Bowling for Columbine Review

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Is there any way to describe this documentary? I'm not sure because it's such a strange one. Yes, it follows the typical genre format in regards to its structure, but its usage of satire, animation, and sensationalism throughout its runtime makes it feel unique in its category. The one word that absolutely cannot be used to describe this film, though, is conventional. It's raw, chaotic, and brutal at times, but in my opinion, this documentary is incredibly powerful. Bowling for Columbine aims to dig into the roots of our problems with violence in the United States, and while it takes some very obvious political stances, its essential thesis isn't necessarily the policies at work in our country. It's the fear that has been subconsciously pumped into the minds of our citizens from the beginning of the country's history. From racism to consumable media and, of course, gun control, Michael Moore takes the idea that the US has been borderline paranoid about its safety from its founding and rolls with it.

This film knows exactly when to take its tone in a more satirical light and when to take itself seriously and allow the effect of the horrors shown on screen to sink in. With views on one-sided media coverage, individual interpretation of rights and ideas, and the governmental system of the United States as a whole, it could be argued that this film is embodying exactly what it's trying to fight against -- sensationalism. Moore's interactions with his interviewees, particularly a scene towards the end of the film, could be seen by some as borderline harassment, while the actions of the interviewees could be seen by some as borderline insane. But perhaps that is also the point: by grabbing the viewer's attention with shocking statistics and often unbelievable interactions between people, the audience can more critically understand the idea of how news outlets (and often media in general) use fear to their advantage and that it's impossible to trust one reliable source for every piece of political, individual, and humanistic information on the planet -- including this film itself. Even though this film covers so many different topics that it could be seen as a general overview of the political problems of the United States, it covers them in a way that encourages people to keep themselves well-informed, to prevent the constant shoving of political fear into the national consciousness from continuing. With a thesis as devastatingly powerful as this existing in an Oscar-winning documentary in 2002, one can only imagine what a sequel would look like today, in 2021, when the majority of Moore's points are still terrifyingly relevant.

Documentaries are a strange genre of film to review. Not only should you try and focus on the merit of their filmmaking, but you should also be aware of how they tell their narrative story and how accurate that narrative is. At what point does the inaccuracy of the narrative being delivered to the audience detract from the quality of the film? Maybe the argument is strong enough that a commonly accepted narrative needs to be re-questioned with additional research. Documentary films, much like any form of discussion, are a form of rhetoric, and any good rhetoric needs to embrace its argument and allow its audience to embrace it, too. In my opinion, Bowling for Columbine is a documentary that knows it's incredibly biased and embraces it. Its aim is to grab as many people as possible to hopefully shock them out of their seats and maybe get them to question what they think of their current system. Either that or it will only continue to enforce the division we experience in this country, who knows? Everything is politicized nowadays and after seeing this documentary, I don't want to pretend that it is. The questions this film poses are resonant for every single citizen of the United States. Whether they want to listen to what this movie has to say or not is their own choice, but in my personal opinion, its unique execution of the documentary format and its willingness to embrace its own biases make this one of, if not possibly my favorite documentary film of all time.

Letter Grade: A+