"Bowling in Columbine" is a piece that takes a school shooting that shocked the world at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 as the starting point, connects with other violent incidents, and discusses the proliferation of guns and violence in American society. The conditions and causes of the ravages. In this tragedy, two Columbine High School students used guns and ammunition purchased legally to kill 12 classmates and a teacher, and then both shot themselves. After the incident, two words were mentioned countless times: guns, violence. What kind of problems are there in each of them, and how do they connect and exert their effects? Moore used his own unique perspective to express his views through the lens.
The overall structure of the film seems to be as complicated as its content composition, because it displays a completely different content almost every minute. But it is still exploring the issue of guns and violence. At the beginning of the film, Moore entered a bank to apply for an account. After simply filling out a few forms, he not only obtained an account, but also a shotgun—yes, this is what you can get from banking in the United States where guns are open. Prizes. Later, he used interviews to show how Americans love guns, how they can easily obtain guns and ammunition in the United States, and the Americans' firm belief that private ownership of guns can protect their families and defend the country. But at the same time, Moore displayed violence and tragedy mercilessly, which shocked people. Does the gun protect them?
Ridoton, the location of Columbine High School, is where the shooting took place. Here is the factory of Lockheed Martin, one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the United States. More than 500 employees live here, and most of their children are studying at Columbine High School, or the fathers of some of the students at Columbine High School made bombs. There are many US military installations near Rideton. Every month, there will be military vehicles transporting military equipment on the streets of Lidoton, passing Columbine High School time and time again. Was this atmosphere brewing the horror of the Columbine shooting? What caused the tragedy?
Countless people are looking for reasons, and various experts are giving different answers. Heavy metal music, Gothic music, violent games, South Park, Marilyn Manson, broken families, negligent media... all these sins have led to tragedies. Is that right? Moore’s lens confuses us: Gothic music originated in Germany, France also has violent movies, most of the world’s violent games come from Japan, the divorce rate in the United States is not as high as that in the United Kingdom, and the unemployment rate in Canada is twice that of the United States... But none The country is full of so many shootings and violence like the United States. Is it because the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees that everyone has the right to hold a gun? Is it because of lax gun control in the United States? Is it because there are so many guns in the United States? But Moore took us to Canada to find out and found that Canadians love guns more and have more guns. However, there are very few shooting incidents, and no one has been killed by guns for several years. Obviously, none of these answers touches on the essence.
Michael Moore is so bad. He likes to destroy our habitual thinking in documentaries and surprise you at the gap between fact and imagination. It seems that the true face of the world is so strange to us. But the shots he gave were so real that people couldn't refuse. As a result, the viewer willingly follows his lens, reading and thinking with doubts that have been disintegrated and rebuilt.
This film does have a very puzzling title, so that many people have to spend extra energy to explore and understand the meaning of the title during the viewing process. Bowling seems to never have a relationship with shooting. However, this was used by the cunning Moore as the title. Bowling is the target used by Michigan militias when they practice shooting because they are similar to human body shapes; bowling is also the favorite and only favorite school course of the two teenage killers during their lives; bowling is still open. The last thing to do before killing. But why does no one blame the shooting tragedy on bowling?
If the shooting is really blamed on bowling, it is undoubtedly obviously absurd and ironic. Does this also apply to the violent movies that young killers love to watch, the violent games they love to play, and the Marilyn Manson they love to listen to before they are alive? After the shooting, Manson was forced to cancel a number of concerts, and even met with protests when he returned to Colorado to perform after a lapse of many months. Opponents say, will anyone listen to the song preaching killing and kill people? The answer is no? Will anyone buy a car after seeing a car advertisement? The answer is no, but some will! Poor Manson. He explained to Moore, why did the president throw bombs outside without paying attention; and because I sang rock and roll, I became an asshole? Who is more influential, me or the president? I hope it is me, but I know it is the president. However, no one blamed the president. How much bowling does Columbine have? What is the essential reason for pretending to be bowling?
Moore's documentaries must have the role of president, whether it is the Democratic Party or the Republican Party in power. This time, where is the president? He was in the picture of the national television speech announcing the massacre in Columbine, and also in the national television speech an hour ago announcing that the United States had completed the established goal of air strikes on Kosovo. In the early morning of April 20, 1999, the U.S. military launched the largest air strike against the Kosovo region. Clinton claimed on TV that the U.S. military had completed the target and did not injure innocent people. However, the picture given by Moore was bombed by the U.S. military. Destroyed schools and hospitals; a few hours later, Columbine heard more than 500 gunshots, leaving more than a dozen dead bodies, but we could not get a single answer: why?
Is it because the history of the United States itself is a history of violence? Moore gave us the historical facts: Iran, Guatemala, Chile, Panama, Vietnam, Sudan, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Iraq; many countries were habitually invaded by the US military, and civilians were habitually casualties. Until 9/11, the United States experienced nothing. Unaccustomed to unprecedented defeat. However, Germany has massacred 12 million people, Japanese troops have invaded China, France has committed massacres in Algeria, and Britain has massacred Indians. Moore said that violent countries in history do not necessarily have terrible traditions and realities. This is a conspiracy of the US government.
