History Film / BowlingForColumbine

* CanadaEh: Subverted; Canada is portrayed in the film as a very sensible (and ''very'' laid-back) society, where all the kids go to movie theatres, Windsor is a great place to live, and no one locks their front door. Some of the people interviewed do have slightly noticeable Canadian accents, though.

!!'''This film provides examples of:'''

** The opening scene featured a bank that offered a [[BankToaster free rifle]] for opening a bank and showed him walk in, open the account, and then cut to him in the parking lot with said rifle in hand to imply the bank just handed it to him. Yeah... no. The bank actually did offer a free rifle in the form of a voucher you had to take to a participating sporting goods store to redeem, and you most definitely had to pass the background check and be legally entitled to own the firearm to begin with. Of course that's a pretty reasonable way to do things so the parking lot scene was filmed later and spliced in to "prove" Moore's point.

* HitlerAteSugar: The point of the title, and the subject of the movie. Moore argues that media watchdogs and social commentary pundits were alarmingly quick to point towards all sorts of societal influences that supposedly caused Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's rampage, including video games, violent movies, and heavy metal music. Moore notes that all of those things are popular in countries besides America, yet all those other countries have violent crime rates far below that of America's violent crime rate. Moore questions if people might as well blame the sport of bowling for what happened, as both killers were attending school classes in bowling and even played a game the morning before the shooting at a local bowling alley.

As with Moore's other films, the accuracy of this film is often disputed, but it was nevertheless very successful, winning awards such as the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestDocumentaryFeature and raising Moore's stature as a filmmaker on an international scale.

As with Moore's other films, the accuracy of this film is often disputed, but it was nevertheless very successful, winning awards such as the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestDocumentaryFeature and raising Moore's stature as a filmmaker on an international scale. For its acerbic and thought-provoking statements on American society, it is considered worth the watch by many.

As with Moore's other films, the accuracy of this film is often disputed, but it was nevertheless very successful, winning awards including the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Documentary Feature and raising Moore's stature as a filmmaker on an international scale. For its acerbic and thought-provoking statements on American society, it is considered worth checking out by many.

''Bowling for Columbine'' is a 2002 award-winning {{documentary}} film by Creator/MichaelMoore, which examines the effects of [[UsefulNotes/AmericanGunPolitics gun violence]] in the United States, and attempts to give a reason for the motivation of the killers involved in the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} massacre.

As with Moore's other films, its accuracy is often disputed, but the film is nevertheless worth checking out for its acerbic and thought-provoking statements on American society.

As with Moore's other films, its accuracy is often disputed ([[Administrivia/RuleofCautiousEditingJudgement and let's say no more about that]]), but the film is nevertheless worth checking out for its acerbic and thought-provoking statements on American society.

* HitlerAteSugar: The point of the title, and the subject of the movie. Moore argues that media watchdogs and social commentary pundits were alarmingly quick to point towards all sorts of societal influences that supposedly caused Harris and Klebold's rampage, including video games, violent movies, and heavy metal music. Moore notes that all of those things are popular in countries besides America, yet all those other countries have violent crime rates far below that of America's violent crime rate. Moore questions if people might as well blame the sport of bowling for what happened, as both killers were attending school classes in bowling and even played a game the morning before the shooting at a local bowling alley.

* YouCanPanicNow: Seen in a news segments montage during the film. Although he is not quite as scathing towards them as the NRA or gun manufacturers, Moore criticizes the news media for stoking non-stop fear to boost ratings, and sees this as a major contributing factor to the number of gun deaths in the United States.

* LiesDamnedLiesAndStatistics: Moore exaggerates the level of gun violence in the United States through spurious use of statistics, specifically comparing the amount of gun-related deaths in several western countries by citing gross figures for each country and not per capita stats. Even aside from that, the numbers he cites didn't match any known independent studies. Eventually, it was revealed that he took US Government crime statistics for gun homicides, and added uses of guns for self-defense and the use of guns by police.

As with Moore's other films, its accuracy is often disputed (and let's say no more about that), but the film is nevertheless worth checking out for its acerbic and thought-provoking statements on American society.

