Remember Columbine? Creepy and sad, huh? I just recently watched the Docmentary Bowling for Columbine. Michael Moore is a clever man. On Tuesday April 20th, 1999 the nation was struck by a teenage massacre at Columbine High School in Jefferson County, Colorado. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold embarked on a killing spree that left thirteen murdered and twenty-one injured. Soon debates involving gun control laws and gun violence amongst the youth became hot topics in America. The finger was meant to be pointed at someone (as it always is in America), but whom? Drugs, alcohol, video games, television? Different forms of media coverage certainly had some control in the messages that were being filtered to the public about why the tragedy of Columbine occurred.
Amongst the platter of coverage that Columbine received, Michael Moore wrote, produced, directed and narrated a provocative documentary film three years following the shooting. The film, Bowling for Columbine, delves into Moore’s conception of possible causes for the Columbine massacre to paint a picture of an American society gripped in a state of fear. Throughout the film, Moore continuously poses the question, “Why America?” to help pinpoint the story of the Columbine massacre and rampant gun violence present in our country.
Moore begins by setting the picture of America as a place where Guns are easily accessible. In an early scene Moore enters a bank in Michigan where customers are given a gun upon signing up for a certain kind of depository account. The audience watches as Moore receives the gun inside of the bank and cocks it up in the air jokingly as he says, “Do you think it’s a little dangerous handing out guns at a bank?” As he holds the gun in the bank he looks like a child holding a toy gun. When the audience sees an image, such as the image of a man with a gun in a bank, the viewer receives at one and the same time the perceptual message and the cultural message. If what occurs in these Michigan banks is acceptable, then what defines the image of a bank robber? What categorizes a gun as dangerous? What cultural messages are we sending to our children if a man can walk out of a bank with a shotgun?
Several other images have a similar affect. In the first half of the film a group called “Michigan Militia” is featured. This group prides itself in their firearm skills. “This is an American Tradition. It’s an American responsibility to be armed. If you’re not armed, you’re not responsible. Who’s gonna defend your kids? The cops? The federal government?” one of the Militia members boasts. The view of the Militia members is expanded as you learn they have recently created a “Militia Babes Calendar.” It is in this image, and in several other shots throughout the film, that guns have begun to take on a sexual symbolism. Of course we all know that there is sex appeal in what is “dangerous” or “risqué.” But when an image of a scantily clad woman wearing nothing but a sheet and holding a gun appears, the gun can’t help but take on a phallic representation. One can see why guns may appeal to many men, especially those who wish to take on the role as the alpha-male.
In a profound montage, Moore depicts images which display the power of guns while the Beatles song “Happiness is a Warm Gun” plays. People are shown purchasing guns. Some are shown firing guns at shooting ranges and carnival booths. There is footage of a woman operating an assault rifle, and footage of Carey McWilliams, the blind marksman and gun enthusiast. Images of Gary Plauche killing the man that killed and molested his son are included. Budd Dwyer’s suicide is shown, Daniel V. Jones’s. In one scene a man is shown in a riot taking off his shirt, and he too, is shot. A scene from a Telemundo program where Emilio Nunez shot his ex-wife Maritza Martin to death is included in the montage. Lennon originally took the song title “Happiness is a Warm Gun” from an NRA slogan. A gun becomes warm in your hand after killing something. Hence, killing something brings happiness. The tone of the song is cheery and upbeat and juxtaposed with the images of death and violence; it leaves the viewer feeling very eerie about guns in America.
Bowling for Columbine references the small town of Flint, Michigan, where a six year old girl was shot by her first grade classmate. When several news outlets flocked to the scene, Moore filmed one news reporter who covered the story. What was most shocking was what the man said when the camera was not rolling. In between takes, the man complained about his hair. He went from telling the camera and the public about the tragedy to “I’m a pig, look at my hair I need a haircut” within seconds. Just like America, even the news reporter who is on the scene of the murder first hand is de-sensitized by the gun violence. Although he puts on a sorrowful face and tone when in front of the lens, it is false, an act. He is not truly affect by what has happened in the small town and as Moore points out, he goes no further into investigating why such violence could have occurred. Are we numbed because the news is packaged as entertainment, an act, a show?
Charlton Heston is an important character and symbol throughout the documentary. While the documentary was shot, he was the President and spokesman for the National Rifle Association (NRA). “I’ll give you my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands,” Heston says as he visits Littleton, CO shortly after the Columbine massacre. Many were appalled when he came to the town. Again, when the six year old child had shot a little girl in Flint, Michigan, Heston and the NRA held another rally in Flint just days after the tragedy. Moore interviewed Heston in his home, asking him about the NRA meetings held in Colorado and Michigan. On-camera, Heston excused himself after feeling cornered and walked out of the interview. Before Heston walked out, Moore questioned him about the reasons for gun violence specifically in America, which he could not answer clearly.
The most powerful and striking use of imagery in this film is when Moore shows the chilling footage from the attack on Columbine itself. Raw, blurry, footage, in its purest form. The two angry boys stomping through the school halls with pipe bombs and guns. Terror-stricken teachers trying to guide the students to safety, unsure of what to do. The sound of teenagers screaming as they ran for their lives, pushing their way through doors like cattle. The sound of panicked parents on 911 calls, frantic about their children’s safety. Absolute chaos and fear.
When I watched this footage I couldn’t help but remember my own feelings upon hearing the news of the Columbine attacks. It was 1999, and I was only in the 5th grade. Following the massacre, like many schools across America, security and fear increased at my school, Hope Elementary. In addition to the standard earthquake drills and fire evacuations, we now began practicing a new kind of safety measure, “lockdowns.” The first time my school sprung one on us, it was unannounced. A white light started flashing and my teacher rushed to each of the classroom doors to lock them.
“Everyone get down under your desk and cover your head. This is a lockdown drill,” my teacher shouted.
I had no clue what was going on. Frantically I jumped out of my seat and under my wooden desk. Suddenly a woman outside started pounding at the window, right above my desk.
“Let me in! Let me in!” she screamed.
Still unsure of what was happening, I started to cry. I got up to let the woman inside of the classroom.
“No! She could be an intruder! She could have a gun,” my teacher barked.
Looking back I still can’t quite understand how or why I actually started to cry. I was afraid. But why? This is the product of fear that Michael Moore believes that America instills in its citizens; that the media scares the public in order to maintain its authoritative voice. What is so different about Americans and every other country’s people? America’s citizens are so radically different because they believe they have to be. We’re all products of our environments.