The U.S. government has always placed the United States in an atmosphere of fear. U.S. news networks broadcast news of homicides every day, which makes people feel that danger is always happening; they relentlessly chase violence and crime, but they don’t pay attention to air pollution. Some areas of Los Angeles can no longer see Hollywood’s signature characters on the hill. . The government wants people to know that they are always in danger, so they must be on guard, armed, preemptive, and combat potential threats. As a result, American military actions seemed so reasonable and accepted by the people, at least at the beginning. However, this political atmosphere created by the government has actually affected the lives of ordinary Americans. Even all the time, Americans are always armed, because this is a right conferred by the Constitution.
Moore is always good at grasping the seemingly ordinary images to ensure the truth, and then through conspiracy-like editing to achieve his goals. He will use his signature contrast with ulterior motives to make his point of view unspoken. In this documentary, the veteran Hollywood actor Charlton Hirst was unfortunately recruited. As the chairman of the National Rifle Association (NRA), Hirst has participated in many gun-pull conferences and firmly supports private ownership of guns. In the scene Moore captured, Chairman Hearst was so impassioned, so witty and humorous. However, his wonderful speeches always appeared untimely after the shootings: once in Lidoton after Columbine, once in Moore’s hometown, Flint, where a six-year-old boy used to serve A six-year-old female classmate was killed by a gun secretly taken by the uncle's house. So the climax of the film came. Michael Moore decided to meet with Chairman Hearst as a member of the NRA, asking him about his views on so many shooting violence incidents in the United States, and seeking his host of repeated appearances in the shooting tragedy regardless of the people’s feelings. The explanation of the gun meeting. However, the real Hearst captured by the lens this time is disappointing. There is no impassionedness, witty humor, and only the stubbornness of adhering to the Second Amendment to the Constitution, and the final silent departure. Moore hopes that Mr. Chairman can apologize to the injured people at the scene of the crime and condolences for the six-year-old girl who died tragically at gunpoint.
"Bowling in Columbine" is a masterpiece of Michael Moore, and the whole film is filled with the atmosphere of a typical Michael Moore-style new documentary film. The new documentary film questioned and rebelled against the traditional documentary film performance methods, and challenged the true view of the traditional documentary film. The American documentary film theorist Arthur defined the new documentary film as: in the era of anti-heroes, the film production process is clearly focused, the photographer has a strong sense of irony, and the performance of the subject is real and uncertain. In the production of the film, self-awareness and personal subjectivity are extremely developed, and the filmmakers actively intervene on the spot. From this work of Moore, we can feel such characteristics. Through conscious editing, the real elements are spliced into fragments expressing their own meanings, and the contrast between content and ideas is presented with a strong contrast effect. As a political documentary, the commentary in Moore’s film does not inculcate too much directly, and we will even feel that he is constantly asking questions and wondering "why", but at the same time, his The picture makes his point of view self-evident. This is obviously a more superb technique than the Grierson model, which allows the viewer to think for himself, without raping the viewer's will and thoughts.
Looking at the works of Michael Moore, it is not difficult for us to summarize his creative routines. After establishing the above-mentioned means of expression, he often chooses focal and controversial topics, uses rich and novel expression techniques, instills perseverance in tracking methods and critical spirit, and uses lenses mixed with humor and pungent irony to express his views. . Many animation clips and cartoon effects appear in his documentaries. For example, this film borrows a segment of American history from South Park to satirize the lives of Americans who have long been shrouded in senseless fear. This can be seen in documentary films. It is very bold and unique. In addition, the soundtrack of Moore's documentaries is always so amazing, revealing his strong entertaining spirit. For example, the opening commentary on the typical American-style early morning life is accompanied by a cheerful version of the American national anthem, which allows people to feel the final peace before the heavy topic begins; What? Happiness is bang bang bang", but the screen switched to various shots and fire shots, and introduced the violent history of the United States invading other countries and interfering in other countries' internal affairs with melodious country music, tragedy and cheerful melody, contrast shocking.
Some Americans call Moore a traitor, because the US government in his lens is so shameless, American society is so dark, politicians have their own conspiracies for profit, and the United States is so frustrating. Many people also think that Moore will immigrate to Canada soon, because Canada in "bowling" is so safe, Canadians are so friendly, Canadians in "mental patients" are so happy, and Canada's welfare system is so So perfect. Moore is indeed exposing the darkness of the United States, but this is precisely where Moore's conscience and sense of responsibility lies. At least, we can feel that he is paying attention, he is thinking, and he has expectations. The Moorish new documentary films often show his overly distinct personal will, and his conspiracy-like editing and purposeful lens language are often criticized. For example, in "Bowling", Moore took two Columbine victims to the K-mart supermarket, hoping that they would stop selling bullets, negotiated many times and finally won, it seems that the excessive deterrence of the "camera" has interfered with the truth. Progress. This is indeed a manifestation of the scale of documentary film and feature film. It is an inquiry into whether documentary can be called a documentary film. It is also a proposition to be disputed during a long period of time in the development of new documentary film. As a viewer, regardless of how the director conspiratorially uses real elements to express his views, because under the premise that the elements are true, whether he tells the facts and whether he is "revealing the conspiracy" is itself judged by the viewers. And this is precisely where the charm of documentaries lies.
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