Bowling For Columbine

4 Pages 1109 Words

Bowling for Columbine
In his documentary titled Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore takes an in-depth look at American culture in regards to its fascination with guns and violence. In his search for the cause of this phenomenon, Moore finds out that there really is no single independent variable. What he does find out is that different people blame all different things, from our nation’s violent history, to unemployment, to television, to Marilyn Manson. By the end of the film, the viewer realizes that the search for any one simple answer is futile. Rather, what is so important is the question itself, and what responses it draws from all different elements of our society. This documentary was extremely significant sociologically. Moore made many insights into American culture, those of which can be connected to prominent social theorists such as Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and George Ritzer.
Throughout the course of the documentary, Moore makes several important insights into the American way of life. He paid particular attention to the notion of American’s living within a culture of fear. What is meant by this is that the media is constantly showing us images and telling us stories that create an attitude of fear of our own community and of our environment. For example, he discusses how last year the media made a tremendous deal about shark attacks in Florida, when in fact the rate of attacks was no higher than previous years. Also, whenever we watch the news, all we hear about is violence and negativity. Throughout the film, Moore makes many references to our neighbor to the North. He makes a trip to Canada in order to reveal a very relevant comparison to the United States. He found that nobody seems to lock their doors in Canada. When he asked the Canadians why this was so, they responded that they simply were not afraid of their neighbors. Also, Moore points out that out of ten million homes in Canada, there ar...