* HitlerAteSugar: The point of the title, and the subject of the movie. Moore points out that media watchdogs and social commentary pundits were alarmingly quick to point towards all sorts of societal influences that supposedly caused Harris and Klebold's rampage, including video games, violent movies, and heavy metal music. Moore notes that all of the things listed are popular in countries besides America, yet all those other countries have violent crime rates far below that of America's violent crime rate. Moore questions if people might as well blame the sport of bowling for what happened, as both killers were attending school classes in bowling and even played a game the morning before the shooting at a local bowling alley.

* MoralGuardians: They are shown in a montage sequence and Moore investigates all the things the media claimed were the inspiration behind the murders.

* OnlySaneMan: Bizarrely, Music/MarilynManson comes across as this. This isn't even [[http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/columbine-whose-fault-is-it-19990624 the first time]] it has happened in relation to Columbine. Not so bizarre if you actually know enough about the man. Beyond his rock persona, he's a surprisingly thoughtful and well-spoken person. In this movie, Manson acknowledges that he got blamed, but contends that he doesn't deserve it, saying that his type of music has been demonized for so long that if it was going to turn thousands of people into mass murderers, it would have done that by now. Manson also says he would listen to the killers, "because that's what no one did".

* PopCulturalOsmosis: Thanks to this film, Music/MarilynManson's public image changed from a grotesque Satanic antichrist to a very intelligent, articulate, and insightful human being. Albeit one with slightly eccentric tastes, but still.

* BankToaster: Moore opens a bank account and receives a free ''rifle''.
* CanadaEh: Subverted; Canada is portrayed in the film as a very sensible (and ''very'' laid-back) society, where all the kids go to movie theatres, Windsor is a great place to live, and no one locks his door. Some of the people interviewed do have slightly noticable accents, though.

* HitlerAteSugar: The point of the title. Moore points out that media watchdogs and social commentary pundits were alarmingly quick to point towards all sorts of societal influences that supposedly caused Harris and Klebold's rampage, including video games, bullying, violent movies, and the like. He notes that all of the things listed are enormously popular in other countries that have violent crime rates far below that of the United States, then questions if they might as well blame the sport of bowling for what happened, as both killers were attending school classes in bowling and even played a game the morning before the shooting.

%% ManipulativeEditing: Moore has been accused of this by some, which is all we will say on the subject.

* TheNewRockAndRoll: Mocked heavily by Moore during the film. He also subverts this by actually interviewing two people who frightened MoralGuardians, Music/MarilynManson and Matt Stone (co-creator of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''), and showing that they are actually normal, intelligent people of whom you shouldn't be afraid at all.
* OnlySaneMan: Bizarrely, Music/MarilynManson comes across as this. This isn't even [[http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/columbine-whose-fault-is-it-19990624 the first time]] it has happened in relation to Columbine. Not so bizarre if you actually know enough about the man. Beyond his rock persona, he's a surprisingly thoughtful and well-spoken person.

* PopCulturalOsmosis: Thanks to this film Music/MarilynManson's public image changed from a grotesque Satanic antichrist feared by MoralGuardians to somebody whom many were surprised to learn is actually a very intelligent and articulate normal human being.
%% QuoteMine:
* ScaryBlackMan: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d [[{{Anvilicious}} heavily]] during a segment on the American news media.

%% VerbingNouny

* YourDoorWasOpen: In Canada. ''All the time.''

As with Moore's other films, its accuracy is often disputed, but the film is nevertheless worth checking out for its acerbic and thought-provoking statements on American society.

** Moore states that the NRA was founded the same year the KKK became "an illegal terrorist organization". Not only is this comparable to opposing the Lincoln Memorial because it was dedicated the same year the USSR was founded, the Klan had actually been created five years earlier and the first ten heads of the NRA were Union officers, including President Ulysses S. Grant - the man who signed the legislation that made the Klan "an illegal terrorist organization".

