Pros And Cons Of Bowling For Columbine

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Recommended: Introduction to gun control issues

Bowling for Columbine, a film directed by Michael Moore, speculates on the circumstances that gave rise to the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and, on a larger scale, seeks to answer an enigma: Why are the homicide rates involving guns proliferated in America unlike the other countries? Moore’s desire for a stricter gun control law becomes clear in the film as well as his belief that the fear embedded among the citizens is the reason that Americans are so obsessed with guns. However, when dealing with a wedge issue like this, it is important to absorb credible and unbiased information before being swayed or influenced by one side. Bowling for Columbine is not a credible source, nonetheless, and must not be weighted heavily when seeking …show more content…

Firstly, Moore does not interview anyone with credentials, a reliable background, or a professional with great insight on this issue. Rather, he interviews normal individuals, leading his film to be less credible. In fact, in one of the scene, he interviews three students that he finds in front of McDonald’s that are skipping school. Discussing an issue with such gravity with these students and other ordinary people is not sufficient to lead audiences to fairly balance the pros and the cons of having an easy access to guns. Furthermore, Moore also misrepresents several facts in the film, namely, the statistics of the deaths caused by gun violence in each country. To specify, he does not take the population or the number of deaths caused by other matters into consideration, making the information misleading. Most importantly Moore’s primary tactic for addressing his message is through pathos rather than logos. He shows heart-wrenching videos of a school shooting, evoking fear for guns in the audience and uses the shooting of a sweet six year old girl to capture the audience’s sympathy towards the victims of gun violence. As demonstrated, Moore presents distorted information and turns to pathos as his main method of persuasion, rather than facts, diminishing its

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