Narrative: Truth and Amy Barnes Webster Essay

Submitted By amybarneswebster
Words: 541
Pages: 3

Bowling For Columbine 1/1 The Language

The introductory music is light hearted and about the military, we are shown a medium two shot of Moore and James that makes the the audience into believing this is just a normal interview with a normal guy. We are led to convince that this is a farmer who believes in high quality, honest farming. Moore is just teasing out the truth.
"You're a Tofu farmer?"
"Yeah, Food Farmer, I grow food for people to eat. No herbicides, No pesticides on that stuff."
"Yeah? All Natural? Better?"
"Yeah"
"Certified..Organic?"
"Yeah"
This is Moore questioning him, showing he isn't convinced at all.
Then the track becomes more sinister and the voice over is Moore telling us the truth, with footage of what James has really done.
While telling us about James's history he zooms in on his eyes giving us a sense of the craziness within him. When Moore makes the comment 'But the feds didn't have the goods on James so the charges where dropped. He effectively uses language to convince the audience he is guilty and that this is all an act. He gives a great build of James character while continuing the conversation about his 'Friend'; Timmy.
"Did Timothy McVey ever stay here?"
"Yes, Yes, about several times, for the longest period of time about 3 months or so I dunno,but he was a nice guy"
"Decent Guy?"
"Oh Yeah"
He is continuously questioning James almost mocking him at this point. The fact that McVey can even begin to defend Timothy is clearly a joke. The camera angle has changed back and forth numerous times through out this interview so it has obviously been edited to manipulate as much as possible out of McVey to show how crazy he is. From the beginning McVey has cleverly been given the perception of a Tofu Farmer > Bomber > Friend Of A Murderer. The last scene is genious because Moore genuinely has James acting the total innocent, he has lost his mind so much that he believes