Sociological Analysis of "Bowling for Columbine" film by Michael Moore

"Bowling for Columbine"

Why anyone would go into a school with tons of loaded guns and shot up their teachers and peers is almost beyond grasp. But it happened. In the film, Bowling for Columbine, director Michael Moore takes an in depth look at what could have possibly made these 'troubled-youth' do such a thing. He looks are more than just the tragedy at Columbine High School, but also at the NRA's effects on people, the 2nd amendment, more school shootings and the United States compared to other countries gun-control theories. He becomes a sociologist, exploring outside factors of the individuals. He does not look at the mental make-up of each individual who creates a crime with guns, but instead looks at how our society as a whole views guns and their uses.

Sociologists say that you learn two choices as to whether you abide by the rules of society; you learn either deviance or conformity. Well what does America say about guns? If you use them are you defying a country or conforming to a great American-past time. At one point in the film Michael Moore uses symbolic interactionists theories to examine society. He looks at how our society looks at group membership, this is called differential association, and how belonging to a certain group could reduce your chances of being deviant. He also looks at the control theory, investigating the inner controls of people who use guns such as their morality lie conscience and religious principals. Along with this Moore investigates the outer controls such as family, friends and the police, and he see how these influence us not to deviate.

Although going against norms is usually viewed as wrong, without these types of norms we would have complete chaos. When someone does do something taboo and goes against these norms it does three things for social order: 1. clarifies moral boundaries and affirms norms; 2. promotes social unity; 3. promotes social change. Columbine is a perfect example of how sometimes it takes a deviance to reset the grounds for norms. After the tragedy all of America saw a change in our school systems, and what our children were exposed to. Suddenly by having your kids watch violent movies, play violent video games, or listen to music such as Marilyn Manson you were just setting the stage for your child to be the next mass murderer. Moore looks past all of this, he pursues answers beyond what is easy to blame and make a scapegoat. He shows us that other countries such as Japan and Canada have just as many violent movies and video games, yet their total number of deaths by guns is significantly less than ours. The movie clearly illustrates how in Canada they have the same type of entertainment, yet the people there leave their doors unlocked and they have only had a handful of deaths by guns, compared to the thousands in America.

One continuous question asked throughout the movie is: What makes America so different? There might never be a direct answer to this question. Michael Moore tries to answer it by investigating our society, and what makes us do the things we do. How entertainment, our history, our families, and our peers all influence our decisions. What does make America different from other countries? Only society can answer that question, by looking at society.