Essay About Michael Moore And Obvious Answer

An Analysis of Bowling for Columbine
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Michael Moore made a political documentary called Bowling For Columbine and in
it, he relayed the fact that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had a bowling class.
Before shooting up the school, they went bowling, which explains the title. But
the film was really not about the Columbine massacre. That was just a way to
introduce the subject of violence. That said, the film was not exactly about
violence either because at the base of this documentary was the impression that
America is just not fair. Michael Moore makes the point by taking the argument
to Canada. Why is it that Canada has guns but the crime rate is lower? The
obvious answer–that the audience simply has to surmise– is that America is
class based.
Behaviors and events depicted in the film Bowling for Columbine are carefully
crafted to portray this point of view. It is not meant to take a fair look at
the subject. Rather, as in all of Moores films, he likes to surprise those
included in the film. Many of his tactics are questionable, but his logic is
mesmerizing. While one can point to flaws in his ideas, it is hard to completely
oppose his points. He makes extremely interesting connections between events. He
goes from Columbine to his home town where a shooting takes place in grade
school. It is an unfortunate event, but the event takes place not because the
boy did not have a good mother, but because his mother was poor. Rather than the
government giving her public assistance so she could raise the boy, she would
have to work for her money. It seems fair, but the reality appears less than
fair. She had to commute a long distance for a low wage job and because she was
never home, the single mother could not adequatel!
y supervise her child. Living with relatives–one of whom did have a gun–the
boy found the gun and took it to school. The end result was tragic. Of course,
the message is hardly about guns, but about social stratification. The point is
that America is violent and it is not the only country with guns.
Wrightsman, Lawrence, Greene, and Nietzel, in their book Psychology and the
Legal System, look at a variety of issues. For example, they relay the belief in
a just world (70). Might Moore be taking this position when he examines America?
There is a sense that justice must prevail, but it is a justice based on equity.
For Moore, this sense of justice is clear, but for others, that is not
necessarily the case. Many Americans pride themselves on a work ethic and do not
believe that the money should be distributed evenly. They believe that they have
a right to amass wealth and that the poor must survive on whatever they can.
They claim that there is a trickle down effect or that the private sector will
pick up the slack. Although money is not distributed