Bowling For columbine Outline

Michael Moore is in a bank opening account which as a ‘gift’ entitles him to a free gun. The bank proudly announces that is a licensed firearm dealer and they have over 500 guns in their vault. Michael Moore asks whether it is a good idea to have so many guns in a bank.

He opens an account and walks away with his new rifle.

Michael explains he grew up in Michigan which is a state obsessed with hunting. Cut to an interview with a police officer and video footage of a dog wandering around with a gun strapped to its

back. The police officer explains that a group of hunters had strapped the gun to the dog’s bag and the gun had gone off, shooting one of the hunters in the face.

Cut to MM in the hairdressers getting a trim and buying bullets in the hairdressers. Cut to Chris Rock’s stand-up comedy gig where he says, you don’t need tighter gun control – you need bullet

control. If a bullet cost $5000, there would be no innocent bystanders. Every time someone got shot, everyone would be like, ‘He must’ve done something’.

Cut to interviews with the ‘Michigan Militia’ who are a group of people who believe that “It’s an American’s responsibility to be armed.” They talk about what guns they have at home and the ‘Militia Babes’ calendar they produced (their wives holding guns).

One of the women has her baby there in the tent in a nappy and she says, “If someone breaks into your house, who’s the person you’re gonna call? Most people call the police because they have guns. Cut out the middle man and take care of your own family.”

Cut to Littleton (where Columbine High school is) and an interview with a blonde woman saying, “This is a great place to raise your children.”

Cut to nuclear weapons factory and an interview with a man, stood in front of a nuclear war head, explaining the town is a great place, but it just so happens to be where the two young people who committed to atrocities at the school happen to come from.

Cut to ‘Lockheed Martin’ on a wall with the text ‘World’s largest weapon’s maker’. This factory is in Littleton (where Columbine High School is). Cut back to the guy in the factory stood in front of the nuclear weapon saying he has no idea why the boys did what they did. MM asks what the difference is between what the boys did to the high school and the government dropping bombs on other countries. The spokesman responds that bombs are for defence.

Cut to shots of how many people America has killed: How America helps overthrow legitimate governments and install dictators and how the U.S funded and trained terrorists like Bin Laden.

Apr 20th 1999: Bombing in Kosovo war. Bush makes a speech: we are minimising the cost to local people.Cut to shots of a primary school and hospital bombed.

Shows how easy it is to be able to obtain a gun. Normal for people to have guns

American Ideology: Guns are a norm to day to day life and they are proud to have them.

That even idiots who attach guns to dogs are allowed guns Lowers the danger of having a gun

American Ideology: Americans are stupid with guns

So easy to be able to get bullets EVERYWHERE SELLS THEM. Bullets are too cheap and easy to get hold off

American Ideology: Bullets are cheap and easy to get hold off so who cares if we waste them

Using the guns to make a profit for themselves showing off guns and using the sex appeal with the women. Take the law into your own hands instead of phoning the police. American Ideology: Everyman for themselves don’t need anyone else to help them

Guns and weapons are so normal to them that they don’t even realise that they are there anymore. TOTALLY OBLIVIOUS TO IT.

American Ideology: Guns are safe and protect us they don’t make us kill people

Do not believe that it is the guns fault for these killings but they people themselves. Don’t know what our own government are up too American Ideology: Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

CCTV footage of the shooting. Cut to aftermath of shooting: SWAT teams and crying parents. Voice over explains that over 900 rounds of ammo was shot. All guns were purchased legally and bullets bought

at a local Kmart.

Cut to Charlton Heston, Oscar winning actor and president of the NRA, saying it’s a free country. The NRA held a pro-gun rally in Littleton just 10 days after Columbine.

Cut to father of a Columbine victim pointing at the picture of his son saying, “There is something wrong in this country when a child can point a gun in the face of another child like they did to my son….The Tech 9 Semi -Automatic weapon used to kill my son is not to hunt deer. It has no useful purpose. ”

Interview with the makers of SouthPark who came from the area. They explain how being a teenager sucks because if you have a bad time at school, no one tells you there is life after school. Teachers are too busy scaring kids into conformity.

After Columbine, it sucked even more to be a teenager. Zero tolerance policies at schools:- Metal detectors and security guards- 2nd grader suspended for taking nail clippers to school- 1st grader expelled for pointing a chicken strip at a teacher

Cut to a principal explaining that the kids are “Little time bombs, waiting to go off.” Cut to news coverage / various stories of other school shooting plots in other schools. Cut to a promotional video talking about school dress code. A kid is pulling various weapons out of his trousers. MM voice over asks, “Our children had turned into little monsters, but who was to blame? All of the experts had

an answer….” Cut to clips of experts: heavy metal, Marilyn Manson, Where were the parents? Violent movies. Cut to interview with Marilyn Manson who talks about the fact he is the perfect scapegoat. He makes the point

that, “The president bombs overseas, but I’m the bad guy?” At the time Columbine happened, more bombs were dropped on Kosovo than at any other time.

The connection is made between fear and consumption: If people are afraid, they’ll buy more.

