BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE

(October 2002, U.S.)

BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE is the first documentary in my film collection to be discussed (I don't own a lot of them). Director Michael Moore has certainly established himself as a filmmaker who's subject matters provoke words like controversial, provocative, incendiary, as well as entertainingly funny. Funny? Yes, funny, because when you sit there and you're informed of just how fucked up this country and this world can be, you can't help but find it just plain funny. One thing's for sure, in my opinion, when you watch one of Michael Moore's films, you don't feel like the same person you were two hours ago before the film started. You probably feel a litte worse.

I grew up in a predominantly white, upper middle class suburban town on Long Island during the 1980's. Like many other teenagers, I though high school sucked! Like any other suburban (take note that I repeat the word SUBURBAN. I know nothing of urban life to a teenager, so I won't even attempt to shine any kind of light on the subject) high school, we had our trouble makers and our trouble spots. They were, however, mostly related to drug use and I cannot recall any stories of student violence against each other during the entire era of my teens. On April 20, 1999 the rules of white suburban high school America changed forever in Columbine, Colorado. Murderous violence at the hands of kids was no longer an element of urban, inner city high schools or somwhere in a foreign land we cannot pronounce.

So who was to blame for the Columbune massacre? The parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold? The kids who bullied them in the first place? Charlton Heston and the NRA? Wall-Mart for selling the bullets to kids so easily? Violent video games? Marilyn Manson's music? It may be forever impossible to explain why the Columbine massacre occurred and why the United States has such a high violent crime rate (especially crimes involving guns).

Getting back to the word FUNNY for a moment; there is an early scene that is irresistably ridiculous depicting how Moore discovers a bank in Michigan that gives customers a free hunting rifle when they make a deposit of a certain size into a time deposit account. The camera follows Moore as he goes to the bank, makes his deposit, fills out the forms, and awaits the result of a background check before walking out of the bank carrying a brand new hunting rifle. Just before leaving the bank, Moore jokingly asks the bank employee, "Do you think it's a little dangerous handing out guns at a bank?" You see? As sick as the whole process is, how can you possibly help but not laugh at its utter stupidity??

So, now we come to the crucial moment of this post that asks where I stand on gun control. Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure. I do believe that if guns were taken off the street, the casualties of gun-related crimes would very likely decrease in multitudes. On the other hand, I can tell you that if I had to shoot a person to protect not only myself, but my family, as well, I would not hesitate for even a second to pull the trigger on the son of a bitch!

I suppose any way you look at it, regardless of all the questions you ask and all the arguments you make, this country we live in is fucked up to the bone! So what's the solution? I think I'll move to Canada!

Favorite line or dialogue:

Chris Rock (stand-up performance): "You don't need no gun control. You know what you need? We need some bullet control. We need to control the bullets. I think all bullets should cost $5,000. You know why? If a bullet cost $5,000 there'd be no more innocent bystanders. Every time somebody get shot "Dang, you must of did somethin'! Shit, they put 50,000 dollars worth of bullets in his ass!" And people would think before they killed somebody if a bullet cost $5,000. "Man, I would blow your fuckin' head off... if I could AFFORD it! I'm a get me another job, I'm a start saving some money, then you a dead man!"