Bowling for Columbine (2002) – 2/5

Bowling for Columbine (2002) A ton has been written on this movie and done better than I cd do, but I’ll make a few points.

Michael Moore continues to show himself to be an opinionated ‘essay’ filmer. Documentary is far from what he does.

He makes thin, one sided arguments leading the viewer to his conclusions. He proposes the ridiculous to make a point and, IMO, ruins his own argument and point. I can help but think of him as egotistical and arrogant thinking he’s not only better and smarter than those he’s against, but also hypocritical given the money he’s made exploiting those he claims to be one of.

2 things I think that this movie does well in a sense:

1. Shine a light on the sensationalism of the ‘nightly news.’
2. Question the common explinations about why the U.S. is so violent (compared to other countries)

He uses cheap trick and tactics to make his points and ruins them in the process. He blames others for problems but doesn’t consider what their excuse might be (who’s to blame for making the bad people bad which makes other people bad?).

I’ve read a few things about his movies including this one that show how awful he is in his tactics so I won’t waste time on that. The above is my feelings, impressions and thoughts.

Update 8.3.06:
I thought recently about how MM seems to put a lot of the blame on news media for causing us to live in fear, but is quick to give Marilyn Mason the oppurtunity to refute that music (media) doesn’t have the same effect. Similarly he writes off the video games cd influence people/kids to violence. I disagree.

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