Michael Moore is trying to say a lot of things about American identity and values in "Bowling for Columbine." While most Americans would take umbrage to most of the things he is insinuating, I believe that he makes some very accurate points. While people may not like what he has to say, I think we as a nation seriously need to think about our values as a country and as a culture, and Moore is trying to make us do that.
His biggest message is that we are a gun-crazy nation, which nobody can deny. Guns are a huge part of our culture, and Moore believes that that needs to change. He points out that the United States has more gun deaths (by about a magnitude of 100:1 in most cases, sometimes more) than any other developed country with an established government. As a country, we value guns and our right to own them. One man Moore interviewed said it is an "American responsibility to be armed." Unfortunately, this man is not alone in this mindset. For this reason, it is no wonder we have so much gun violence. However, this doesn't mean that we should have as much as we do. Moore tries to establish reasons for this tragedy.
He points out that it is far too easy to obtain guns and ammunition. He was able to walk into a bank and get a free gun for opening an account there. If it weren't so easy to get guns, we would probably have less gun violence, but people would be outraged. As a culture, we value our freedom and civil liberties set out in the Constitution, specifically the second Amendment. The American people are scared of government oppression, so they resist any sanctions the government tries to put on them. This is why we have such lenient gun control laws. People would live in fear if they were stricter, and people don't like fear. Moore shows time and time again how gun culture is such an integral part of our culture; so many people are a part of it and feel so strongly about it that it is impossible to avoid.
Another part of American society Moore explores is the fear culture we live in: "if it bleeds, it leads." In our news, anger, violence, and hate are the stories that do the best, and stories about tolerance and love are pushed to the background. Moore points out that all the news covers is tragedies--but only the wrong kind. We are shown violent crimes, racism, hate, and death, but never the tragedies of poverty, hunger, and homelessness. As a society, we feed off of this fear of violence without doing anything to change it. By being constantly exposed to these things, we have come to view them as commonplace, which is a real problem. Moore also shows that people don’t like to talk about these things. As a society, we want all of our problems fixed, but we don’t want to do the work to fix them.
Michael Moore revealed a lot of ugly aspects of American identity and values in “Bowling for Columbine,” but the real problem is that nothing is being done to change these things. He shows a pretty accurate portrayal, in my opinion, of gun culture, violence, and fear that exist in our society. After watching this documentary, I really thought about how real these problems are in our society, and about how they really need to be addressed.
Emily, I think you really hit the nail on the head when you said, “I think we as a nation seriously need to think about our values as a country and as a culture, and Moore is trying to make us do that”. He is using the tools in his rhetoric belt to make us think about how gun crazy we really are. As saddening as it is that it took us this long to see it, I am glad that this issue is finally being brought to our full attention. Especially since we are going to be the generation that has to stop this madness. I challenge you to think about different ways in which we can change the mindset of our people and make this less of an issue. I think that it is possible.
ReplyDeleteEmily, you made a very good point that Moore has painted a very vivid picture in people's heads about the truth of gun culture and all the horrors it entails. I really like how you dedicated a paragraph to focusing on why people are so interested in gun culture: our fear. The media plants all of these horror stories and ideas in our heads, creating fear that eats us alive. At the same time, people have no problem discussing the horrors of why we're scared into having guns, but when faced with the reality of what guns do, no one wants to talk, as demonstrated by the interview with Hetson.
ReplyDeleteOur culture really does push back the happy events and puts the murder and crime at the for front of our news. I was actually impressed by this point in the documentary. I had never heard before that this might be the root of our gun issues. In my opinion, I think this constant fear and the vast quantity of guns we owns causes a toxic mix. In addition, we're not afraid of talking about these gun deaths, but we constantly abstain from talking about solutions.
ReplyDeleteI like your incorporation of specific pieces of the documentary, specifically the "open a bank account, get a free gun." Your point at the end about addressing the gun control issue also resonated well with me—I believe that was Moore's point, and I would hope that ultimately what anyone takes away from the documentary–regardless of opinion on gun control laws–is that the rate of violent crime in the United States needs to at least be discussed.
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