Humoore in Documentaries
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Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Roger & Me are all very controversial and important documentary films for todays generation. Michael Moore produced all of these films, and his style is evident throughout them. Each of these films touches upon a important issues that face America and how each of those issues are dealt with. Moore, unlike many documentary producers, incorporates humor into his films in the way of irony rather than blatant humor.
Michael Moore brings us a very thought provoking film that questions the very foundations of American society. ÐBowling for Columbine is a film directed, written and produced by Michael Moore. Through his trademark comedic style and his informal tone his quest takes into the Columbine massacre, Oklahoma bombing and other acts of gun violence. And he asks the ultimate question: What is the cause of Americas gun violence?
On one hand he shows the innocence of the militia. And the American peoples belief that owning a gun is their right and their duty. But more prominently he looks at the dark side of guns. The Oklahoma bombings, Columbine High School massacre, are just some of the stories that take him around the country.
The films name comes from the myth that the two boys, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold responsible for the Columbine High School Massacre went bowling that morning before the shooting. Moore also includes bowling in other parts of the film. Ironically the Michigan Militia use bowling pins as there targets for shooting. When he interviews two girls from Columbine High School they state that they have a bowling class as a subject which has little or no educational value.
Moores main aims are to provide an insight into the causes and reasons of the Columbine High School massacre. Are violent movies to blame for gun violence? No; as Moore points out, Canadas youth also anticipate the next Hollywood bloodbath. What about video games are they to blame? No; Japan has the largest video game market in the world yet they have one of the lowest gun related death rates.
Michael Moores takes a completely bias view on the topic. He purposely aims to crush common beliefs and assumptions by putting his own twist to a story. Take the 6 yr old girl murder for example. Moore points the blame at something irreverent to the subject, which is the welfare-to-work program without addressing the issues of gun safety and control. We can also look at the sequence where upon opening a bank account he almost instantly gets free gun. Which is ridiculous as guns would not be given out that easily and in actual fact would take weeks to do so.
This artistic and somewhat unbelievable portrayal of the Ðdark side of guns paints powerful message for the viewer to ponder on- an America without guns. The success for this movie lies mainly in the clever editing that deceives the audience. The movie only shows what it wants us to see and disguises the facts that would destroy the overall message Michael Moore is conveying. But there are also other technical factors that contribute to the overall message. This includes, interviews, file footage, voiceovers, live action footage and so on.
One of Moores most notable techniques is the use of irony. This is most effective in the “What a wonderful world” sequence. In this sequence, the song ÐWonderful World” is played as the atrocities that American foreign policy has taken part in appear. This of course is ironic because it is not a wonderful world filled with joy and love as the song suggests but it is a world filled with death and violence.
There is no doubt that ÐBowling for Columbine is a provocative movie that stirs up the American beliefs through somewhat fictional portrayals of stories giving us unease about where American society is headed. In this film, humor is used more in the form of irony rather than downright slapstick funny or low-jokes. By using irony rather than jokes or laughter, Moore is able to get his points across without seeming insensitive or cruel.
“Fahrenheit 9/11” is a very biased film that brings out the faults, facts, and other information that has been released to the general public about the happenings of September 11th. The facts that are stated in the film make people question the credibility of our current commander in chief, President George W. Bush, his actions and statements and his representation of the United States of America and what it nation stands for.
The documentary is successful in many ways as Moore fills the movie with a huge propaganda technique (i.e. stacking the deck). Card stacking is simply the art of pointing out the pros or cons of a specific subject, and in this case, the cons of President Bush. In what appear to be random interviews with people on the streets, Moore tries to show how the “majority” of the country feels about President Bush and Americas administration.
In Moores documentary, it seems that the whole country tends to believe that Bush was very wrong in his actions and that he is basically an idiot. Moores extremist views on Bush and his administration tend to cloud any unbiased view that a watcher would try to search out in the film. Characters were not a major part of the film as those within the movie are real peoples excerpts of conversations being shown to argue the Presidents ill decisions. Michael Moore includes special effects into a documentary without overdoing, or under doing them. Constantly seen are signs of stupidity and unknowingness as many saw with the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The views of ground zero shown in the film appear as if they are that of