Moore 00:08). However, much of the Militias’ time on camera was spent on the members insisting upon being nothing like McVeigh and Nichols. They simply want to protect their families, they insist, and nothing more (Moore 00:10). The documentary then moves on to tell the story of Littleton, Colorado, where the Columbine school shooting occurred. There was clear evidence of trauma for the town as a whole, especially when we heard the voicemails from the teachers and parents the day of the shooting (Moore 00:30) and when the Home Consultant that Moore speaks with gets very emotional when he talks about the event (Moore 00:22). We then hear from a representative from Lockheed Martin, the world largest weapon maker and distributor, who emphasize that they have no idea how kids could do something like that (Moore 00:24). The irony is so poignant here because the representative of a company who is pumping weapons of mass destruction into the market and making these guns so accessible has the nerve to query what the reason this violence happens is. Moore himself emphasizes that he does not know the psychological answer, but a clear, economic answer is that there is a sizeable market for weapons of mass destruction in the U.S., unlike in other countries that have much less death by gun violence per year, and powerful guns are way too accessible for the absurd reason that it’s an American right (Moore 00:28). In addition, it became evident that the weapons used in the Columbine school shooting by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were obtained legally and the 900 rounds of ammunition were bought legally at the local Kmart (Moore 00:33). It then begins to become crystal clear what Moore’s core argument is: The American government can do anything if, as they’ve been doing thus far, they continue to emphasize fear and use it to their advantage in order to promote capitalistic interests over human lives (Moore 01:37). In arguing this, he also exposes how insensitive the NRA and its supporters are to human lives and social justice, especially when Moore discusses how the organization led pro-gun rallies soon both after the Columbine shooting in Colorado (Moore 00:35) and after the Buell shooting in Flint, Michigan (Moore 01:22). He also exemplifies how adult “experts” reacted to these tragedies which, though they took place by children, were obviously caused by issues created by adults. Instead of focusing on gun reform, however, Moore was horrified to find them blaming the children by instilling strict dress codes, installing metal detectors in schools, and strengthening zero tolerance policies which ultimately ended up suspending second graders for things they did not even understand they were doing (Moore 00:41). By bouncing back and forth between footage depicting this issue of blaming the children and pop culture icon Marilyn Manson discussing his own involvement in the government’s use of fear-mongering tactics, Moore’s message becomes evident: As long as the American government can keep everyone afraid, they can keep them consuming, contributing to the American ideology of capitalism (Moore 00:46). Ultimately, Moore’s inclusion of heavy-metal icon Marilyn Manson is a nod to how ridiculous the narratives are that politicians try to instill in the American public that surrounds crime and fear: more crime there is, the more guns you need to protect yourself. However, Moore discovers the opposite when he visits other countries, like Canada, and ultimately realizes that operating under capitalism means constantly being motivated by fear (Moore 00:58). There was the overt fear of Black people by white Americans that has been perpetuated through stereotypes in media over and over again, when in reality it is the mostly the white people who are the problem (Moore 01:03). Due to American’s use of fear tactics, Black Americans have been criminalized from their physical features to their style and culture in the eyes of the U.S. law (More 01:00). Moore’s film then shifts to focus on how the media specifically pumps fear and anxiety into American society which is a large reason why Americans hold on to their right to bear arms, no matter how dangerous those arms may be (Moore 01:19). The concluding sense of the film focus on two specific students who were injured but not killed in the Columbine school shooting, Richard and Mark, as well an intimate interview with Charlton Heston, the founder and president of the NRA. Moore takes Richard and Mark to the Kmart headquarters to attempt to inform them of their involvement in the Columbine school shooting: that the bullets used to kill 12 students and injure the two standing in front of them were bought at one of their own stores. The corporate members seemed so detached from the immense pain they were causing communities, which was expected yet still disturbing to see (Moore 01:43). In the final scene, Moore has an intimate conversation with Charlton Heston. During this conversation, Heston openly admits to having a house full of loaded guns, yet he has never been a victim of crime (Moore 01:49). This admittance proves the epitome of Moore’s argument: American news media has created a façade of fear that promotes gun ownership when in fact the gun ownership itself is the thing promoting the fear. Moore challenges Heston to apologize for the death of the six-year-old girl in Flint, Michigan who was shot by her classmate, and Heston walks away, unwilling to confirm his (now clearly proven by Moore) direct connection to the child’s untimely and tragic death (Moore 01:53).