* ManipulativeEditing: Moore is rather famous for it in his films and he's no slouch here:
** The opening scene featured a bank that offered a free rifle for opening a bank and showed him walk in, open the account, and then cut to him in the parking lot with said rifle in hand to imply the bank just handed it to him. Yeah... no. The bank actually did offer a free rifle in the form of a voucher you had to take to a participating sporting goods store to redeem, and you most definitely had to pass the background check and be legally entitled to own the firearm to begin with. Of course that's a pretty reasonable way to do things so the parking lot scene was filmed later and spliced in to "prove" Moore's point. This is beyond the fact that the gun wasn't even free. You pay for it by surrendering all your acquired interest until it is paid for.
*** Similarly, the Canadian ammunition was either illegal or staged, as the law at the time required presenting ID and a gun importation permit issued by the government.
** He showed what a heartless bastard Creator/CharltonHeston was for holding an NRA fundraiser in Colorado shortly after the Columbine massacre and gloating with the "cold, dead fingers" speech to mock the victims. While the NRA did indeed hold an event in Colorado, it wasn't a gun rights rally. It was the required annual members meeting, scheduled years beforehand. If they had wanted to change the time and place, under the laws of New York (where they are headquartered), they would have been required to notify every one of it's 3.2 million members in less than a day (changing the meeting time or place requires seven days notice and the shooting occurred eight days before the meeting). What the NRA did do was cancel everything except the legally required meeting, including actual rallies, sporting events, fundraiser dinners, and committee meetings. Sharp-eyed viewers may notice that Heston is wearing a different suit for the "cold dead fingers" line than he wears in the rest of the footage. The footage from that was taken from an actual rally in North Carolina over a year later.

**

%% ManipulativeEditing:
%% {{Montage}}

As with Moore's other films, its accuracy is often disputed ([[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement and let's say no more about that]]), but the film is nevertheless worth checking out for its acerbic and thought-provoking statements on American society.

* ManipulativeEditing: The film has been accused of this by some. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement And that is all we will say on the subject]].
* {{Montage}}

* QuoteMine: The movie was accused of this with Charlton Heston, which is all we will say on the subject.

* VerbingNouny

* YouCanPanicNow: Seen in a montage during the film. Although he is not quite as scathing towards them as the NRA or gun manufacturers, Moore criticizes the media for stoking non-stop fear to boost ratings, and sees this as a major contributing factor to the number of gun deaths in the United States.

* YouCanPanicNow: Seen in a montage during the film.

* SoundtrackDissonance: In one of the film's most famous scenes, Music/LouisArmstrong's "What a Wonderful World" plays over footage of the atrocities of various US-backed regimes, concluding with the jarring juxtaposition of the song's blissful ending and the horrified screams of people witnessing a plane crash into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
** The same song also plays over the end credits, but in a cover of Joey Ramone from his solo album ''Music/DontWorryAboutMe''.

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: The film has an (offscreen) example, where Creator/MichaelMoore interviews a man (the brother of Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols) who sleeps with a gun next to his bedside. After going out of frame, Nichols points his pistol at his head as a joke. Moore, who knows about gun safety, is audibly shocked.
* ArtisticLicenseStatistics: Moore exaggerates the level of gun violence in the United States through spurious use of statistics, specifically comparing the amount of gun-related deaths in several western countries by citing gross figures for each country and not per capita stats. Even aside from that, the numbers he cites didn't match any known independent studies. Eventually, it was revealed that he took US Government crime statistics for gun homicides, and added uses of guns for self-defense and the use of guns by police.

* ShoutOut: At one point, Moore has a montage showing that other countries have the same interests and problems in America, such as broken families, genocidal history, violent movies and video games, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywaking and bowling]], while saying that they have far lower gun violence rates. This is accompanied by Beethoven's 9th Symphony, similar to the brainwashing scene in ''Film/AClockworkOrange''.

* SoundtrackDissonance: In one of the film's most famous scenes, Music/LouisArmstrong's "What a Wonderful World" plays over footage of the atrocities of various US-backed regimes, concluding with the jarring juxtaposition of Armstrong's song's blissful ending and the horrified screams of people witnessing a plane crash into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The same song also plays over the end credits, but in a cover of Joey Ramone from his solo album ''Music/DontWorryAboutMe''.

* ManipulativeEditing: The film has been accused of this by some. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement And that is all we will say on the subject]].