Bowling for Columbine, a film by Michael Moore tries to bring some very
important points to the foreground of American culture and to some degree succeeds,
however, by manipulating different things in this movie it makes it hard for me to totally
agree with what he has to say. One point Mr. Moore and I do agree on is that racism,
specifically against African American males is still very alive in America. Also, I agree
that the media tries to find a quick and easy scapegoat to place the blame on because it is
easier than to actually deal with the bigger picture. However, I do not agree with his
portrayal of the NRA as a bunch of crazy insensitive people carrying around guns and not
caring about the feelings of mourning families. Mr. Moore does a good job of
manipulating things to make people believe what he wants then to believe
In the movie Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore points out that the NRA
holds rallies shortly after gun related incidents including Columbine and in Flint
Michigan. However, according to David T. Hardy, Moore deceives the readers with
clever editing and fabrication. According to Mr. Hardy, the speech the NRA President
Charlton Heston gives is completely edited to fit Moore's persona of the NRA being a
group of insensitive gun touting maniacs. This is not true because the meeting held in
Denver was a scheduled meeting planned years in advance and all meeting, lunches,
seminars and all other events were cancelled in respect for the mourning families and
victims. Even Moore's point that Heston said," From my cold dead hands" is false, that
was actually spoken a year later in North Carolina and was in gratitude for Mr. Hesto...
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... given into
a culture of fear that the media has constantly feed to us every time we turn on the
television.
In conclusion, this movie does an adequate job of bringing some big issues of
American culture to the foreground. However, the portrayal of the NRA and Charlton
Heston is way to far fetched for me to agree with, especially since he splices together
different events to make them seem like they happened at the same time. I will agree
with him that as a culture there still is racism in everyday America and it needs to be
addressed. Another point he makes which I agree on the idea but not his presentation is
that our culture always tries to find a scapegoat to ever tragedy we have. This movie is
well constructed but Moore's manipulation of his points makes my respect for him as a
serious filmmaker decrease even more
that America tries to find a scapegoat to use as a justification of why they are
Pearson, R., (2010). Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson Issues Open Letter to Nation's Sportsmen Regarding Obama's History in the Illinois Senate. Retrieved April 8, 2011 from http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-15-2008/0004904149&EDATE=
...hat had to be changed. If King had not written this letter he would not have had the opportunity to change the views of segregation. To change the minds of a reader is a hard thing to do. I felt that Martin Luther king was a master in the art of persuasion.
... understandable to a wide audience, inviting citizens from all walks of life and levels of education to be engaged. But his arguments are, without a doubt, simplifications and he doesn't even bring up arguments that challenge his own, let alone take them seriously.
Taney never denied that blacks were human beings (or, 3/5 of a human being), rather,
he needed to do to get the job done and that is what makes a good argument.
Lee, Robert W. "A Liberal Look at Gun Control" The New American 15 (1999): 39-41
1. I think media has a great impact on how people behave. The media is defined as listening to music, watching TV, movies, reading magazines, and searching the internet. I think when people here about certain things in songs, or see things in movies or on television it has an effect on them. If there is violence in a TV show or on the news kids can think that's cool to do and do it. A lot of movies show fighting and violence and it effects people and they may do what they see. Television in the home is the greatest source of visual violence for children. Video games expose young children to a level of violence unimaginable. The news also creates fear .
Although he made great points what stood out in particular was when Mr. Lewis stated,
"How the Gun-Rights Lobby Won After Newtown." PBS. PBS, 10 Dec. 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
In conclusion, From all the points I have brought up it is easy to see that
Tyrrell, R. Emmett, Jr. "The National Rifle Association's Deterrent to Gun Violence." The American Spectator. (2013): Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 31 Oct. 2013
Professional champions of civil rights and civil liberties have been unwilling to defend the underlying principle of the right to arms. Even the conservative defense has been timid and often inept, tied less, one suspects, to abiding principle and more to the dynamics of contemporary Republican politics. Thus a right older than the Republic, one that the drafters of two constitutional amendments the Second and the Fourteenth intended to protect, and a right whose critical importance has been painfully revealed by twentieth-century history, is left undefended by the lawyers, writers, and scholars we routinely expect to defend other constitutional rights. Instead, the Second Amendment’s intellectual as well as political defense has been left in the unlikely hands of the National Rifle Association (NRA). And although the NRA deserves considerably better than the demonized reputation it has acquired, it should not be the sole or even principal voice in defense of a major constitutional provision.
From the article, Davis’s main argument is that the mainstream society has developed the perception the black men are to blame for the
...the predominant theme of disorientation and lack of understanding throughout the film. The audience is never clear of if the scene happening is authentic or if there is a false reality.