At one point in Bowling for Columbine, Moore played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" followed by "What a Wonderful World." Both songs exert a peaceful emotion, but when combined with videos showing people dying via bullet wound and graphics illustrating the victims of war, the emotions turn sour. These two very contrasting medias also create confusion. Did I really just watch someone get shot while Louis sang, "'I see friends shaking hands, sayin' ,'How do you do?' They're really sayin', 'I love you.'?" This makes people think.
At first it seems so normal to be watching people get shot because it happens all the time in video games and action movies but once the realization sets in that Bowling for Columbine is not a fiction, there is no longer anything normal about the matter. It is also to hear "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful Rainbow" as background songs in movies and TV shows, but never when people are dying and blood is strewn everywhere. Maybe it's just me, but the combination of the two makes me think that either Moore was indeed just being terribly ironic, or that he was trying to send the viewer a deeper message about gun culture in America. Could it be that gun violence is so prevalent in America today that it is on the cusp of normalcy? Could it be that in order to create a wonderful world we need to shoot people we don't like? Or is Moore relaying the longing desire for there, somewhere over the rainbow, to be less gun violence?
Another approach Moore took in order to pull the trigger inside the viewer's mind was to take his documentary into everyday life. The viewer is introduced to multiple Michigan residents who all happened to be bomb enthusiast, gun loving, bullet crazy people that said they would never ever ever take someone's life with a weapon. They simply had weapons because the American Constitution said they could. Having guns simply because they can is something I think a lot of Americans can relate to. I used to think that people only had guns for hunting or for sport, but to have a gun just because you can seems childish. Moore also ventured north into Canada where he, as an American might call it, broke in and entered random homes. What was interesting about Moore's "crime" was that it was not seen as a crime in Canada as most people just leave their front door unlocked and often open anyway. They have no fear of someone breaking in much less breaking in with a gun. I think that fear-free mentality is something Americans should strive to adopt.
At first it seems so normal to be watching people get shot because it happens all the time in video games and action movies but once the realization sets in that Bowling for Columbine is not a fiction, there is no longer anything normal about the matter. It is also to hear "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful Rainbow" as background songs in movies and TV shows, but never when people are dying and blood is strewn everywhere. Maybe it's just me, but the combination of the two makes me think that either Moore was indeed just being terribly ironic, or that he was trying to send the viewer a deeper message about gun culture in America. Could it be that gun violence is so prevalent in America today that it is on the cusp of normalcy? Could it be that in order to create a wonderful world we need to shoot people we don't like? Or is Moore relaying the longing desire for there, somewhere over the rainbow, to be less gun violence?
Another approach Moore took in order to pull the trigger inside the viewer's mind was to take his documentary into everyday life. The viewer is introduced to multiple Michigan residents who all happened to be bomb enthusiast, gun loving, bullet crazy people that said they would never ever ever take someone's life with a weapon. They simply had weapons because the American Constitution said they could. Having guns simply because they can is something I think a lot of Americans can relate to. I used to think that people only had guns for hunting or for sport, but to have a gun just because you can seems childish. Moore also ventured north into Canada where he, as an American might call it, broke in and entered random homes. What was interesting about Moore's "crime" was that it was not seen as a crime in Canada as most people just leave their front door unlocked and often open anyway. They have no fear of someone breaking in much less breaking in with a gun. I think that fear-free mentality is something Americans should strive to adopt.
Hey Cora! I really liked some of the language you used here. "Another approach Moore took in order to a pull the trigger inside the viewer's mind" was a really good line and a good transition/thesis for that particular paragraph. I'm glad you also addressed the fear culture in this response instead of just talking about the gun and weapons issue. It was a nice response to a brutally honest documentary.
ReplyDeleteOne thing i Picked out from your blog post was the music he chose to put in his documentary. I agree with your argument on how he used music to really catch the flow of the designated scene and hit the music right on point when he would place it into one of the the scenes such as the bullet wound graphics or the war pictures.
ReplyDeleteI think you forgot one possible point the Louis Armstrong music might represent in the documentary. The scene might actually represent American ignorance; the fact we always think our country is doing the best for everybody; that we would never murder innocent people as a nation; that everything is ok and everybody lives in an American like world. The reality is much bleaker. As seen in the documentary, we have caused a series of bloody and violent civil wars and regime changes in different countries just for our personal interest --many times, toppling democratically elected officials--. We don't realize this being within the nation and we're blissfully ignorant. "What a wonderful world" as we watch people getting murdered.
ReplyDeleteI thought your examination of the songs Moore played in the background was an interesting analysis. I agree that the songs he played were chosen with much thought behind them, and they certainly raised questions about our gun culture. This was an analysis that I wouldn't have thought of, but was a great point. I also thought your interpretation that maybe he played "Somewhere over the Rainbow" as a distant hope for better days in the future was a great connection. You also addressed the issue that people just own a gun for the sake of owning a gun, which I also thought was a dumb reason to do so. Anyway, great points!
ReplyDeleteWow Cora that was truly a literary masterpiece. I also agree that it was interesting during the film how Moore introduced usually very happy songs into scenes in which were violent and catastrophic, I think this played into the movies irony as to prove how Americans simply don't have everything "together" as we would like to believe we do. It was also pleasing to see how you closed your blog post with some more questions and something to think about for the reader, well done.
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ReplyDeleteHi Cora,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the use of the contrasting music to the scenes of negative events is very effective and makes you think. There is something about the about the irony of Louis Armstrong singing in the background of extreme violence. I don’t know if he had any other motive or message other than just an ironic one. While it is possible that his choice of songs is supposed reflect his hopes for the future or something like that, I think it is more likely that they were just a good contrast to the images that were shown.
I also agree that we live in too much fear too. It was interesting to see how the Canadians reacted in response to Moore’s “breaking and entering”. I know in many places, including McFarland, this would not have been welcomed at all. We are so used to hearing about home invasions that we would probably freak out if a person just wandered into our houses. Many of us even lock our houses even though none of us can probably remember the last robbery that occurred in the area. It makes you wonder how much worrying is really needed when the statistics are so low that anything will actually happen to us.