Last week fate intervened and I saw my first Michael Moore film, Bowling for Columbine. And quite honestly, I was not all that impressed. With the Columbine shootings as his diving point, Moore bashes all facest of American institutions, from education to healthcare. I’m not saying such issues do not need to be re-examined; however, when you only have two hours to tackle a topic, I think it’s not only the responsible decision to make, but the most effective in terms of audience impact, is to limit your scope and make deeper, more precise inquiries.
This notion of precision brings me to my next disappointment, which is that Moore is highly manipulative in his choice of footage and editing techniques. Not only does he prey on emotionally loaded images to effect audience sympathy and support, but oftentimes his portrayal of events is downright false. Jesse Larner notes in “Forgive Us Our Spins,” how the opening scene where Moore proudly walks away from the local bank with a rifle in hand leaves out incredibly pertinent facts. For example, the vault that is always stocked with 500 firearms is not located in that particular bank but miles away in a secure location. Additionally, the only reason Moore was allowed to immediately get his gun at the bank at that particular time, was because he called in advance and insisted his visit play out as such.
I don’t know about you, but to me, this film sacrifices integrity to superficial shock tactics: 2.9/5.
