Film Analysis and Comparison of Documentaries
We all know the infamous author Michael Moore for his dark sense of humor that has shed its light on America in different ways. He is great at the craft of documentaries, and in my opinion it is one of the best that I have ever seen. “Bowling for Columbine,” won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. In many ways this film had me uneasy, yet I feel it is one of the most compelling documentaries that I have seen. Throughout this documentary Moore enlightens us on the subject of guns in America, but in my opinion I really feel that he is depicting our countries culture of violence.
He goes on the give a detailed flashbacks of his beliefs for the reasons why so many Americans in todays society are often killed with guns. Moore has a very distinct style of filming, through his compelling sense of humor and strong personality. In specific when Moore walked into the Michigan bank. They were also a licensed firearm dealer, where he got a free gun for putting money into a Certificate of Deposit. The local ad in the newspaper for the deal read: “More Bang, for Your Buck. ” As alarming as this was, he later went to buy a bullet after getting a haircut.
This style was very appealing to me in the way that he showcased his main points. The style was straightforward and compelling that I believe people from many different backgrounds can all be able to understand and relate to. The next paper I will be comparing is the very controversial film “Let’s Talk About Sex. ” This film was packed with clips from TV shows, thrilling facts, and interviews with American and Dutch teens. This film emphasizes on how sex is portrayed and displayed in America in comparison to other countries.
This film serves as a great wake up call for people who believe that telling teens to “abstain” from sex is an effective way of keeping them safe and healthy. This film was accurate and timely, the film exposes the reasons behind our high and STD rates. In Let’s Talk About Sex the attitudes of Americans is compared to Europeans on the subject of sex. The most controversial point in this film was probably the segment that involved gay teens. I personally feel that if members of the gay community were to watch this they would be disappointed they were represented in this aspect.
In comparison, both of these films traveled the country and presented many facts towards their topics of Guns and Sex. I feel that both of these films address two very important subject areas that need to be addressed in today’s society. Throughout the Let’s Talk about Sex film we met pregnant teens, young HIV positive people and kids who lied to parents about being sexually active. Through Moore’s film like many of his others appealed more to emotion than, to reason. His stylistic ways of the film were more provocative than informative.
Even though Moore’s views may not be very appealing to many, I feel that this film is one worth watching. The pinnacle point in the Bowling for Columbine that I found extremely moving was when Moore takes two of the survivors of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre to K-Mart headquarters in Troy, Michigan. The survivors requested they stop selling handgun bullets. After delay, K-Mart eventually came out and announced that they were phasing out of gun ammunition. This was actually a bright side of the film, yet it was still terrible to see the victims of the 1999 Columbine.
From the movie Let’s Talk About Sex, the pinnacle was probably through the comparison of the cultures of American Teens versus the Dutch Teens. The Dutch teens see carrying condoms as a sign of responsibility and proudly showed them off the to the camera while, American teens freaked out over the idea, using words like “pervert” or “douchebag”. All I believe both films were very compelling and their different styles fit each perfectly. Our society needed a persuasive film like Bowling for Columbine and we also needed the alarming facts of Let’s talk about Sex, to get their points across.
