Reflexivity and "Bowling for Columbine"

Jay Ruby states that reflexivity is to not only be self aware, but to be sufficiently self aware to know what aspects of self are necessary to reveal so that an audience is able to understand both the process employed and the resultant product and to know that the revelation itself is perposive, intentional and not merely narcissistic or accidentally revealing.

At the beginning of Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" (2002), he shows us a series of American people doing their job as Moore narrates "the farmer did his chores, the milkman made his deliveries, the president bombed another country whose name we couldn't pronounce." Moore uses humour in the juxtaposition of the farmer and milkman's mundane jobs and the destructive nature of the President's actions to  make a statement about America's tolerance to violence and how it has become mundane.

Later we are shown an advert from the 50’s – 60’s for replica toy guns and how they “feel like real and sound like real”. We are then shown home footage of Moore as a child with his “first gun”, while he narrates about how he couldn’t wait to go outside and “shoot up the neighbourhood.” This is meant to show parallels to Harris and Klebold, the perpetrators of the notorious Columbine High school massacre, and how they were “children with guns”, commenting on how even children are brought up with guns, whether they are real or not. Moore paints himself to be the “average American” while also pointing out the flaws in his own culture. 

Ruby says that one can find sustained reflexive elements in comedies in the form of satire and parodies, which Moore uses throughout his documentary to comment on the state of America when it comes to gun control and violence.

Documentary Synopsis.

My Dad's Army Days

My Dad sits down to recall his life in the army. He's back home in Algeria, the year is 1971 (January) and he is 18 years old. He gets a letter informing him that he is to enlist in the army for mandatory service, and he is exited to go, wishing it will toughen him up and make him more responsible. His older brother stays behind to help out their father with his work, and my dad leaves to go to the army base. As soon as he arrives, they shave off his Afro, measure him, give him his clothes, boots and a rucksack containing another pair of boots, converse, two more uniforms (one being ceremonial) and a water canister. He gets divided into his section and begins his 6 months of gruelling training.

Everyday he and the other recruits train with and learn how to clean weapons, do mechanic courses and first aid, along with obstacle courses consisting of the standard netting, wall and rope climbing, and the hardest task, crawling through the gravel, which grinds and slashes away at the skin on his knees and elbows. He endures and looks forwards to his months of service after training. Those who fail or slack off during the training are either whipped with a belt or are forced to crawl in circles in the gravel, which would reduce the toughest of men to crying messes.

During the role call, my dad laughs because of the drill Sargent's funny accent. The Sargent inspects each soldier and questions who laughs, and because no one responds, they are all forced to crawl through the gravel for 15 minutes, which causes my dad to laugh even more as he crawls. This continues every night for a few days until my dad decides to hide in the toilet for every role call to avoid laughing.

During the mechanic course, my dad and a few other men work on an armoured jeep, and as per the Sargent's instructions, the men start to push the jeep. The wheel makes an unexpected turn and rolls onto my dad's leg, pinning him to the ground. He is quickly taken to the medic, who removes the crushed boot, puts a cast on my dad's leg and sends him home, recommending that he gets discharged. My dad refuses as he is determined to finish his service and returns a few months later to finish his service.

He becomes a Sargent and works through several different sections, starting off at the sports section, then moving onto logistics and eventually becomes the manager of the kitchen, becoming responsible for ordering the food for the chefs and managing waste. He finishes his service on December 1981 and returns home a disciplined man.