DVD Review: Bowling For Columbine (A)

Bowling For Columbine (2002)
Directed by Michael Moore
Starring Michael Moore, Charlton Heston, Dick Clark, Matt Stone and Marilyn Manson
MPAA: R
Grade: A

Review by Scott Standish

Left wing documentary filmmaker Michael Moore does a fantastic job of taking a depressing topic (gun violence in America) and making it interesting, funny, and of course very disturbing. Bowling For Columbine deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Documentary of 2002 and its a wonderful film.

Bowling For Columbine explores why our country has such a high rate of murder, specifically hand gun violence. Many claim that this is because we have so many guns in general, but Moore shows that Canadians love their guns as much as we do but have nowhere near the amount of murders. Many claim that video games and rock music causes violence (there is an interesting interview with Marilyn Manson on the subject) but Moore deftly points out that other countries consume our music and movies as much as we do but they don't go out and kill people as a result of it. As a matter of fact, Moore correctly notes that most violent video games come from Japan to begin with and they certainly don't have a problem with gun violence. The U.S. is unique in this disturbing problem. We alone like to kill each other and we usually use guns to do the job.

So what is so different about the U.S.? What makes our nation so willing to shoot someone? Well, for one thing, Moore shows us, our government constantly seems to be warning us about incoming threats to our safety, while at the same time, they proactively go out and bomb nations that we don't happen to agree with. Making things worse, the media jump on any story that may remotely contain graphic violence, hence the phrase "If it bleeds, it leads". No wonder Americans are so jumpy (and so detested around the world).

The most mesmerizing part of Bowling For Columbine (besides Moore's incredible interview with NRA president Charlton Heston) happens when Moore decides to go to Canada and see if people there really are less scared of their neighbors. Lo and behold, he finds it to be true. He walks from house to house, walking into homes completely uninvited. Not only are their doors unlocked but the people don't seem angered by the intrusion. Intrigued, yes, but angered? No. Why should they be? And there is the point: why are people in this country so afraid of each other? Canadians aren't. Bowling For Columbine eloquently makes the point that regardless of what the government and the media may be telling us, maybe we shouldn't be.

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