Comparisons are made with other countries’ death by guns each year:- France 255- Germany 381- UK 68- Canada 165- Australia 65

Do not believe that it is the guns fault for these killings but they people themselves. Don’t know what our own government are up too American Ideology: Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

Shootings are taking seriously SWAT team. Kmart like local shop shows how easy it is to gain ammo and LEGAL. American Ideology: Anyone is allowed a gun.

NRA Like celebrating the shooting it’s a good thing Pro gun Families Realisation guns are BAD. Humans should not shoot humans NOT animals American Ideology Humans are just like animals

School = Indoctrination/Brainwash (Hegemonic) to believe FAIL school = FAIL at life.

American Ideology: Only smart people are successful

MORAL PANIC All schools suddenly believing any sign of violence = Child killer --> Rock music + Baggy trousers + Gun games = Child Killer. PRESIDENT Dropping bombs Noone says a thing about this. American Ideology: Children are ticking time bombs (Using scapegoats to prove this)

MORAL PANIC Helping the business the news coverage of crimes = MORE MONEY American Ideology: Fear means more money

- Japan 39- US 11,127

MM questions why the US so different – is it the violent history of cowboys and Indians? Cartoon: A Brief History of the United States:

People in Europe called pilgrims and they were afraid of being persecuted so they got on a boat and sailed to The New World, but as soon as they arrived, they were greeted by Indians and they got scared again so they killed them all.Then they started getting scared of each other. They burned people on stakes and called them witches. In 1775 they started killing the British so they could be free, and they still didn’t feel safe so they drafted a second amendment that said every white man could bear arms.White men were also scared of work so they sailed over to Africa and took black men and made them work for nothing. Doing it that way made the USA the richest country in the world.But then some of the slaves rebelled.Just at that time Samuel Colt bought out a gun that could be fired over and over without being reloaded.Slaves were freed and white people got scared that the black men would seek revenge but the freed slaves took no revenge.You couldn’t convince the white people: they created an organisation called the KKK which hated black people.In 1958 a black woman got on a bus and refused to move and the Civil Rights movement was born.All the white people ran into the suburbs where it was white and safe and clean and they went out and bought

¼ billion guns, alarms and gates around the neighbourhood.

News makes America seem a scary place:- Y2K – never happened- Killer bees – never came- Razor blades in Halloween candy – kids stopped being allowed out to trick or treat. In fact there never was any razor. Only 2 kids have died from Halloween candy and both of those were poisoned by relatives.

More news clips:- Danger of being mangled by escalators- 1 in 5 American suffer from a mental disorder

MM voice over says that people are now so scared that governments now need to give no reasons for their actions. Bush’s speech talking about how America will fight ‘wrong doers’.

Examples of how the news chooses what it covers: dangerous black guys. Examples of 2 murders where black guys were blamed (woman who it turned out had drowned her 2 kids and

guy who stabbed his pregnant wife). Murders had gone down by 20% but coverage of violent crime had increased by 600%. Crime rates had gone

down, but gun sales continued to increase.

MM goes to Canada as so close to America, but doesn’t share the same problems. He talks about how some people say that the poverty in America is responsible for violent crime, but the unemployment rate in Canada is higher.

USA More relaxed about guns. USA always been scared of new things and new people. Moral panic has always been around Americans always been creating new moral panics and scape goats to be afraid off.

American ideology Blame all the bad things upon others

Create more stories enhance panic within America If it bleeds it leads

American ideology Panic is a good thing

Brainwashed American stereotypes to enhance fear of certain people Increase news stories to make it seem like its getting worse however in fact it is actually getting better

American Ideology

MM concludes it’s because Canadians aren’t pumped full of fear from the news and politicians.

1st grader that shot a little girl in his class. MM interviews the teacher. On the morning of the shooting, it took 30 mins for the news journalists to turn up. What wasn’t reported on was the poverty in the place where the shooting happened. 80% of the students in the

school live below the poverty line. Tamara Owens, the mother of the boy who shot the little girl, was on ‘welfare to work’ scheme – where they have to travel 1 – 1.5 hours to work. The scheme forces poor people off welfare and it means they leave early morning and get back late at night – they aren’t able to raise their children.

Just after they did after columbine, 10 days after the 1st grader shooting, the NRA and Charlton Heston turned up in the area where the shooting took place to hold a pro-gun rally.

Fear after 9/11. People were making money from this fear – Lockheed Martin started producing more weapons. M M says, “A country this out of control with fear should not have a gun in their hand.”

Cut to boy in wheelchair who was shot at Columbine and other who still has the bullets in his body. They go to Kmart and ask them to stop selling the bullets. Eventually Kmart release a statement agreeing that they won’t sell any of the bullets anymore.

Americans are full fear and sign of danger = Killing/shooting

Kmart Eventually do something once a sign of harm is shown

American Ideology Fear frenzy.

Canada = More relaxed about guns and crime. America = Never states the underlying problems like the children hardly having an adult role. American Ideology Pumped full of fear as it is everywhere they go.

Again showing how relaxed the NRA are about guns Don’t see these shootings as a problem. American Ideology Guns are not the problem