Bowling for Columbine homework

'Bowling for Columbine'

Target Audience Homework

'Bowling for Columbine' is a 2002 documentary film by political activist, Michael Moore. The film mainly explores what Moore thinks caused the Columbine High School massacre, and gun rights in the United States.

Upon release, the film garnered $58, 008, 523 worldwide on a budget of $4 million, becoming an instant commercial and critical hit. The film broke the record for the most successful documentary film in the UK and Australia until the record was broken by Moore's next film, 'Fahrenheit 9/11'. Due to the documentaries subject matter, and Moore's own personal beliefs, the film was more successful outside of the United States; the film took in more money in the UK than it did in the US and got an 100% approval rating from South African audiences.

Like I stated above, because of the film's subject matter revolving around gun laws and gun crime in the US, the gross revenue in America was damaged because of most of America's views on who should own weapons and why. Most documentaries in the US (and those by Michael Moore) are about topics that Conservative Americans would not want to discuss, so in some case, I do believe that the film's touchy subject matter did in fact affect the film's overall success (inside the United States only, though)

Michael Moore's ideology on gun violence, American gun laws and fear in the United States can be summed up with this quote from an interview where he talks about fear and consumption, he says: - And the point is important: by creating a fearful and panicked public, you not only get them to buy things they don't need, you also get them to vote for politicians who have a right wing agenda. Fascism thrives when the people are in a panic, because people are willing to give up their freedoms and liberties, if they believe they're going to live as a result. And so the right wing politician says, "Vote for me and I'll put a 100,000 more cops on the streets. Vote for me and I'll build more bombs. Vote for me and I'll bomb Iraq." That creates this false sense of security.

After having watched the trailer, it seems to me that the film looks to be targeted at people who share the same views as Michael Moore's and want to uncover the truth, and who, perhaps, with their own sensibility of what's right, believe that there is more to certain things that most people seem to think, for example; the gun laws of America that everybody has got so use to over the years may not be as safe and secure that they wanted you to believe.

After watching the trailers for 'Roger and Me', 'Sicko' and 'Capitalism: A Love Story', it is all very clear to me that Moore's films are very pro- Liberal and Anti- Conservative, he means to make these films for all of America, and maybe, the world, but they look like that they end up being made for people who share his political views equally. Even though they all have the same satirical look at the way America is run, they are very serious and controversial to completely different kinds of people (those who want to reveal the truth, and those who want to keep it hidden)