Bowling for Columbine

Last week we watched Bowling for Columbine. Knowing that it was a Michael Moore film, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I've seen Fahrenheit 911, and was not a big fan of his very  pushy and direct ways and extremely liberal attitude. However, I think through personal experience and through taking sociology I have learned to consider both sides of an argument, and I actually ended up enjoying most of Bowling for Columbine. Although Moore makes many tricky editing moves to get his point across, he does make many valid points. I think one of the strongest parts of the movie was interviewing a few kids from Michigan and asking them about guns they owned and had used before. One boy said that he was number two on the suspicious students list at his school, and was actually disappointed that he wasn't number one. By interviewing many different people, it showed that many people are far too laid back about the issue of fire arms. I think that this comfort may be one of the biggest causes of gun misuse and violence. This comfort goes along with how easily available guns are in the United States. As young children, you are taught to stay away from guns and that they are horrible things. However, as you get older, you begin to watch movies where the hero uses guns and play video games that include you actually killing people. These occurrences in the media along with the easily obtainable guns in the United States, in my opinion, are the leading reasons for why gun violence, especially among teens, is so large. Moore did a good job at showing both of these issues that lead to gun violence and many other reasons as well.