Bowling For Columbine:

What is Real?
In Michael Moores participatory documentary, Bowling for Columbine, the audience is
given perspective not only on the Columbine High School massacre that occurred on April 20,
1999, but also with Americas lack of gun education. Although, Moore uses a variety of
techniques to provide insight and examples of these topics in his film, his agenda is clearly
presented and stands out to the audience. It is very difficult to describe truth because everyone
has the right to his or her own opinions and beliefs. It can be argued that this documentary does
present some truth to these issues, but perhaps not the entire truththere are two sides to every
story and Moore only tells his side. He believes that Americas gun control laws are far too loose
and hence result in greater shootings and harm for our country. Moore takes the audience with
him in his documentary- style film so they feel as though they are experiencing the stories and
experiences first hand. On this journey with Moore, audience members are faced with the
challenge to decipher if what they are witnessing is in fact real.
Chapter 4 in James Monacos How To Read a Film is entitled The Shape of Film
History. The last section of this chapter focuses on Cinema Esthetics. In this section, the
history and development of film- style over time is highlighted and explained. Ample amount of
movies/television programs and filmmakers are featured such as: Howard Hawks The Big Sleep,
Roberto Rossellinis Rome, and Jack Webbs television show Dragnet. Although these media
texts were created far before Bowling For Columbine, they help to grasp the understanding of the
films aesthetic foundations. Monaco featured many, many more examples of film and touched
on many different types of film eras. Some of these eras included: Neorealism and New Wave.
According to Websters dictionary, New Wave is defined as, a cinematic movement that is

characterized by improvisation, abstraction, and subjective symbolism and that often makes use
of experimental photographic techniques. Neorealism is defined as, a movement especially in
Italian filmmaking characterized by the simple direct depiction of lower-class life. These
examples of cinematic genres are not directly correlated into Moores documentary, but elements
can be recognized. Moore uses two montages in Bowling For Columbine, both can be considered
abstract because of the tonal montage, which causes emotional impact. An example of this is
when Moore shows the deaths and suicides during Louis Armstrongs What a Wonderful
World. The tension between the song the audience is hearing and the images they are seeing
causes an abstract effect, leaving the audience not only slightly uncomfortable, but even more
impacted by the images on screen, seeing as though they are the images of what our world has
become. The song not only adds artistic styling to the New Wave-esque scene, but even more
emotional contributions. Neorealism represents the lower classMoore demonstrates this
depiction when discussing the shooting of the six-year-old girl in Michigan. The girls fellow
boy classmate (the shooter), who was also only the age of six, obtained the gun at his uncles
house where he was staying. His mother was on a bus, being transported two hours away as a
part of a government-work program to work at a mall for upper class white folks. The divergence
in economic classes is portrayed in this scene as a drastic difference. Moore questions the
audience: Would the shooting have happened if the Michigan government-work program created
jobs in the lower class community, rather than sending then out of town to do subservient work?
The audience does not know if this is exactly how the program operates, nor has testimonials of
past and present workers in the program. Nevertheless, the shooting is a explicit tragedy that may
or may not have been avoided if awareness and economic vigilance was brought to the
Neorealist community.

Moore has his own voice and opinion in the documentary, yet factual evidence is
presented. Footage is included from not only the Columbine Massacre, but also other acts of
terror, including the World Trade Center terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. These events
could not be staged or re-enacted for the documentary and hold their creditability. Moore also
conducts personal, first-hand interviews in Bowling For Columbine. These interviews include
Nation Rifle Association (NRA) President, Charlton Heston, metal- rock star Marilyn Manson
(accused influence of the two student- shooters of the Columbine Massacre), and civilians
including: Michigan bankers, Michigan Militia Men, and Canadian homeowners. Although
people being interviewed may or may not subconsciously act differently in front of the camera to
appear cooler or smarter than what they truly are, Moores interviewees appear genuine and in
authentic settings. But, because camera angles, shots, and other decisions are being made to
portray the situation, reality is disrupted, hence altering the real.
Moore actively participates the filmfrom opening a bank account to get a free gun to
showing up at Hestons home unannounced for an interview, his role is not only the filmmaker,
but the reporter as well. In Chapter 4, Cinema Esthetics, Monaco discusses Direct Cinema:
The perfection of lightweight, adaptable, 16 mm equipment in the late fifties and early sixties
made possible a new style of documentary, so different from the traditional, highly worked,
and often semi-fictional style as to deserve a new name: Direct Cinema. Filmmakers became
reporters, with nearly as much freedom as print journalist (Monaco, 356). An example of this
would be Donn Pennebakers Dont Look Back. Moore uses this style in his first person
interviews and when digging deeper into the events that happened on the day of Columbine and
immediately following. His style reflects investigative journalism and he wants to not only
inform the audience, but also make them think about our countrys lack of gun control and

education. A scene that demonstrates factual information is the scene where Moore shows the
number of shootings, resulting in death, all over the world. He tell us that Japan has the lowest of
only 39 per year, and ends with Americas which is 11, 127 per year. Although this appears to be
cold hard facts that cannot be misconstrued, Moore does not mention land mass or population of
each country either. America is much larger in size and population that most other countries.
This is something the audience must keep in mind while watching Bowling For Columbine: Does
Moore present the truth? Yes. Does he present the truth in its entirety? Not always. Another
example of the truth that causes the viewer to question the real is when Moore claims that
NRA President Heston came to Denver to hold a pro-gun rally just ten days after the shooting.
He shows footage of Heston projecting out to the audience From my cold, dead hands! as he
raises a riffle. Did these two incidences occur? Yes. Did they happen at the same time? No.
According to Mike Dunnagans article, The Ugly Truth About Columbine, Hesston did in fact
hold a rally in Denver ten days after the shooting, but the location was predetermined years in
advanced, and footage of Heston saying from my cold, dead hands was actually from a rally in
North Carolina over a year later.
According to Grierson, a documentary is defined as creative treatment of actuality".
Moore certainly is creative and uses a wide variety of techniques (including a cartoon about
American history) in the film to make it not only artistic and compelling, but humorous and
poignant as well. There is obvious objectivity presented in the truth given to the audience, it is
therefore the audience members responsibility to take the information given and search for the
second half of the story (because Moore certainly is not going to give it). Documentary is an
umbrella and underneath it many other types of sub- genre documentaries reside. Bowling For
Columbine is in a league alongside other Moore filmsThey have a purpose to inform the truth

on a subject (of Moores personal view) in a creative way. Moore investigates like a reporter, but
packages his information like an entertainer, creating a fine line for the audience to distinguish
the real.

Works Cited
Dunnagan, Mike. "The Ugly Truth About Columbine." www.thefreepublic.com. N.p., 24 Mar.
2003. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
Webster's Dictionary . Merriam- Webster, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. Path: http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/neorealism.
Webster's Dictionary . Merriam- Webster, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. Path: http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/new%20wave.