A STRIKE FOR TRUTH: REVIEW OF BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE

Buster Patiro

While the ÒWar on TerrorismÓcontinues to get front-page coverage, there is munition sales soared by 140% and gun sales went up 70%. Home a far deadlier war going on right here in America. The body count of this war security systems even went up by a third. On a much bigger scale of is a skyscraper compared to the 546 Americans that lost their lives in Iraq. fear, President Bush got congress to fund the military as our top priority Michael Moore, a Þlmmaker and lifetime NRA member, looks into and ordered a record number of Þghter jets from Lockheed Martin. This the controversial American right to Þrearms. ÒThe right of the people was done with the support of a fearful public. to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.Ó This is from the Second Many of the people who live in Columbine work for Lockheed Amendment of the Bill of Rights. The doctrine that united our country Martin, the worldÕs largest weapons manufacturer. In the middle of the is contributing to our own self-destruction. night weapons of mass destruction are brought out of the factories and If guns made a country safe, then America would be the safest driven down the road right by Columbine High School. On April 20, country on earth. In America, over 11,000 citizens are killed by guns 1999 while our President was addressing the nation about our heaviest each year. We lead the world in this gruesome Þgure. A very distant bombing campaign on Kosovo, two students at Columbine High School second is Germany with 381. Canada has165. Overcrowded Japan Launched their own attack of senseless violence. has a mere 39. Not the most enjoyable, but deÞnitely the most powerful part of the ÒSo what is it that makes Americans so violent?Ó This is the blind- movie was the coverage of Columbine High SchoolÕs massacre. ing question asked by Michael Moore in his documentary on American Footage from school surveillance cameras brings you into the epit- violence, Bowling for Columbine. ome of American violence. This haunting footage rolls, while calls to Many people blame the excessive violence in American mov- 911 are played as the two students massacre their school. ies and video games. It is shown that numerous other countries watch Interviews with survivors who just experienced the massacre of the same movies we watch here in America, and play the same video their fellow students truly show the destructive second hand effects of games. violence. The students who were lucky enough to survive the onslaught A segment of the Þlm covering American news was strikingly in- will undoubtedly be haunted by this experience the rest of their lives. sightful. The negative news on our airwaves has bred misconceptions ÒFrom my cold dead hands.Ó These are the words from Charleton about minority groups. When a mother drove her car into a lake drown- Hesston, NRA President, at a gun rally in Denver only ten days after ing all of her children, she blamed it on a black man and everyone be- the horrible events at Columbine High School. In HesstonÕs speech to lieved her story. Minority groups are constantly portrayed as criminals Colorado, he expresses his right as an American to go wherever he wants on the news and on TV shows such as Cops. This has caused some whenever he wants. Clearly he is taking his rights too far by coming Americans to perceive anyone of a different race as a threat. to the Columbine area and supporting legal Þrearms a week after the The poor are also blamed for violence in America. CanadaÕs un- victims were buried. The two killers from Columbine bought all of their employment rate is twice as high as AmericaÕs. They have one tenth of guns legally, and their 900 rounds of ammo from K-Mart. our population, yet they have only one one-hundredth of our gun homi- I have not cried from a movie since Bambi, but realizing the horror cides per year. that people in this country inßict upon ourselves triggered a turbulence Music is another common scapegoat for why we are a violent deep within me. While staring straight into the movie with tears falling country. Marilyn Manson, who is constantly blamed for misleading our from my face, I realized that I was crying for no reason. There is no nationÕs youth, is interviewed in Bowling for Columbine. Manson hits reason for the violence that takes place in this country, especially of the a keynote in constructing truth behind the matter of AmericaÕs behavior. magnitude of Columbine. Fear is constantly bombarding the public. The commercials on TV feed One truth that has resonated in me since seeing this movie, is that off of fear so people feel like they need to spend money on products. Americans are scared. I am not scared; IÕm ready for change. ÒKeep everyone afraid and they consumeÓ is what Marilyn Manson said With the events that lead our country into Iraq, I have gained in- it all came down to. sight as to how we ended up in such an unnecessary situation, and how The connection between fear and consumption is clearly shown in we must change our ways. I highly recommend that every American see the movie. The Y2K scare that was in the media for years sent consum- this movie, and even citizens of other countries to get an insight on the ers to the store cleaning the shelves. Over what? Because someone senseless violence that America is responsible for. didnÕt put a couple numbers in a computer the world was surely going to end. EDITORÕS NOTE: This is a review paper that was written for Commu- After the tragic events on September 11, Americans went gun crazy nication 494, Special Topics in Speech and Communication. as if Osama Bin Laden himself was going to break into our homes. Am- 25