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copyright ©1999-2003 |
Plot synopsis Look at the statistics on the number of Americans that die from guns each year (we're talking over 11,000 — compare that to Japan's less than 50, despite the fact that its population is nearly half that of the U.S.), and it's undeniable: America has a huge problem with gun violence. And Michael Moore — filmmaker, rabble-rouser, activist, and lifelong member of the NRA — wants to know why. Using the Columbine tragedy as a springboard for examination, and taking a close look at his own gun-loving homestate, Michigan, Moore probes deeply into the hows and whys of the link between guns and violence in America, exploring the potential social, cultural, economic, historical and political reasons that might explain why gun homicide is so much more prevalent in this country than in developed countries in the rest of the world. Review
Michael
Moore makes me uncomfortable. He's such a walking faux pas. He's
gleefully inappropriate, embarrassingly loud, vociferously opinionated
in a way that's often less than respectful of differing opinions, and
appears to have no qualms whatsoever about manipulating unsuspecting
others in order to make a point (admittedly, his targets are frequently
scumbags who deserve to be shot down to size). And for all those reasons
except, occasionally, the last, I love Michael Moore. The guy just makes
me proud to be an American, because here's one person, at least, who's
using his freedom of speech in a way that really challenges everyone to
question why things are the way they are, and to think about what we can
do to change them. Bowling for Columbine is a brilliant,
brilliant movie that poses an important, fascinating question — why
are such a vast number of Americans killed by guns each year? The movie
takes us on a (frequently fiercely funny) journey along with Moore as he
explores all the myriad reasons people generally give (violent movies,
video games, Marilyn Manson, our nation's cowboy past, easy
accessibility to guns), as well as a few not-so-popular possibilities as
well (our own nation's apparent eagerness to drop bombs rather than
negotiate peacefully, a culture that relies on fear to fuel
consumerism). Moore offers no easy answers or clear solutions, but
approaches the problem from such a huge array of intriguing, plausible
angles that it's nothing short of dazzling to watch him flit about
manically, attempting to reach some sort of conclusion. Objective
documentary film this isn't — like the mass media he criticizes, Moore
chooses which facts to present, and which to ignore — but Bowling
for Columbine offers a big, heaping, twelve-course feast of food for
thought.
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